Softball drops two to open Judi Garmen Classic

Two walk-off heart breakers awaited the seventh-ranked ASU Softball team Thursday afternoon as they opened the Judi Garmen Classic with a 1-0 loss to No. 15 Texas and a 5-4 loss to No. 8 Oklahoma. Hillary Bach and Sam Parlich took the respective losses as ASU is now 24-4 overall.

Game one sent Hillary Bach to the circle for the Sun Devils in what turned out to be an old-fashioned pitcher’s duel with the sophomore righty locking horns with freshman Blair Luna where both kept the offenses off-kilt throughout most of the game, each pitching six shutout innings.

The Sun Devil offense just couldn’t get it together as Luna essentially eclipsed ASU’s bat power, allowing only one hit to Sam Parlich in the entire game.  Hillary Bach gave it her all as well, keeping the Longhorns stagnant until the seventh inning when she threw a 2-2 pitch that third basemen Nadia Taylor was just able to get a hold of, tearing it over the left field fence for a walk-off solo shot to end the game.

After a pseudo siesta, the Sun Devils came back for their afternoon game rested and looking to take on the eighth-ranked Oklahoma Sooners where Megan Elliott took to the circle looking to hit double digits in wins this season entering with a 9-1 record.

The hard-hitting Sooners had other plans though as they jumped on the scoreboard first in the fourth inning when an RBI double from Haley Nix brought around Amber Flores for a 1-0 lead. ASU came back to snake the lead in the sixth though after a costly Sooner error and a huge two-RBI double from Annie Lockwood to push it to 2-1 in A State’s favor.

OU wasn’t about to go quietly into the night though as a two-run home run from Katie Norris and an RBI double from Brianna Turang gave OU a 4-2 lead and saw Sam Parlich enter the game in relief. Parlich held her own as ASU rattled the cage again in the seventh tying it up with Caylyn Carlson’s RBI single and a wild pitch to bring home Talor Haro for a 4-4 tie.

It wasn’t in the cards for the Devils though as Parlich looked solid, striking out the first two batters before the trouble began with a single from Haley Nix who was pushed to second with a walk. Digging in on 1-1 pitch Katie Norris came through in the clutch again as she loped a ball to right center for the walk-off 5-4 win in OU’s favor.
 
The Sun Devils hit the diamond again today as the Judi Garmen Classic continues with ASU taking on DePaul at 11:15 a.m. in Fullerton at the Cal State Fullerton Softball Complex.