March 30, 2003
TEMPE, Ariz. - For the first time since joining the Pacific-10 Conference in 1987, the 13th-ranked Arizona State softball team (26-9; 3-0 Pac-10) have won their first three conference games as they swept the home series against the Oregon schools, shutting out 22nd-ranked Oregon State (22-16; 0-4 Pac-10), 3-0, Sunday at Farrington Stadium.
The Sun Devils quickly took an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning and would not relinquish the lead. Jennifer Forner opened the game with a single to centerfield. Kristin Farber then put down a sacrifice bunt attempting to move Forner to second, but OSU third baseman Clare Burnum's throw to second went wide and all the way to the rightfield fence brining home Forner.
In the third inning, Farber got it going again with two outs as she singled to leftfield and then stole second base. Kara Brun then extended her team leading hitting streak to 16 games as she singled to center, driving in Farber to stake ASU to a 2-0 lead.
In the sixth inning, Phelan Wright launched her 10th home run of the year over the right centerfield fence to push the lead to a final of 3-0.
Cheryl Evans started the game for the Devils, going 2.2 innings with three hits and two strikeouts. Desiree Serrano then finished the final 4.1 innings, notching her 16th win of the season as she limited the Beavers to two hits with five strikeouts. On the weekend, Serrano went 2-0 with one save in 14.1 innings of work and did not allow a run 0.00 ERA.
Oregon State's Brynnen Guthrie led the Beavers with a 2-for-3 game. Amy Klever (4-3) suffered the loss allowing seven hits and three runs, two earned with four strikeouts.
Up next, the Devils will travel to top-ranked UCLA for a single game on Friday, April 4 at 2:00 p.m. ASU will then hop on a plane and head to Seattle to face Washington on Saturday and Sunday.