Arizona State softball strides into the weekend with a chance to improve their 12-5 record in their final home non-conference tournament of the season when they take on Michigan, Binghampton and Toledo in the Louisville Slugger Invitational.
The Sun Devils notched four wins last weekend in the Diamond Devil Invitational with the exclamation point being Haley Steele’s walk-off grand slam Sunday against New Mexico State.
There are lots of positives for ASU looking forward to the weekend, as they are 8-2 in their last 10 games. The pitching staff has started to come into its own, led by the emergence of Dale Ryndak who has improved her ERA to 2.58 with a 6-1 record.
The only worry for the weekend is the Michigan Wolverines, who are currently ranked No. 3 in the country. In the early season, the Devils have struggled at times against ranked opponents, having lost two of their three games against teams in the top 25.
No. 21 Arizona State will get a chance at the Blue twice, and if they drop both games could be in jeopardy of losing their spot in the top 25.
Toledo and Binghampton won’t be as daunting of opponents, but ASU will have to be careful because they will play Binghampton twice and will face Toledo on the back end of a back-to-back Saturday.
Let’s get to know more about the Sun Devils’ opponents for the weekend…
Michigan
The Wolverines have a very impressive 13-1, record so far and that is not a fluke. Michigan has beaten No. 12 Florida State, and No. 4 Alabama twice. Their only loss came against the best team in the country, No. 1-ranked Florida.
Sierra Romero, who is batting .455 with 4 homeruns, has powered their offense. However, the Wolverines have made their money with pitching, as all three of their starters have an ERA under 2.00. Haylie Wagner, Magan Betsa and Sara Driesenga have been equally impressive in the circle and will be a tough task for any team in the nation.
Michigan will enter the Louisville slugger invitational on a 12-game win streak with no fear of any opponent.
Binghampton
This small school from New York isn’t very well known, and its softball is pretty similar. The Bearcats have only played five games this season and come into the tournament with a 2-3 record.
Two of their three losses have come against Boston College, who is 11-3. Both games Binghampton played against BC were very close, and that shows that they can compete. This should not be a team to take lightly.
Toledo
Toledo comes into the weekend having won its last two games. It has an overall 4-5 record and is looking to capitalize on that. Toledo has had a lack of power in its offense. The homerun leader only has two so far.
If the Rockets’ pitching can’t hold up, they will struggle this weekend. Maria Gooding gets most of the starts in the circle, and we can expect that to be the same when they take on ASU.
The action starts Friday at 4:30 against Michigan.
