Feb. 18, 2011
TEMPE, Ariz. – Katelyn Boyd and Mandy Urfer both collected two home run games Friday night as the No. 9 Sun Devil Softball team kicked open the Littlewood Classic with a 10-0 (5) win over Seattle U and a 13-4 (6) win over Illinois State. Mackenzie Popescue picked up her first collegiate win over Seattle U while Dallas Escobedo moves to 5-0 on the year with the Sun Devils holding at 7-1 overall.
Game one gave Mackenzie Popescue her first collegiate win as she took to the circle for the start against the Redbirds. Popescue looked in control from the start, allowing only two hits to the Redhawks as she let her offense do the talking. ASU added one run in the first on the board with an RBI single from Talor Haro before breaking the game open in the second with home runs from Mandy Urfer and Kaylyn Castillo adding four more.
Four more runs found their way to the scoreboard in the third with the highlight coming from Mandy Urfer going yard again for ASU for three runs with a bases loaded walk drawing the last run. Popescue handled the rest as ASU cruised to a 10-0 win in five innings for their opening game of the Littlewood Classic.
Some revenge was in order for the Illinois State game as well from last year’s Littlewood Classic where the Redbirds upset the Sun Devils on their home turf in extra innings last February. The Redbirds entered the contest 5-1 on the year with some red-hot bats entering the fray against the undefeated Dallas Escobedo. The Sun Devils took to the scoreboard first as Katelyn Boyd cracked a solo shot for her first home run of the season to give ASU a 1-0 lead.
The Redbirds weren’t going easy though as they rallied back to take the lead in the third off a two-run shot from Abby Olsen. The lead was short-lived though as ASU came back in the bottom of the inning to bring home two runs as Boyd hit another solo shot only to be followed up by a Krista Donnenwrith RBI double down the right line to make it 3-2. The score played tug-of-war again in the top of the fourth as a two-RBI triple from Javon Hamilton returned the lead to ILS.
That was all she wrote for the Illinois State offense though as Dallas Escobedo struck out six as her offense exploded for 10 runs, five apiece in the fifth and sixth inning with highlights coming from two-RBI hits from Krista Donnenwirth and Mandy Urfer before it was all put away with Annie Lockwood’s second grand slam of the season for a nightcap to close it out early.
The Sun Devils return to action tomorrow as they host day two of the Littlewood Classic. With inclement weather rolling in, games will be pushed early with ASU’s originally scheduled games at 5 and 7 p.m. being moved to 3:45 and 6 p.m. in Tempe at Farrington Stadium.