Sun Devils' hot arms cool Bay Area bats

 by Steven Falkenhagen
 published on Monday, March 31, 2008

Pitching and defense allowed the ASU softball team to sweep its first three games of Pac-10 play.

No. 2 ASU (39-2, 3-0 Pac-10) won its first conference game 4-2 at No. 23 California (32-12, 1-2 Pac-10) on Friday.

Following Friday's victory, ASU beat No. 5 Stanford 6-0 on Saturday and closed out its weekend with a 3-0 victory against Stanford on Sunday in a game that went 13 innings.

Both ASU senior pitcher Katie Burkhart (20-2) and ASU sophomore pitcher Megan Elliott (14-0) were an integral part to the sweep. Burkhart pitched in all three games and earned the win in all three games, while Elliott pitched nine plus innings of shut-out ball in a no-decision effort against Stanford (32-5, 0-3 Pac-10) on Sunday.

ASU's first conference game of the season was a pitcher's duel that ended in a 4-2 victory for the Sun Devils on a rainy day in Berkeley, Calif., featuring Burkhart and Cal sophomore pitcher Marissa Drewrey (19-6).

Both pitchers did not allow a run until the bottom of the fifth inning. Junior leftfielder Gina Leomiti hit a 3-1 pitch to right field for a two-run home run, giving the Golden Bears a 2-0 lead. The lead was short-lived though, as in the top half of the sixth inning, the Sun Devils responded with a two-run home run off the bat of sophomore first baseman Katie Crabb. ASU took the lead for good when senior left fielder Jackie Vasquez was driven in by a triple from senior second baseman Mindy Cowles.

Burkhart shut down Cal for the final two innings, and the Sun Devils added an insurance run in the top of the sixth off a homer from Caylyn Carlson.

Burkhart pitched a complete game, yielding eight hits, two earned runs, while striking out seven.

Drewrey also went the distance for Cal, giving up 10 hits, four earned runs, walking six and striking out five.

Burkhart got the call again on Saturday and did not disappoint, allowing only three hits, while striking out seven in a complete-game shutout.

The ASU bats provided Burkhart with ample run support, three of which came in the form of the long ball. Freshman third baseman Krista Donnenwirth put the Sun Devils on the board with a solo shot in the second inning. Crabb hit a two-run bomb in the second to give her two home runs in as many days to give ASU a 4-0 advantage.

Senior catcher Kristen Miller completed the scoring with a two-run home run of her own in the sixth inning to put the Sun Devils ahead, 6-0.

During the final game of the weekend, ASU was pitted against Stanford ace junior pitcher Missy Penna (21-4). Elliott trotted out to the mound for the Sun Devils, looking for her 15th win on the season.

Elliott had perhaps her best outing on the year, allowing no runs, on five hits and striking out five through 9 1/3 innings.

ASU senior shortstop Rhiannon Baca was the defensive star on the afternoon with two putouts and eight assists. Burkhart relieved Elliott and pitched 3 2/3 innings of shutout ball.

Penna went the distance for the Cardinal, throwing 213 pitches. The three runs she allowed were unearned and all came in the 13th inning. With two outs and a runner on first base, Baca reached on an error by junior Maddy Coon, her Stanford counterpart at shortstop. Vasquez hit a 3-2 pitch over the centerfield wall to give the Sun Devils a 3-0 lead.

After allowing a walk to start the 13th, Burkhart shut down the Cardinal order to earn the win.

The Sun Devils are back on the road as conference play continues in Oregon this weekend. ASU begins with Oregon on Friday in Eugene before closing out the weekend with Oregon State on Saturday and Sunday.

Reach the reporter at: steven.falkenhagen@asu.edu.