Arizona State had nine hits total with six going for extra bases. Along with the three home runs, Alexa Milius had two doubles with VanHook adding the third. In the circle, Kenzie Brown tallied six strikeouts in 4.2 innings for her seventh win of the season.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Houston scored the game’s first run in the top of the first with a double, groundout and wild pitch.
ASU answered quickly as Acuña walked to start the bottom of the inning and scored when Milius followed with a double to tie the game at 1-1.
Two batters later, VanHook delivered her 13th home run of the season over the wall in left center to open a 3-1 Sun Devils advantage.
Cazares went yard with two outs in the inning to make it 4-1.
The Cougars were able to tie the game at 4-4 with three runs in the top of the second.
Acuña once again ignited the ASU offense with a two-out home run to center in the bottom half of the second to put the team in front 5-4.
Milius notched her second consecutive double and then scored on a single from Jazmyn Rollin for a 6-4 lead after two.
With Brown continuing to put up zeroes in the circle, Acuña and Milius has back-to-back singles to start the ASU fourth. VanHook added some insurance runs with a two-run double that provided the final 8-4 score.
Marissa Schuld entered with a runner on first and two outs in the top of the sixth. She went the final 1.2 innings without allowing a run and posting one strikeout to close out the win for the Sun Devils to give ASU their fourth victory of the weekend.
QUOTES:
Arizona State Head Coach Megan Bartlett
On Closing out the weekend with a win:
“They came out ready to go, I thought they were locked in and hit the ball well. We made a couple mistakes in the outfield, as an outfield coach it beats my heart and it kind of let them back in the game. But for the most part I thought they were ready to go. We knew it was going to be an all hands on deck type of day using multiple pitchers and some smart pinch-hitting so I thought the kids were ready.”
On Alexa Milius’s Success today and this weekend:
“Alexa is one of our most prepared kids. She is a film rat, she goes into each at-bat knowing what pitch she’s hitting on, what she’s hunting and the beauty of Alexa is that she doesn’t try to do too much at the plate. She’s not trying to hit the ball 380 feet, she is trying to get on base and drive balls into gaps. She’s fun to coach.”
On conference play against Arizona on Friday and what challenges they present:
“Time to compete, let’s have some fun. Arizona is a great ball club, they have history, tradition, and they’re having a great year. We have to talk about staying present and having a short memory and do what we’ve done this entire year. They’re going to punch and we’re going to punch back. The end of the day the chips are going to fall, and if it’s not in our favor we’ll adjust onto the next day and figure out how to win a series. Hopefully the Iowa State three game-set primed them for that idea that people are going to figure out how to pitch you pretty quick so if we can’t make adjustments at the plate it’s going to be a long weekend. I think they’re ready to go.”
Graduate Third Baseman Alexa Milius
On changes she’s seen over the past few days:
“I’m just trying to stay consistent, I know my first couple of days this weekend weren’t my best. So just trying to adjust to that and staying smooth with my approach, batting behind Yanni is an honor and she’s amazing and batting in front of Jordyn. Literally anywhere you hit in this lineup, someone’s there to pick you up or get on base in front of you, it’s really just a collective effort and really fun to be around.”
On amount of runs scored across the past two days:
“We’re just hungry, we just want to put up as many runs as we can for these pitchers who work their butts off every single day. So anything we can do to just get runs up on that board and put pressure on the other team on defense.”
Sophomore Pitcher Kenzie Brown
On what the keys to success were for the pitching staff during today’s game:
“I think, honestly, on Sundays, it’s a really tough day – our bodies are tired, so just having everyone, all hands on deck, really made the day work for us.”
On the importance of the defense helping the pitchers, especially when the team is tired:
“Definitely, it makes it less difficult for us. Trusting our defense and trusting that they’ll make a play behind us, that’s definitely huge.”
On how she’s been able to keep her confidence up during the appearances she’s had so far:
“Yeah, I think my coaches definitely help – they tell me all the time just how good I am and how I just need to spin my pitches to make everything work for me – so trusting that and, again, trusting the defense behind me, it makes it so much easier because I don’t have to hit all my spots.”
UP NEXT:
The Sun Devils will host Arizona next weekend with a three-game series beginning Friday, March 10 through Sunday, March 12. First pitch for Friday’s game will be at 7 p.m., Saturday’s game will be at 5 p.m. and Sunday’s game will be at 2 p.m. All games can be viewed on the Pac-12 Network.
Press Release courtesy of Sun Devil Athletics – Josh Fisher
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