(Tempe, AZ) In a rubber match fueled by a Savannah Price grand slam, Arizona State (20-11, 4-5 Pac-12) picked up its first Pac-12 series win of the season with a 5-2 win over No. 8 Washington (26-9, 7-5 Pac 12) on Sunday afternoon at Farrington Stadium.
Down 2-0 in the bottom of the fourth, Price cleared the bases with a grand slam to left on a 3-2 pitch with two outs that put ASU in front 4-2. Jazmyn Rollin led off the bottom of the fifth with a solo homer to make it 5-2.
In the circle, the combination of Mac Osborne, Kenzie Brown and Marissa Schuld held the Huskies to four hits while stranding 10 runners on base. The top five batters in the Washington starting lineup went hitless in 16 at bats, and the team was 3-for-19 with runners on base.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Washington took a 1-0 lead in the top of the third without recording a hit. They used a walk, groundouts and two stolen bases – inducing of home – to take the early advantage.
An infield single with runners on second and third generated the second run of the game for Washington, but Brown was able to escape further damage with a pair of strikeouts.
ASU loaded the bases for Price in the fourth with a single from Harper and walks to Kalyn McCarthy and Kayla Lissy. Price then homered off the top of the wall on the seventh pitch of her at bat.
Rollin started the fifth inning for ASU with a solo home run to add to the Sun Devil lead.
Washington loaded the bases in the top of the sixth before Schuld got out of the jam with a strikeout and a pop-up.
The Huskies got a leadoff single in the seventh, but Schuld retired the next three batters to close out the ASU win.
QUOTES
Head Coach Megan Bartlett
On how big the series win was:
“Super excited for the girls. We had hit a rough patch, and they continued to battle, so many weeks of hard work and resilience and trusting us. It’s a big one for the girls.”
On pitching staff being calm in challenging situations:
“Marissa comes into some tough situations, and she’s such a competitor and battles, and I just can’t say enough about Marissa Schuld, hometown kid. One of the toughest closers in college softball. So just the way the year has gone, just pretty prepared for tough moments and if they know they make their pitches, they’re going to get good results.”
On Savannah Price’s grand slam:
“It’s exciting. Savannah will compete. She’s a wonderful speed player, really fast, and she just causes havoc. She was able to focus back in and got a really big hit, so that’s pretty cool too.”
Infielder Savannah Price
On her grand slam:
“I had to do it for my pitcher. I let a run score, and I had to give back to my team, and it was a big moment for them.”
On the impact of series win:
“Coach B’s first series win, we’re very excited about that and celebrate for her. Just give back to her and all of the hard work that we put into this past week but just really paid off.”
Pitcher Marissa Schuld
On closing out the series:
“It felt good. I just told myself to stay loose, and I knew we had it pretty well, just like play with the lead. Attack the zone.”
On coming into games and her process:
“I treat every moment and every game the same. I just like to be aggressive, and my team is making plays behind me, so I just think to let myself breathe and not the moment get too big. Just take the pressure off and let the game go pitch by pitch.”
UP NEXT
Arizona State will be on the road next week for a series in Salt Lake City against Utah. The first game will be on Thursday, April 6, at 3 p.m. MST and the next game will be on Friday, April 7, at 3 p.m. before the series finale on Saturday, April 8, at 11 a.m. Friday and Saturday’s games will be broadcast on the Pac-12 Network.
Press Release courtesy of Sun Devil Athletics – Josh Fisher
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