Brady’s Breakdown: No. 5 UCLA at No. 11 Arizona State
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Score: ASU 6, UCLA 3
Highlight: Emily Cazares hit a walk-off three-run home run to win it for Arizona State. The Sun Devils have a two-game lead over UCLA in the Pac-12 with three games remaining.
Analysis: Megan Faraimo continued to warrior through the Sun Devil lineup. She escaped jam after jam, frustrating the dangerous Arizona State hitters.
Although, the sixth inning felt different. Faraimo hadn’t been collecting strikeouts as she typically does. Instead, she continued to induce a lot of weak pop ups and fly balls. Trailing 3-0, Jazmine Hill started the frame ripping a leadoff double down the left field line. Emily Cazares, who got the start in left field for the first time this weekend, worked a full count after falling behind 0-2. She proceeded to flare the sixth pitch of the at-bat into right field for a single.
Long at-bats were the theme. Faraimo pitching for the third straight day, and battling the afternoon Arizona sun, clearly lost a touch on her pitches. Jazmyn Rollin spoiled three good pitches from Faraimo before walking after eight pitches to load the bases without any outs. Surely, the Sun Devils were finally going to break through. However, it appeared Faraimo was going to hold them off once again. Despite good swings from Mailey McLemore and another great at-bat from Jessi Puk forcing Faraimo to throw 10 more pitches, she struck out both.
Nine-hole hitter Bella Loomis stepped up to the plate. The last member of Arizona State’s 2018 Women’s College World Series team had a chance to make her senior day special. And she came through. Loomis drove the second pitch she saw into the right center field gap, clearing the bases and tying the game.
“For Bella, she deserves that,” Arizona State coach Trisha Ford said. “She deserves every ounce and more. She did a great job keeping her mental frame in a good place, steady position and executing when she needed to.”
Faraimo got Alynah Torres to fly out to end the ending. But Lindsay Lopez quickly retired the side in the top of the seventh forcing Faraimo back out without much rest. She got another high pop up from Yanni Acuña but Anna Vines lost it in the sun as she waited for it to come down. Acuña ended up at second essentially for free. UCLA decided to walk Cydney Sanders. Hill could’t provide the game-winner, but moved the runners over for Cazares. All the sophomore needed to do was lift the ball deep enough for a sacrifice fly. She hit it plenty deep, launching a walk-off three-run home run to win it for Arizona State.
“We don’t ever quit. We really never quit,” Ford said. “When you look at the season and who we are, you’ll see that. I don’t think anybody feels comfortable with us.”
Generally lost in the shuffle of the Sun Devil offense, Lopez provided another solid outing for Arizona State. The lefty is far from the pitchers that throw over 70 MPH and rack up the Ks, but she simply gets the job done. UCLA put together eight hits, leaving five on base. Lopez works her change up very well and uses her command to get weak contact. Earning both wins in the first series win over UCLA since 2015 isn’t too bad of a weekend.
“She kept a very potent offense that the day before had its most hits they’ve had in Pac-12 (play). That’s impressive,” Ford said. “They started to get some momentum, they were feeling good in the box. Lindsay came out and stifles them. That kid, she works her tail off.”
What’s next? Arizona State heads to Washington with a two-game lead over UCLA in the final weekend of the regular season. It needs one win to clinch at least a share and two to win the Pac-12 outright. UCLA still has a chance to have the title by itself. The Bruins will need to sweep Cal and have the Huskies win all three against the Sun Devils. But Arizona State sounds like its on a mission to grab the crown.
“It feels really good right now. The way we’re feeling within ourselves, we’re not concerned about the outside noise,” Loomis said. “It’s great for the program.”