After a high-scoring, run-rule win for Arizona State on Friday, the game Saturday was vastly different.
In the bottom of the seventh inning with the score tied at 8, Arizona took to the plate. They loaded the bases and brought junior outfielder Regan Shockey to the plate, who got her pitch and hit a single to drive in the walk-off run.
In a game where the Sun Devils almost completed a miraculous comeback, the Wildcats spoiled the attempt and came out on top.
On Saturday, March 21, game two of the Territorial Cup took place in Tucson between ASU (23-8, 3-5 Big 12) and Arizona (22-8, 5-3 Big 12).
After a scoreless first inning for both teams, Arizona started its offense in the second with three runs courtesy of a two-run double from freshman first baseman Kez Lucas and an RBI groundout from sophomore third baseman Jenna Sniffen.
This was only the start for the Wildcats as they followed it with five more runs in the third and jumped out to an 8-0 lead. The Sun Devils, now on the opposite end of a high-scoring match-up, had their work cut out for them to make it back into the game.
ASU didn't stay in a large deficit for long, scoring five in the top of the fourth inning, highlighted by a three-run home run from senior shortstop Brooklyn Ulrich. Now trailing 8-5, the Sun Devils had life.
After a shutout bottom of the inning from senior left-handed pitcher Aissa Silva, ASU went back to work on offense. They scored twice in the top of the fifth to pull within a run.
Then, in the sixth, sophomore right fielder Ashleigh Mejia hit a solo home run to complete the 8-run comeback for the Sun Devils.
ASU went scoreless in the seventh after scoring in each of the previous three frames.
After Silva hit Arizona sophomore left fielder Addison Duke with a pitch to load the bases, Shockey came through for the Wildcats with a walk-off single.
The run in the seventh capped off the 9-8 victory and ended the Sun Devils’ hopes for an improbable comeback. The win was the Wildcats' second walk-off victory of the season.
The Territorial Cup series will head to a rubber match on Sunday, March 22, with first pitch scheduled for 12 p.m. AZT.