After being swept in its final home series against No. 5 Texas Tech, Arizona State rebounded in a big way, completing a three-game sweep in its final series of the regular season.
The Sun Devils took full advantage of a BYU pitching staff that carries the second-highest team ERA in the Big 12, scoring nine, 10, and 11 runs, respectively, over the three games against the Cougars.
Six different ASU players had multi-hit games, with senior left fielder Yannixa Acuna leading the charge for the Sun Devils with a 4-RBI afternoon.
ASU (38-16, 11-13 Big 12) overwhelmed BYU (18-33, 7-17 Big 12) 11-3 on Saturday, May 2, scoring nine runs in the final three innings to complete the sweep at Miller Park in Provo, Utah.
ASU trailed 3-2 entering the fifth inning, but the Sun Devils flipped the script with a five-run frame in the fifth to take a 7-3 lead.
Junior catcher Samantha Swan hit the game-tying RBI double before junior first baseman Katie Chester hit an RBI single to give ASU a 4-3 lead.
The Sun Devils quickly plated three more in that inning to take control of the game.
In the seventh inning, ASU brought four more runs across to extend its lead to 11-3.
The Sun Devils scored nine runs in the final three innings of the game to turn an early deficit into a blowout win.
Most of the ASU lineup joined the fun on Saturday, with Acuna and Chester, alongside senior designated player Tanya Windle, senior center fielder Kaylee Pond, freshman catcher Brooke Piwowar and senior right fielder Yazzy Avila, finishing with two hits for the Sun Devils.
Saturday’s series finale followed a similar script to the first game of the series, which was tied 3-3 going into the fifth inning before ASU scored two in the fifth and four in the sixth to pull away from BYU.
The Cougars got off to a quick start, as sophomore outfielder Ilove’a Brittingham belted a three-run home run to put BYU up 3-0 in the bottom of the first against senior left-handed pitcher Aissa Silva.
BYU got runners in scoring position in each of the next three innings against Silva, but failed to score a single run outside of Brittingham’s homer.
Silva went 3 ⅔ innings and junior right-hander Meika Lauppe pitched 2 ⅓ innings in relief.
For the final inning, the Sun Devils gave the ball to their ace, senior right-hander Kenzie Brown, and she recorded two strikeouts to wrap up the sweep.
ASU is heading in the right direction as the Big 12 Tournament approaches, closing out the regular season with three straight wins.
The Sun Devils are in strong position to make the NCAA Tournament, currently projected to be a regional No. 2 seed.
With the win, ASU secured the No. 6 seed in the Big 12 Tournament, where it will face off against the No. 3 seed in the quarterfinal, which will either be No. 13 Oklahoma State or No. 20 Arizona depending on Sunday’s results.