Escobedo gets 50th win as ASU downs UCLA
Timely hitting helped the Arizona State softball team pull away for a 9-1 mercy-rule over UCLA in six innings Thursday night. Dallas Escobedo earned her 50th career victory with the Sun Devils, moving into 10th place on the school's all-time list.
With the win, the Devils improved to 33-4 overall and 5-1 in the Pac-12. UCLA dropped to 25-8 and an even 2-2 in conference action.
ASU's offense was led by Talor Haro, who went 3 for 3 to complement Escobedo's strong four-strikeout performance in the circle.
The Devils came to life in the third inning, when Alix Johnson drew a bases-loaded walk to drive in the first run of the game. An Annie Lockwood single plated Bailey Wigness one at-bat later, and Haley Steele then grounded out to bring in Katelyn Boyd and make it 3-0.
Arizona State cushioned its lead in the fourth when Amber Freeman launched a home run over the center-field wall on a 0-2 count. It marked the freshman’s sixth homer of the year and the team’s 54th, and it extended the lead to 4-0.
The Bruins knocked in a run in the top of the fifth, with pinch-runner Sam Duran scoring on a sacrifice fly from Andrea Harrison, who reached on an error. UCLA was unable to convert any of its remaining chances, though, leaving seven runners on base for the night.
The Devils secured the win in the top of the sixth, loading the bases and then tallying five runs on four hits, enacting the mercy rule and ending the game with a final score of 9-1.
Escobedo earned up the win, improving to 13-3 on the season, while Jessica Hall took the loss and fell to 12-5 overall.