March 26, 2011
TEMPE, Ariz. - An eleven run explosive fifth inning was the highlight of the night Saturday as the No. 5 Sun Devil Softball team held their annual Pink-Out Event for over 1,400 fans who saw ASU take an 11-3 (5) win over the UCSB Gauchos. UCSB drops to 12-13 on the season as the Sun Devils are now 32-2 overall on the year with Dallas Escobedo taking the win to move to 15-1.
The game proved to be a bit of a slow start for the Sun Devils as they did strike first as they put a run on the board with an RBI single from Annie Lockwood to take the lead, but it was fugacious as UCSB came to play though as they put two on the board to snake the lead 2-1 before taking on another run in the fourth to make it a 3-1 Gaucho lead.
The Sun Devil offensive looked lackluster with only a few trickle hits through four complete before the senior showcase began in the fifth as Sam Parlich got it started with a single when senior Krista Donnenwirth sent a shot to left field to tie it up with one swing as she hit her fourth home run of the season.
That was all the spark the Sun Devils needed though as they came out to rock `em sock `em through the rest of the inning with another senior Mandy Urfer hitting her sixth home run of the season with a grand slam to left which pulled ASU up 7-3. Donnenwirth struck again with a three-RBI double to make it 10-3 with only one out on the board. For a nightcap and to finish the scoring melee Alix Johnson slapped a single to left field for the last run A State needed to lock up their 20th run rule win of the year.
The Sun Devils will close out the three game series with UCSB tomorrow as they face the Gauchos at noon in Tempe at Farrington Stadium.