TEMPE, Ariz. -- Arizona State softball dominated its doubleheader with Central Connecticut State on Saturday, cruising to 10-0 and 11-1 mercy wins, both in five innings, to improve to 13-2 on the year.
Annie Lockwood tied her career high with four RBIs in the opener, and Elizabeth Caporuscio hit her team-leading fifth home run of the year in the nightcap.
ASU wasted no time lighting up the scoreboard, taking the lead in the first inning of Saturday's first game. After a walk and a hit batter put Bailey Wigness and Katelyn Boyd on base, Lockwood launched her fourth career home run over the left-center wall to put her team ahead 3-0.
In the second inning, after a Central Connecticue State error put Haley Steele on base, Wigness singled to bring the freshman around for her sixth run of the season.
Just an inning later, with two runner in scoring position, Sam Parlich rocketed one straight back past the pitcher to score Caporuscio. Haley Steele and Talor Haro then reached on back-to-back errors, with Parlich coming home to score on the second. Wigness then walked, Boyd singled and Lockwood hit a sacrifice fly that brought home two runs, making it 9-0 after three.
ASU emptied its bench in the bottom of the fourth, with six pinch hitters each logging an at-bat. Laura Bradley hit a grounder to first to score Nikole Afusia, who had reached on a single, and Bethany Kemp, Danielle Muniz, Kayla Ketchum and Lindsey Edgerton also got to the plate.
Mackenzie Popescue recorded five strikeouts in the five innings and allowed only three hits in the shutout victory. She now has a 3-1 record and a 0.74 ERA on the season.
Game 2: Arizona State 11, Central Connecticut 1 (5 innings)
The Sun Devils started with some small ball, as the first run of the game was scored on a squeeze bunt by Caporuscio that brought Wigness to the plate.
Central Connecticut State's Nicole Springer tied it up in the bottom of the second inning with a home run, but ASU answered in the top of the third with a Caporuscio run on a fielder’s choice, putting the Devils ahead 2-1. An inning later, Boyd scored on a sacrifice fly from Lockwood to make it 3-1.
ASU began to pull away in the top of the fifth, starting with a home run from Amber Freeman, her second on the year. The Devils then batted around, with eight runs scoring on 10 hits. Caporuscio added her fifth homer of the season, giving her the team lead in that category.
Hillary Bach improved to 6-0 on the year with the win and now boasts a 0.19 ERA. She allowed just five hits and no walks against the Blue Devils.
ASU wraps up its series with Central Connecticut State on Sunday, with first pitch scheduled for noon.
