(Photo: Alli Cline/WCSN)
Arizona State’s freshman pitcher Dale Ryndak stepped into the circle on Saturday, following Friday night’s crushing loss, and delivered a hard-fought and well-earned victory as ASU (28-16, 6-7) defeated the Oregon State Beavers (24-17, 5-12) 9-5.
Ryndak came back with a vengeance after surrendering a go-ahead home run in the seventh inning in relief of Breanna Macha in Friday’s 7-6 loss. She battled her way through 5.1 innings, with nine hits, four runs and three strikeouts.
Ryndak performed marvelously in limiting the damage done to her, getting a groundout after a CJ Chirichigno home run in the second inning, and rolling a double play in the third inning with runners on first and third and another run already in.
Sun Devil head coach Craig Nicholson was pleased with Ryndak’s performance, who gave her the start one night after blowing a save in the series-opening game.
“I don’t know that Dale had her best stuff, but I thought she really did a good job of battling,” Nicholson said. “I actually thought both our pitchers threw the ball pretty well.”
Ryndak was able to be effective despite giving up two home runs to Chirichigno, bringing the total that she has given up this year to 27.
Nicholson had to expect growing pains from Ryndak in the circle this season, and tonight was no different.
“When you throw as hard as she does, you’re going to give up some home runs,” Nicholson said. “She’s just got to continue to work to change speeds a little bit and really keep the ball in good spots.”
The power surge season for the Devils continued as Haley Steele, Amber Freeman Bethany Kemp and Chelsea Gonzales all left the park, Kemp and Gonzales blasting home runs in a four-run sixth inning that turned a 5-4 nail biter into a comfortable 9-4 cushion.
The offense overall shined brightly for the Devils, answering every Beaver score with one of their own, and never allowing OSU to stay close for very long.
Senior catcher Amber Freeman viewed the win as a total team effort.
“We wanted to be better in all aspects of the game, and I think we were a lot better today,” Freeman said. “We still aren’t where we want to be offensively but definitely a step in the right direction.”
Gonzales echoed the mindset of Freeman.
“Coming off of yesterday we just wanted to bounce back, just get a good lead and get good hits,” Gonzales said.
The relief pitching did not fail the Devils on this night as Ryndak gave way to Macha with one out in the sixth, who proceeded to strand the tying and go-ahead runs on base and faced no serious trouble in the seventh on her way to the fifth save of her freshman season.
The Sun Devils will go for a much-needed series win Sunday afternoon at Farrington Stadium, coming off a series sweep last weekend in Eugene by the Pac-12-leading Oregon Ducks. First pitch is set for noon Sunday.
