March 6, 2010
Box Score
Tempe, AZ --- In a game that featured a little bit of everything, Idaho State shockingly led the ninth-ranked Arizona State Sun Devils 4-2 in the sixth inning before a three-run home run by Caylyn Carlson, one of her three hits, gave ASU the lead, and then three unearned run in the seventh spoiled any comeback attempt as the Bengals lost to the Sun Devils 8-4 in what was nearly the ISU softball program's signature win.
The Bengals, who have never beaten Arizona State, had never really come close to it either, but Kandis Clesson wiggled and wormed her way out of trouble in the first four innings, keeping one of the nation's highest scoring teams off the board completely.
Included in all that wiggling were three runners getting gunned down at the plate, including back-to-back innings. With two outs in the second, Megan Miller threw out Christina Zambrana at the plate, and then in the third Desirae Hoffman threw out the speedy Katelyn Boyd as they caught her in a rundown that went Hoffman to catcher Terah Blackwell to third baseman Jocelyn Horton and finally back to Blackwell.
Those outs meant ISU's three consecutive two-out singles, by Emily Hu, Miller, and Taylor Marchione gave ISU a 1-0 lead after three.
ASU finally broke through in the seventh with a pair of runs on a run-scoring triple by Boyd and a run-scoring single by Krista Donnenwirth. ISU escaped further trouble when they again threw out a runner at the plate from the outfield as Miller threw out pinch runner Kayla Ketchum on a rundown that went 86252 (Miller, Jessica Baca, Blackwell, Horton, Blackwell).
ISU then retook the lead with three in the bottom of the fifth, two scoring on a double by Miller who then scored on an RBI grounder by Erin Olander. However, that lead was shortlived. The first two batters of the sixth reached for ASU before Carlson connected on a three-run blast to right center to give the Sun Devils a 5-4 lead.
Clesson got out of the inning on a double play grounder, and ISU couldn't score in the sixth, and ASU put it away with three unearned runs in the seventh. Sam Parlich singled, and then Olander, who was only playing her second game at first base, bobbled a grounder. A sacrifice moved everyone up, and then Parlich scored on a fielder's choice, which would have been the third out, but instead everyone was safe. Carlson then doubled in a run to make it 7-4, and a ground out made it 8-4, and ASU pitcher Megan Elliott got out of the seventh with just a base runner reaching to end it.
The Bengals picked up seven hits in the game, including two each by Marchione and Miller, with Miller now hitting safely in all nine games this season and 14 in a row dating back to last year. Clesson danced for the most part around 14 hits, allowing five earned runs, walking five, and striking out two. ISU's defense, which did commit two errors, was outstanding nonetheless, turning a double play and recording three outfield assists.
The Bengals, who dropped to 3-6, play Creighton at 9:00 am on Saturday and Northern Iowa at 11:00 am.
NOTES: ISU has never defeated a ranked team ... the Bengals' four runs vs. ASU was their most ever vs. the Sun Devils, as they scored four in a 15-4 loss back in 2007 ... Miller is now batting .412 and Hoffman's average dropped to .519, despite going 1-for-2 again ... Jocelyn Horton picked up her first hit as a Bengal.
