TEMPE, Ariz. – The #1 Washington Huskies bounced back from their first loss of the season with a dominant 7-0 victory over the #10 Arizona State Sun Devils Sunday. The win puts the Huskies at 29-1 on the season and 1-1 in the Pac-12, with the rubber match between UW and ASU set for tomorrow at 2:00 pm. Arizona State is now 23-4 on the season.
Taran Alvelo was terrific all day, striking out 11 while allowing only four baserunners. The junior retired 15 straight at one point, striking out the side in the fifth during that stretch. Alvelo is now 13-0 on the season.
Arizona State managed only three hits all game against Alvelo, singling in the first, sixth, and seventh innings. Only one baserunner reached scoring position all game.
The Huskies did their damage early, loading the bases in the second in advance of putting four runs on the board. After
Taylor Van Zee's hard single off the top of the wall brought in one run,
Kirstyn Thomas lunged forward and rapped a double to left-center to clear the bases and make it 4-0.
Taryn Atlee, who scored on Thomas' double in the second, would also come around to score in the fifth, extend the lead to 5-0. Atlee hit a blooper into short right that turned into a double as the sophomore turned on the afterburners to reach second.
Kelly Burdick grounded out after that but the throw to third to try and get Atlee advancing sailed away, allowing Atlee to score.
Julia DePonte added to the Husky lead and pushed the game to its final margin with a two-run bomb in the seventh. DePonte lifted a high flyball to left that just kept carrying and landed over the wall to make it 7-0.
Alvelo finished the game off just as strong as she began, striking out the side to end the game and give her her eighth double-digit strikeout game of the year.
Notes
- Alvelo (7.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 11 K) tied her career-long undefeated streak with the win. She has now gone 16 consecutive games without a loss to start the year, matching a streak from April 14-May 26 of last season.
- Burdick (2x3, R, 2B) now has a nine-game hitting streak and has tied her single-season high for extra-base hits.
- DePonte (2x4, R, HR, 2 RBI) set a new single-season high with her ninth home run.
- Thomas (1x4, R, 2B, 3 RBI) retakes the Pac-12 lead in RBI now with 39 on the season.
- This was Thomas' ninth game of the season with three or more RBI.
- Van Zee (1x3, R, RBI) has hits in 11 of the last 12 games and in four straight.
- Atlee (1x3, 2 R, 2B) scored multiples runs in a single game for the first time as a Husky.
- Washington has scored four or more runs in a single inning 17 times this year after doing so in the second.
Washington and Arizona State will finish the three-game series on Monday, with a 2:00 pm game. After that, the Huskies return home to host the Arizona Wildcats in a three-game series beginning Friday, March 23 at 5:00 pm. Tickets for all home games are available
online.
Make sure to follow Husky softball on Twitter with the username @UWSoftball and on Instagram at uwsoftball.
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