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Karen Ambrose Hickey/Stanford Athletics
Softball

Devils Down Card

Box Score

STANFORD, Calif. - Arizona State (28-17, 8-10 Pac-12) managed a pair of five-run innings en route to defeating Stanford (31-13, 7-8 Pac-12), 10-5, on Sunday afternoon from Stanford's Smith Family Stadium.

The victory secured the series sweep for the Sun Devils.

Senior Carolyn Lee looked locked in early in the circle for Stanford, striking out four over the first two innings, but the right-hander ran into trouble in the third. Yannira Acuna got the inning started with a single before a hit-by-pitch put two runners aboard. Kindra Hackbarth singled to load the bases, setting the table for an RBI-single from Skylar McCarty to put ASU on the board first. Morgan Howe turned the one-run advantage into a five-run cushion with one swing of the bat, launching her 11th homer of the year out to centerfield for a grand slam.

Refusing to let the game get away, Stanford scored three times in the third, and twice more in the fourth, to draw back even at 5-5. Junior Kristina Inouye delivered a two-RBI double in the third inning, and eventually came in to score on a wild pitch, cutting the deficit to two at 5-3.

Junior Teaghan Cowles recorded her second hit of the afternoon and tied the game in the fourth, launching a two-run homer to left field.

Neither team managed a run in the fifth, but ASU exploded for its second five-run frame in the sixth to open-up the 10-5 advantage. A pair of one-out walks got the ball rolling, and Kiara Kennedy cashed in with an RBI-double to left centerfield. After a sacrifice fly ran the tally to 7-5, K. Hackbarth unleashed her 14th homer of the season – a two-run shot – to extend the ASU lead to 9-5. Howe capped the scoring run two plays later, punching an RBI-single through the right side to plate McCarty.

K. Hackbarth finished the game 2-for-4 with two runs scored and two driven in, while Howe went 2-for-3 with five RBI.

Including Cowles, Stanford managed four players with two hits, as Inouye, Hannah Howell and Taylor Gindlesperger each had a pair.

Lee was eventually saddled with the loss and fell to 10-6 after allowing 10 runs on six hits and four walks. The native of San Ramon, Calif. struck out seven.

Cielo Meza got the start and took a no decision for ASU, allowing five runs over 3.1 innings of work. Samantha Mejia entered in the fourth inning and went the rest of the way, tossing 3.2 scoreless frames and allowing just two hits. Mejia improved to 13-8 on the season with the victory.

The Cardinal will now prepare to host UCLA in a three-game Pac-12 series starting on Friday at 5 p.m.