April 3, 2011
Final Stats
BERKELEY - After struggling offensively for the first two games of the season, the No. 8 California softball team unloaded for six hits but the final at bat did not involve putting the ball in play. With the game tied 2-2, bases loaded with two outs, Jordan Wallace waited out a walk to plate Ashley Decker and give the Bears a 3-2 upending over the Sun Devils on Sunday afternoon at Levine-Fricke Field.
The game gives the Bears their first Pac-10 Conference win and improves them to 22-7 overall and 1-2 in the conference while the Sun Devils drop to 35-3 and 2-1 in the Pac-10.
Sophomore pitcher Jolene Henderson pitched the complete-game win, striking out three and allowing five hits. Dallas Escobedo suffered the loss after relieving Mackenzie Popescue.
In the top of the second, the Sun Devils sent Kaylyn Castillo home when Talor Haro chopped it to Henderson in the circle. ASU made it 2-0 in the third when second baseman Sam Parlich gave the football offices a scare with a homer that bounced off the portable roof beyond the left-field wall.
Henderson got some run support in the bottom of the fifth, when Elia Reid sent the ball out of the park, hitting the stands in center field to get Cal on the board, 1-0. With two outs, runners on the corners and a 2-2 count, Frani Echavarria singled up the middle to plate Ashley Decker to knot the game at 2-2 and force ASU to make a pitching change.
With the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the seventh, Jordan Wallace waited out a walk to get the victory.
Top 2 - ASU 1, Cal 0:
Henderson struck out Krista Donnenwirth looking to start things off. Annie Lockwood took a pitch to the knuckles for a free trip to first, and was replaced by Lacey Goodman. Catcher Kaylyn Castillo singled to center, giving ASU runners at first and second. Alix Johnson - designated player turned right fielder when Lockwood went down with the hand injury - earned a four-pitch walk to load the bases with one out.
First baseman Mandy Urfer hit a grounder that bounced over Henderson's head and Victoria Jones made the scoop and threw home to Ziegenhirt, getting the force out on Goodman. Talor Haro hit a dribbler at Henderson that was too far for Ziegenhirt to get and just far enough that Henderson could not make a play, allowing Castillo to come home. Boyd lined out to Jones to end the inning.
Bottom 2 - ASU 1, Cal 0:
Ziegenhirt lead off and hit a grounder to Boyd at short and Boyd's throw would have been good for the out if it had not sailed above first baseman Mandy Urfer's head. The ball went into the dugout, allowing Ziegenrhit to advance to second. Popescue got Jordan Wallace looking on an off-speed pitch and then Victoria Jones went down swinging. Ziegenhirt was left on second when Arianna Erceg grounded out to Boyd at short, where she was able to make an on-target throw.
Top 3 - ASU 2, Cal 0:
Victoria Jones robbed Rogers of a hit by making a great play at second on a grounder. With an 0-1 count, Parlich dinged the portables in center field for a solo shot, her ninth of the year. After giving up the run, Henderson got her second backwards K of the game with a looking strikeout issued to Donnenwirth. Britt Vonk ate up a grounder from Goodman for the third out.
Bottom 3 - ASU 2, Cal
Elia Reid led off with a ground ball to short, where Boyd was waiting to and made the throw but her arm was no match for Reid's Speedy Gonzalez legs and she was aboard with a hit. Popescue's pitching got the best of the Bears with Ashley Decker striking out, Vonk grounding out to first and Williams going down swinging.
Top 4 - ASU 2, Cal 0:
Castsillo walked and Kayla Ketchum came in as a pinch runner. Johnson singled to Elia Reid in left, where Reid could not keep the ball in front of her off a bad bounce, allowing Ketchum to move to third and Johnson to second on the throw. Urfer went down with three consecutive swings.
Haro connected with a grounder to Williams at third, Williams threw home to Ziegenhirt but Ketchum dilly dallied and got caught in a run down. Ziegenhirt, displaying her catching prowess, ran her down and applied the tag for the second out while Haro reached on the fielder's choice. With runners at first - Haro - and second - Johnson - and two outs, Boyd battled to a full-count walk to load the bases. On the first pitch, Rogers put the ball on the ground, directly to Wallace at first for the 3U.
Bottom 4 - ASU 2, Cal 0:
Ziegenhirt walked on four pitches and moved to second when Jordan Wallace grounded out to third. With two outs and Ziegenhirt ready on second, Victoria Jones hit the ball hit and deep, forcing Johnson to back to the wall in right to make the excellent catch.
Top 5 - ASU 2, Cal 2:
Erceg grounded out to begin the inning but then Elia Reid went deep, belting a shot to the stands in center field. Ashley Decker popped a shot up to center field, where none of the three Sun Devils who were in the area could make the catch. Vonk singled, putting the ball in between first and second, moving Decker to second. Williams hit a grounder to Urfer at first, where she grabbed it and threw to Boyd covering at second to get Vonk. With runners on the corners - Williams at first and Decker at third - and two outs, Frani Echavarria singled up the middle to score Decker. Echavarria's hit, which was the fourth of the inning, prompted an ASU pitching change with Dallas Escobedo relieving Popescue. Ziegenhirt flied out to center to end the inning with the Bears on the board.
Top 6 - ASU 2, Cal 2:
Fantastic fielding helped the Bears send the Sun Devils down in order. Castillo grounded out to Vonk with Wallace stretching to get the first out. Johnson hit the ball to Frani Echavarria in a liner meets fly ball love child, but Echavarria was there to make the catch. For the final out, Urfer hit a grounder to the hot corner, but it deflected off of Jace Williams' foot. With the Sun Devil fans' heart rates rising and the Bears fans sighing dejectedly, Vonk was there to grab the ball as if it was hit right at her and throw to Wallace at first for the out.
Bottom 6 - ASU 2, Cal 2:
Escobedo opened the inning with a strikeout with Wallace being her first victim. Jones waited out a walk but then Escobedo settled down and stuck out Arianna Erceg and Elia Reid.
Top 7 - ASU 2, Cal 2:
Haro singled up the middle, but that was the only hit the Sun Devils could get with the ball not leaving the infield dirt. Haro was out on the next play when Boyd hit a grounder to first, where Wallace picked it up and threw to Vonk at second. Rogers grounded out to Henderson in the circle with the sophomore pitcher making a perfectly placed overhand throw to first for the out. Parlich hit the ball back at Wallace, who applied the tag in the bathpath to keep the game tied.
Bottom 7 - ASU 2, Cal 3:
Ashley Decker fouled off a couple of attempts before knocking a single out into shallow right field. Vonk moved her to second with a bunt in front of the plate that Donnenwirth grabbed, barely making the throw to first for the out. With one away, Escobedo intentionally walked Williams to put the force on with runners at first and second. Escobedo walked the next batter, as well, but not on purpose with Echavarria waiting out the seven-pitch, full-count walk to load the bases. Ziegenhirt struck out swinging, Escobedo's fourth of the game. Jordan Wallace caught a lucky break thanks to her good eye on a ball three that many thought was strike three, and it worked for she walked to end the game.
