TUCSON, Ariz. -- Battling 21 mph winds at Hillenbrand Stadium, the third-ranked Arizona State softball team (43-9, 14-7 Pac-12) rallied for a 7-6 win Sunday in the weekend finale at Arizona (30-23, 7-14 Pac-12).
The Wildcats got on the board early, scoring three runs in the bottom of the first. The two-out rally saw
Kelsey Rodriguez plate Chelsea Suitos before Brigette Del Ponte brought in
Lauren Young and Rodriguez to make it 3-0.
The Devils responded with three in the top of the third to tie it. Cheyenne Coyle came in on a double by Bethany Kemp, Sam Parlich drove in Haley Steele on a single to right-center and Kemp scored on Nikki Girard's single to short for a
third straight RBI hit.
But the Cats answered quickly in the bottom of the frame with three more runs to go ahead 6-3. The big blow in the inning came off the bat of Del Ponte, who got her third and
fourth RBI of the game on a two-run homer down the left-field line.
ASU's starter Dallas Escobedo left in the bottom of the third, going 2 2/3 innings with just one strikeout. Mackenzie Popescue relieved her, making her second appearance of the weekend in relief.
Both teams stayed quiet the rest of the way until ASU's bats woke up with the game -- and a potential UA series sweep -- on the line in the top of
the seventh. Girard hit a clutch two-run double to left that brought
the the Sun Devils to within 6-5. Elizabeth Caporuscio followed with the game-winner, a chopper down the right-field line that plated Parlich and Kayla Ketchum to make it 7-6.
Arizona didn't go down easy, loading the bases in the bottom of the seventh, but Popescue ended the game with a strikeout looking to finish off the win for ASU.
Girard finished 2 for 4 with three RBI, and Parlich went 3 for 4.
Popescue held UA to two hits over the final 4 1/3 innings to earn the win and improve to 18-5 on the year. Arizona starter Shelby Babcock took the loss to fall to 16-10.
