Softball kicks off Pac-12 play with State Farm Territorial Cup series

The No. 5/6 Arizona State softball team opens Pac-12 play this weekend with a three-game series against the rival No. 14/13 Arizona Wildcats (19-5). The Devils (28-3) will see State Farm Territorial Cup action on Friday and Saturday night at 7 p.m., and Sunday afternoon at 12 p.m.

Follow the Sun Devils Live
All three games will be broadcast live on FOX Sports Arizona’s Sun Devils stream page, which can be found by clicking here. Fans can also find live stats and play-by-play on Gametracker on the softball schedule page, which is located here.

Previously for the Devils
Arizona State traveled to Fullerton, Calif., for the Judi Garman Classic, which saw the Devils go 3-1 with the Saturday game against Notre Dame getting rained out. All three wins were shutout victories. The victory over Fresno State marked Hillary Bach’s 79th career win, moving her to third overall in career wins in the Sun Devil record books. Katelyn Boyd’s 58th career home run came against the loss to Louisiana-Lafayette and puts her one away from second overall in career homers, and two away from third in career hits.

Scouting the Wildcats
Arizona (19-5) enters the weekend ranked 14th/13th in the nation, including17th in earned run average and 26th in batting average. In the Pac-12, ASU leads the Wildcats in nearly every statistical category, excepting strikeouts, hit by pitch, and sacrifice bunts. Individually, freshman shortstop Shelby Pendley is tenth in the nation in slugging percentage with 0.902, which is third in the conference.

Devils in the Rankings
Senior shortstop Boyd leads the Pac-12 in five separate categories: slugging percentage (1.037), runs scored (42), home runs (13), total bases (85) and total plate appearances (114). Hillary Bach’s 0.57 ERA places her at first in the Pac-12 and third nationally. Other Devils spotting the conference rankings include Elizabeth Caporuscio, who ranks in the top ten in seven categories and Annie Lockwood who appears in four groups.

Weekend Promotion
Sun Devil softball has teamed up with Avnet, Maag Toy Foundation and Crisis Nursery. Help brighten the lives of area children that have been exposed toabuse, neglect or homelessness at this weekend’s State Farm Territorial Cup Series against the University of Arizona. Fans are encouraged to bring toys and gifts to any game this weekend and they will then be donated to the Crisis Nursery. For more information visit the Crisis Nursery website