Sun Devils fall short in Kajikawa Classic

A shaky slow start cost the second-ranked Sun Devil Softball squad Sunday afternoon as they wrapped their 2009 opening weekend and the Kajikawa Classic with a tough 7-4 loss to the UTEP Miners. Kaitlin Cochran went 2-for-4 with a home run and three RBIs, but the effort wasn’t enough as ASU fell in their first loss of the season to put their record a 5-1 overall as UTEP improves to 2-3.

A tough first inning for Megan Elliott seemed to foreshadow the day as ASU found themselves with bases-loaded and no outs, but were able to come away with only two runs scored against them before the inning was out. UTEP scratched through another run in the second as well to give them a 3-0 lead.

With Hillary Bach taking over in the circle for Elliott, Bach gave up a solo shot to Stacy Townsend in the fourth, as well as seeing an error cost her another run in the fourth. The Sun Devils looked flaccid on offense as they couldn’t seem to get things rolling while UTEP stormed on, hitting another solo shot in the fifth to make it 6-0.

ASU decided to show some life in the fifth as Ashley Muenz hit a solo shot off a 2-2 pitch to cut the lead to 6-1 before a single and a walk put two on for Kaitlin Cochran who blasted a home run to right center on the first pitch she saw, to make it a 6-4 game.

UTEP wasn’t going away though, putting another on Bach’s tab to push their lead to 7-4 in the seventh, which ASU couldn’t seem to recover from as the bats fell flat again in the seventh to give UTEP the win and ASU’s first loss of the season.

Next up, the Sun Devils host the Littlewood Classic next weekend from Feb. 13-15 in Tempe at Farrington Stadium. Opponents include Iowa, Illinois State and UTC.