STANFORD, Calif. - Knotted at one headed into the sixth inning, Stanford (31-11, 7-6 Pac-12) surrendered five runs in the frame and four more in the seventh before eventually dropping game one of a three-game Pac-12 series to Arizona State (26-17, 6-10 Pac-12), 10-4, on Friday night from Smith Family Stadium.
Sun Devil first baseman DeNae Chatman seemingly came up with the big hit throughout the game, finishing 3-for-4 with two homers and four RBI. Including the two from Chatman, ASU connected for four home runs in the victory.
Stanford got on the board first in the setback, taking advantage of a throwing error and scoring once in the second. With runners at the corners, freshman Emily Schultz put pressure on the defense and stole second as the throw skipped into centerfield and allowed Emily Young to scamper home from third and break the stalemate.
Chatman brought the Sun Devils back even in the fourth with her ninth home run of the season, sending a pitch from starter Carolyn Lee over the wall in left centerfield to run the tally to 1-1.
The Cardinal missed an opportunity to reclaim the lead in the fourth, as Young delivered a one-out triple, but was stranded there as Schultz popped up to shortstop in front of an Emily Klingaman strikeout and ASU starter Cielo Meza wiggled out of the jam.
B4 » ?? 1, ?? 1
— Stanford Softball (@StanfordSball) April 27, 2019
Emily Young drives her fifth triple of the year off the wall in left centerfield with one out, but she's stranded there.
Stanford extends its program record with its 24th triple of the season.#GoStanford pic.twitter.com/eWwMNWviaE
Meza would eventually earn the victory after tossing 5.0 innings and allowing three runs (two earned) on four hits and two walks while striking out seven. The win moved the right-hander to 3-2 on the season.
Chatman again came up big for ASU in the sixth, this time delivering the go-ahead RBI-single into the hole at shortstop with runners at the corners and one out. The Sun Devils would ultimately load the bases on a walk, and pinch hitter Yannira Acuna cleared them with one swing, driving a line-drive grand slam out to right centerfield to extend the Sun Devil lead to 6-1 and cap the five-run frame.
Responding right away, Stanford scored three runs on two hits in the bottom of the sixth to cut the lead to two at 6-4. The Cardinal loaded the bases with one out, and Young got the scoring started with a sacrifice fly. A shallow pop-up went for the second out of the inning and left runners at first and second, but Klingaman came up clutch on the ensuing play, punching an RBI-double into right centerfield to drive in Montana Dixon. The ball was bobbled on the play, and Whitney Burks never slowed headed into the third, turning the bag and racing home with the third and final run of the inning.
B6 » ?? 6, ?? 4@EmilyKlingaman drives in one with a double, and an error on the play allows a second run to come in!#GoStanford pic.twitter.com/JSYQwivLNn
— Stanford Softball (@StanfordSball) April 27, 2019
Regaining the momentum, Arizona State took advantage of a costly error committed by reliever Kiana Pancino en route to blowing the game open in the seventh. With two out and a runner at third, Pancino came off the rubber to field a dribbler up the first base line, but bobbled the ball to allow the run to score and extend the inning. Chatman followed with her second homer of the game, and Bella Loomis launched her 10th of the season, to make it back-to-back round-trippers and leave the ASU advantage at 10-4.
Senior Carolyn Lee was charged with the loss after allowing seven runs (six earned) on five hits and three walks, dropping to 10-5 with the decision.
The Cardinal will try to even the series on Saturday night when the two teams meet at 5:30 p.m. Saturday night's contest will feature fireworks postgame and an oven mitt promotional giveaway.