Pitching dominated the game, with each team managing only one run through the first five innings. After San Diego State scored a run in the top of the first, Kenzie Brown settled in and allowed just one hit and one walk over the next five innings. She had 10 strikeouts during the run, including five straight at one point.
The Sun Devil offense used small ball to tie the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the second. Tanya Windleopened the inning with a double before she advanced to third on an AJ Murphy sacrifice bunt. Kelsey Hallfollowed with a sacrifice fly to right that brought home Windle with the tying run.
ASU threatened in the fifth inning as Yannixa Acuña slapped a single down the third base line and then moved to third when Ayden Allen singled to right and reached second on the throw. Nothing came from the threat as a groundout ended the inning.
Ashleigh Mejia sparked a Sun Devil rally in the sixth, delivering a two-out single to right. Windle stepped up and knocked her second double of the game off the wall in center to score Mejia from first and give ASU a 2-1 lead.
SDSU answered in the top of the seventh with back-to-back home runs to take a 3-2 lead. Allen doubled with two outs in the bottom of the seventh, but again, ASU came up empty, needing a run to force extra innings.
Windle and Allen finished with two hits apiece to lead ASU. Three of the team’s seven hits went for extra bases. Brown finished with 13 strikeouts.
The result puts ASU into an elimination game with UC Santa Barbara on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. The winner plays another elimination game at approximately 7 p.m. against the loser of the UCLA vs. San Diego State game that begins at 2 p.m.
NOTABLE
- Brown’s 13 strikeouts are the second-most by a Sun Devil in a postseason game since 2010. (Escobedo – 15, 2011).
- She had 10 or more strikeouts in a game for the 12th time this season, tied for the third most in program history.
- Windle had two doubles in a game for the third time this season.
- It’s just the fifth time since 2010 a Sun Devil has had two doubles in a postseason game.
- She is the 16th player in program history to hit 15 doubles in a season.
- Windle is also the 30th player with 25 doubles as a Sun Devil.
- This is the eighth time an ASU team has hit three doubles in a postseason game since 2010.
