Three home runs help ASU softball sweep Stanford


The No. 4 Arizona State softball team (39-5, 11-2 Pac-12) saw three home runs in the afternoon finale against the No. 16 Stanford Cardinal (32-16, 6-12 Pac-12), ending with a final score of 7-1.

This weekend’s sweep marked the third-straight home series in which the Devils have swept their opponent - the previous two being Arizona and UCLA. It was also the eighth game in which Arizona State has hit three or more home runs, the most recent being Friday’s game against the Cardinal.

Senior pitcher Hillary Bach is now 19-0 on the year with Sunday’s victory, allowing only three hits and notching three strikeouts.

The Devils wasted no time lighting up the scoreboard in the first inning, with Katelyn Boyd drawing the leadoff walk, Alix Johnson rocketed a two-run homer past both fences in left center. Elizabeth Caporuscio followed later in the frame for her own long-yarder to put ASU up 3-0.

Neither team saw any advance in the score until the top of the fourth. Stanford recorded its only run of the game when Jenna Rich pulled her own long-yarder to make it a 3-1 game.

Boyd then widened the lead in the bottom of the fifth with a two-run shot of her own that pulled the score to 5-1. Pinch runner Kayla Ketchum came around on a passed ball, followed by Talor Haro scoring on a sacrifice groundout for the final score of 7-1.

Teagan Gerhart garners the loss for Stanford, pushing her to 27-10 on the year.

FOLLOW THE SUN DEVILS LIVE
Friday’s game will be on Fox Sports, check TV listings for the channel. Live stats and play-by-play will be available for the Washington series on GameTracker. All links can be found in the sidebar on the Arizona State softball schedule page, which is found here.

UP NEXT:
The Sun Devils travel to Washington April 27-29. Friday’s game will be on Fox Sports, check local listings for the channel. Live stats can be found on the ASU schedule page, here and live video (Saturday and Sunday) here.

VOTE FOR BOYD FOR THE LOWE'S SENIOR CLASS AWARD | Vote Here
Ten NCAA® softball student-athletes who excel both on and off the field were selected as finalists today for the 2012 Lowe's Senior CLASS Award. Katelyn Boyd has been chosen as one of the 2012 finalist. To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence - community, classroom, character and competition. Vote for Katelyn at www.seniorclassaward.com/vote.