The Arizona State softball team is on a five game winning streak, including last weekend’s sweep of 23rd ranked Oregon State. This weekend, the second ranked Sun Devils take their 34-3 record to Northern California to take on the No. 14 Stanford Cardinal.
The Cardinal visited Oregon State earlier this week and took two of three from the Beavers. ASU and Stanford meet for a doubleheader on Saturday and a third game on Sunday afternoon.
Cardinal Players to Watch:
Stanford, like the Arizona State, is lead in the circle by a two-headed monster. Their ace is Teagan Gerhart. If that last name sounds familiar, it’s because it is. Teagan’s brother Toby was an elite running back from Stanford and finished as the runner up for the Heisman trophy in 2009. Teagan is holding her own on the diamond and is 14-5 on the season with a 1.43 ERA.
As the number two starter in the rotation, Kelsey Stevens is having a masterful season as well. She’s 10-4 with a 2.34 ERA. Sevens has 103 strikeouts in less than 84 innings of work.
The Cardinal get plenty of help in the batter’s box as well and sophomore outfielder Leah White’s numbers should not be overlooked. She leads the team with a .353 average and tied for the lead in runs with 28. White is the Cardinal’s best contact hitter and leaves it to Jenna Rich to take care of the power. White leads the team with four home runs and 30 RBI’s. Together, these two make the Cardinal order successful.
Sun Devils Players to Watch:
The ace of the Sun Devils is currently unknown and that’s not because they don’t have any good pitching. The reality is quite the opposite. Both Dallas Escobedo and Mackenzie Popescue have had years that most pitchers could only dream for.
Escobedo is 18-3 with a 2.04 ERA and has thrown 197 strikeouts in 134 innings. Popescue is a perfect 15-0 with a 0.92 ERA. She has given up just 12 earned runs in her 91 innings of work this season.
ASU’s pitching has been phenomenal, but nobody can win a game without scoring runs. Shortstop Cheyenne Coyle and catcher Amber Freeman have been leading the Devils from the batter’s box. Both hit for great power and a high average. Coyle is hitting .371 with a team leading 12 home runs and 42 RBI’s. Coyle also leads everyday starters with a .781 slugging percentage.
Freeman is right on pace with Coyle in every offensive category. She is hitting a team leading .374 average with 11 home runs and 40 RBI’s. She’s also right behind Coyle with a .748 slugging percentage. Coyle and Freeman lead the way for a very high-powered Sun Devils attack.
Keys to the Game:
In order for the Cardinal to find success in this series, they will need to keep the game low scoring. The Sun Devils offense is just too strong for them to keep up with, but the Cardinal do have the pitching to keep the Sun Devils in check. Like most softball games, each game in this series could come down to one swing of the bat by Rich or Freeman. If the games are low scoring, they will be great to watch, but if it’s a shootout, expect the Sun Devils to pull away.
