(Tempe, AZ) Sun Devil Softball (21-22, 5-15 Pac-12) failed to even the series in an 8-1 defeat to the No. 9 Stanford Cardinal (37-10, 12-8 Pac-12) Saturday night at Farrington Stadium.
Jazmyn Rollin tallied a multi-hit game including an RBI-double that bounced off the left-field wall to score the Sun Devils only run of the game, going 2-for-3 against the star-studded Stanford pitching, including a walk.
Yanni Acuña managed to go 2-for-4 on the night, her first multi-hit game since April 8 against Utah. Alexa Milius and Jordyn VanHook got singles on the night.
Deborah Jones found action with 3.2 innings in a relief effort, retiring the last seven batters that she faced en route to her longest appearance this season with a strikeout.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Cardinal struck first in the top of the first with a solo homerun.
Acuña and VanHook had a pair of singles to get on base in the bottom of the inning, but both were left stranded.
Stanford furthered its lead in the top of the second with a two-run homerun to lead 3-0.
Neither team generated any runs in the third inning, but the Cardinal scored four runs in the top of the fourth to take a 7-0 lead.
Stanford took an 8-0 lead in the top of the fifth off a single.
The Sun Devils got a run by Yaya Acuña via the Rollin double to make it 8-1.
NOTABLES
With a single in the bottom of the first, Yanni Acuña had the 160th hit of her career. She is just one run short of having 150 career runs.
After allowing no runs in her final two innings pitched tonight, Jones now has 12 scoreless innings this season in her 13 appearances this season. This was also her longest appearance of the season with 3.2 innings in the circle.
Rollin had the 60th hit of her two seasons as a Sun Devil with a single in the bottom of the fourth. In fact, she notched her 37th multi-hit game of her career, and tied her career high set in 2019 with her 11th multi-hit game of the season.
Senior Yanni Acuña also was able to have her 49th multi-hit game of her career as a Sun Devil.
With Yaya Acuña scoring a run in the bottom of the fifth, it was Stanford pitcher NiJaree Canady’s first given-up run in 12 innings pitched.
The Sun Devil’s five hits are the most given up by Canady in her career, and it is only her fourth earned run of the season.
With Saturday’s attendance of 1,764, ASU can set a single-season average attendance record with a crowd of 761 on Sunday.
QUOTES
Head Coach Megan Bartlett
On Deb Jones’ Performance
“I’m so proud of her. She’s finally settling in and mixing her pitches. When I recruited DJ she was predominantly a rise ball pitcher with a really good changeup but now she had to reinvent herself. She carries herself with nice composure and confidence. I would expect to see more and more of her as she continues to attack hitters.”
On Fan Attendance
“The fans are amazing. I wish I could fast forward in time a little bit because this place in two or three seasons will be absolutely rocking. The feel around this place was a little bit different around this time last year, but we are grateful for the support of the fans and the ASU community. I hope the fans stick with us because we are going to build something special here. We’re here for a reason and everything will pay off in time.”
UP NEXT
The Sun Devils will host the finale of the three-game series tomorrow afternoon at noon. The team will honor its graduating players in a ceremony following the game.
Press Release courtesy of Sun Devil Athletics – Josh Fisher
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