April 24, 2010
TEMPE, Ariz. – Nine Sun Devils left on base and timely Duck hitting spelled the story Saturday night as the No. 9 ASU Softball team fell 7-4 to the No. 20 Oregon Ducks in front of a capacity crowd at Farrington Stadium. Sam Parlich took the loss for ASU, dropping to 7-5 on the year while ASU falls to 36-10 overall and 5-6 in the Pac-10. With the win the Ducks improve to 31-9 overall and 7-4 in conference play.
Sam Parlich took to the circle to represent the Maroon & Gold, entering the game with a 7-4 record taking on Sam Skillingstad of Oregon with a 10-4 record.
The quack attack struck first as the Ducks were able to put four runs on Parlich’s tab, cracking three hits and capitalizing on a pair of costly walks giving UO a 4-0 advantage before ASU could even break their bats out.
But break out the bats they did, starting with Katelyn Boyd, still playing with two broken fingers, who took an 0-1 pitch deep to right center for a solo shot, and her 15th home run on the season.
Oregon came flying back at the Sun Devils again though in the third inning with Kelsey Chambers sending a solo shot deep to right center to push Oregon ahead 5-1. With Megan Elliott coming in to throw some solid relief, the Sun Devils found themselves in a bit of a pickle in the top of the fourth with bases loaded and two outs, but with some handy glove work from Katelyn Boyd and Mandy Urfer they wiggled out of the inning unscathed.
Urfer wasn’t done yet though as she came back in the bottom of the inning to breathe a little life into the Sun Devil offense, sending a solo shot over left center to cut UO’s lead to 5-2.
The spark may have been a will-o’-the-wisp for the Sun Devils though as the Ducks came back in the top of the fifth to add two to the scoreboard, loading up the bases with no outs to bring Sam Parlich back into the game where a double to right resulted in two more for UO and pushing the lead 7-2.
A pulse of life in the Sun Devil offense reared it’s head in the bottom of the inning as ASU led-off with two straight singles, one of which got to grace the plate with an RBI fielder’s choice from Krista Donnenwirth. The Sun Devils loaded up the bases in the inning, but were only to be denied as relief pitcher Jessica Moore shut them down with a clutch fly out and strikeout.
With the Sun Devils loading them up again in the sixth, Kaylyn Castillo came in clutch again for an RBI single, but the run was but a mere tease as ASU left them juiced again while Oregon held on to their 7-4 lead.
Video highlights and interviews to come.
The Sun Devils will wrap the series against the Ducks tomorrow as they set to take the field at Farrington Stadium at high noon in Tempe.