ASU softball eliminated by losses to Ole Miss and UNC
Arizona State softball rallied to within one run in the seventh inning, but fell to North Carolina 3-2 in Saturday’s elimination game in Oxford, Miss.
Freshman left-hander Giselle Juarez allowed two runs in four innings before Breanna Macha took over, allowing one run in two innings of work.
With two outs in the seventh, Chelsea Gonzales reached on a fielder’s choice to score the Devils’ first run and senior catcher Sashel Palacios followed that with RBI line drive to left. North Carolina put an end to the rally there, though, and the Sun Devils finished the season 31-22.
Earlier in the day, Ole Miss broke open a scoreless tie in the bottom of the sixth with back-to-back triples en route to a 3-0 win over ASU, for the Sun Devils’ first loss of the tournament.
ASU junior starting pitcher Dale Ryndak tossed five scoreless innings without allowing a runner past second base until Ole Miss’ triples. Ryndak held Ole Miss to two runs on six hits in six innings of work.
Senior catcher Sashel Palacios went 2-for-3 to lead the Devils on offense.
O’Toole leads UA to regional final
Starter Danielle O’Toole didn’t allow a hit until the seventh inning as she turned in a one-hit complete game to pitch Arizona softball to a 5-0 victory over South Carolina Saturday in Tucson.
Katiyana Mauga hit her 91st career home run, a solo blast in the third inning, to secure the Pac-12 career home run record.
O’Toole struck out seven over seven innings without walking any batters.
“You just go do your job and it doesn’t matter if anything happens to affect that,” O’Toole told reporters in Tucson after the game. “You just go do your job.”
The Wildcats have won their first two tournament games for the fourth straight season. UA will play in the regional final on Sunday against the winner of Saturday night’s late game between Saint Francis and South Carolina.
Loss to UA seals 1st ASU losing season since 1985
Arizona State baseball’s hope of avoiding its first losing season in 32 years and second in the varsity era since 1959 ended Friday night.
By losing 3-1 to No. 19 Arizona at Phoenix Municipal Stadium, ASU fell to 23-28 (8-18) with just four games remaining. The Sun Devils’ only other varsity era losing season was 31-35 in 1985. They are missing out on the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2012 when they were ineligible due to NCAA sanctions. Before that, their last year not making the postseason was 1999.
UA (35-17, 14-12 Pac-12) improved to 3-1 this season against ASU, winning the Territorial Cup Series point. The Sun Devils already had clinched a fourth straight overall series title although UA narrowed the final margin (10.5 points-9.5).
ASU has been under .500 for two months and earlier saw its nation leading 54-year streak of 30-win seasons come to an end. Still, the Sun Devils remained within range of 28 wins but going into Friday would have needed a season-high, five-game win streak to finish above the breakeven mark.
Eli Lingos (6-6) limited the big-hitting Wildcats to one run over six innings in what then was a tie game.
UA’s Louis Boyd and Cal Stevenson singled to start the seventh. Ryan Hingst replaced Lingos, getting a groundout that scored a run and walking a batter. Tanner West came in to face Wildcats hitting leader JJ Matijevic, a .401 hitter who ran hard to first to prevent a double play scoring another run.
Cameron Ming (7-1) threw a complete game for the Wildcats.
“I understand the losing season piece, but to me it’s a bigger picture thing at this point,” third-year ASU coach Tracy Smith said. “I’m not worried about the future of where we’re going and how this thing is going to play out. I know sometimes it’s tough for people to see the forest through the trees, but I’m not worried about that.
“I want to make sure the guys that are wearing this uniform are still playing hard. There’s a large percentage of guys that aren’t here because they couldn’t do that. I’ve rather be shorthanded with people that want to be here and do it right. That’s the bigger message for the program, and that’s what people need to understand. If we want to get this thing back to where it needs to be, you’re going to have to grow through a little bit of this.
“I’m going to walk out of this facility tonight with my head held high because that locker room has not quit.”
Like in a 6-5 win Thursday, Arizona’s bats came to life the second time through the order.
– Jeff Metcalfe, azcentral sports