(Tempe, AZ) The No.22 Sun Devils avoided the sweep against No. 17 Arizona by rallying from an early 2-0 deficit to claim a 4-3 win in the series finale. Jordyn VanHook, the nation’s leader in home runs, and Jazmyn Rollin each homered to spark the victory.
Freshman Kylee Magee settled down after allowing two first-inning runs to earn her second win of the season. She left after facing one batter in the sixth and finished with three runs allowed and one strikeout. Marissa Schuld locked down her fourth save of the year by pitching the final two innings without allowing a run.
After being silenced for the first two games, the bats came alive as the team registered seven hits on the day. Rollin and VanHook each had two hits and two RBIs. Three of the team’s seven hits went for extra bases after having none in the first two games of the series.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Arizona scored twice in the top of the first after there were two outs, but Magee forced a groundout with the bases loaded to limit the damage.
Still trailing 2-0 in the top of the third, Magee worked out of another jam with help from a pickoff by Gianna Boccagno on a runner at second base.
Yanni Acuña led things off in the third inning with a single that hit the first base bag and Alexa Milius moved her to second with a sacrifice bunt.
Rollin singled up the middle to score Acuña and give the Sun Devils their first run of the series. Then, a familiar sight at Farrington this season was Vanhook’s 14th home run of the year giving ASU a 3-2 lead after three innings.
The Wildcats loaded the bases again in the top of the fifth inning, only to see Magee record her only strikeout of the game to end the frame.
Rollin obtained her second hit of the day with a solo home run with one out in the fifth to give ASU a crucial insurance run and a 4-3 lead.
With Schuld in the circle, Arizona loaded the bases again in the sixth before a pop up and a groundout ended the inning with ASU still leading.
Arizona added a run off a single to make it 4-3 in the top of the sixth inning.
Schuld worked around a two-out single in the seventh to seal the win and her fourth save.
QUOTES:
Head Coach Megan Bartlett
On Kylee Magee:
“She has an elite mindset, she competes, she can spit and spatter pitches. Ky did a good job, she just battled every pitch, did a much better job of trying to spin and spot the ball not just rely on ferocity.”
On bouncing back today:
“We talk about having short memory. We just try to keep them calm, keep it logical. You learn far more from losses than you do from wins, so I’m hopeful that the things that led to Friday and Saturday getting out of hand, we’re going to be able to get back in the drawing board and make some nice adjustments this week and correct it heading to Stillwater.”
On the mindset of getting team ready to travel to Stillwater and rest of conference play:
“They really have to be mindful of executing the game plan. They’ve got to learn how to compete and they’re gonna have to fight and we play a highly offensive game right now. We got some great performances on the mound, so executing the game plan is going to be a big piece and we will continue to get better at competing.”
Arizona State Infielder Jordyn VanHook
On team’s mentality heading into today
“I think today we just focused on sticking truly to us. I feel like in the past two games, we were all depending on that one big hit, and everyone wanted to get that big hit. Today, we took a step back and said, just keep it simple, the hard hits will come and I think that’s exactly what happened today. We all just trusted and leaned on each other.”
On backing up the pitchers
“Our pitchers are going to do it for us and we have to have their backs. Our pitchers did a really good job of giving us a lot of defensive plays and it came in those tight moments where we had to lock it in and say nothing gets past us. I think today we did a really good job of making the good and simple defensive plays that helped us get out of those tough situations.”
On playing on the road
“Yeah, it’s definitely going to be a very competitive environment. It’s always fun playing here at Club Farrington with our fan base, but I think we just got ti let that outside noise go and if we focus too much on that things will turn out not in our favor. If we just stay in our little bubble, keep doing what we know we’re capable of doing, then I think things will turn out really well for us.”
Arizona State Pitcher Kylee Magee:
On having trust from the coaches when she gets into a jam
“I think it’s really cool respect that they have from me and for what I have for them too. They’re doing a great job and they’re doing their best. It was cool they (Coaches) let me stay in the game but they obviously had to take me out, I was getting a little tired.”
On how her mentality changed when ASU put runs on the board:
“It took a lot of pressure off, it’s good because in other games when we weren’t really hitting. So seeing my team make adjustments and having each others back felt really cool and it hyped me up.”
UP NEXT:
The Sun Devils will have their first of two straight travel weeks next weekend as they will head to Stillwater, Okla., for the Oklahoma State Mizuno Classic. They will face UCF on Friday, March 17 at 11 a.m. MST and OSU at 5:30 p.m. before taking on UCF again at 10 a.m. on Saturday, March 18 and OSU again at 12:30 p.m.
Press Release courtesy of Sun Devil Athletics – Josh Fisher
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