(Tempe, AZ) On a beautiful morning at Farrington Stadium was the conclusion of the Littlewood Classic with No. 22 Arizona State (8-2) securing their fourth win of the weekend with a 3-2 win over the Weber State Wildcats (3-7) Sunday morning.
In a low-scoring affair after the pair of run-rule wins on Saturday, the Sun Devils managed to put together their fourth comeback victory this season. Yanni Acuñaand Jazmyn Rollin shined with a pair of multi-hit games while Jazmine Hill made the two biggest plays of the day with a solo home run in the fifth inning, which gave ASU the lead, and a diving play in center field to knock the rally caps off the Wildcats. Kenzie Brown made her third relief appearance of the season and earned the win after throwing 2.2 scoreless innings with a strikeout. Marissa Schuldcame in for the last four outs to secure her first save of the year.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Yanni Acuña kickstarted the offense with a single, then was advanced by Emily Cazares and a deep fly ball by Hill, infielder Rollin was able to knock an RBI Single to put ASU up 1-0.
Weber State fought back with a solo home run in the top half of the second inning.
With two outs in the third inning, the Wildcats added another run after a bloop single and a double to take a 2-1 lead.
After Brown relieved Kylee Magee to start the fourth and threw a scoreless inning, Alexa Milius singled to center to open the bottom half. From there Yaya Acuña pinch ran and stole second with Makenna Harper minding the gap to bring Yaya home to tie the game at 2-2.
Following a 1-2-3 top of the fifth from Brown, Hill took command and launched a go-ahead solo home run to left field, giving ASU a 3-2 lead.
When an error led to a Wildcat runner reaching with two outs in the sixth, Marissa Schuld came on to notch a strikeout to close the threat.
Bolstered by a diving catch from Hill to start the top of the seventh, Schuld forced a pair of lineouts to end the weekend with a win for the Sun Devils.
QUOTES:
Arizona State Head Coach Megan Bartlett
On team’s ability to come back after being down early
“It’s a veteran, tough, gritty group. We’re settling in, we’re a fairly young and inexperienced pitching staff. I thought Kylee threw really well. She made one mistake, and they made her pay for it. It’s just ebb and flow of this game. We just try to keep our cool and make adjustments and take it pitch to pitch and they’re showing nice signs of composure.”
On team’s approach on Sunday’s
“Sunday, we call it all hands on deck day. That’s just what it is. We’ve played and been in a lot of games and you’ve got kids that are beat up and pretty tired and everybody’s really pitched to this point. It’s a young pitching staff, they’re dynamic, and they’re a wonderful complement to one another. If we have five confident pitchers that can compete in games we would be crazy not to try and expose that and have the opposing dugout have to adjust to a new timing mechanism and start to figure out a different pitch shape and all those things. Marissa did a beautiful job closing today, which was nice to see.”
Arizona State outfielder Yanni Acuña:
On the team’s momentum
“It goes up and down sometimes. We’re still trying to figure it out and how to keep it going for seven innings straight. The momentum, we try to feed off of each other and the energy that not only the people on the field are creating but the players on the bench. The momentum comes all around. Keeping the energy high on a Sunday, as Sundays are the hardest the come out and play. It’s the mindset of lets go out there and crush, hunt teams and get after it.”
On being ten games into the season and what she’s learned about the team and herself being in a lead-off role
“I’ll keep it short and simple about myself. I try to get a base hit every at-bat as a lead-off hitter since my role has changed. I try to get on base so my teammates can score me. On the team, I think this year we’re more of gap-to-gap hitters. We try to drive the ball and lead the country in doubles.”
Arizona State pitcher Kenzie Brown:
On next weekend
“Trying to get ahead early, making sure we stay true to the next game because that’s the most important game of the season and making sure we stay focused and true to ourselves. I think we’ll be good to go.”
On seeing improvement throughout five appearances
“I think it’s easy to do with my pitching coach. He’s awesome and trusting him, trusting that he knows what pitch to throw and trusting the defense behind me. Without them i wouldn’t feel comfortable on the mound and I think for me, just being happy and trusting my stuff, trusting that it’s moving well and what’s really working for me.”
On playing at Farrington for the first time
“It was a dream come true. Since I’m a transfer, not the best situation leaving, but being here has been so overwhelming in the best way possible so having that back-up and having the team that I love, and having a coaching staff that cares about me and cares about the team more than anything in the world is something I’m so thankful for.”
UP NEXT:
The Sun Devils will spend next weekend in Cathedral City, Calif., where they will play five times at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic. One of the top events on the calendar, ASU opens on Friday at 9 p.m. MST against Loyola Marymount.
Press Release courtesy of Sun Devil Athletics – Josh Fisher
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