ASU Softball: Devils take opener against Oregon State

Offensive surge propels Devils in run-rule victory

EUGENE, Or. — Six shutout innings from Kylee Magee and two home runs from Jazmyn Rollin helped lead the Sun Devils to an 8-0 run-rule victory to open the weekend series at Oregon State. ASU snapped its 11-game losing streak, getting back in the win column for the first time since April 8 in Utah.

Neither team recorded a base hit through the first two innings of play, but the Sun Devils did put two on base in the top of the third.

While those two runners were stranded, Devil hitters were beginning to see Oregon State’s Ellie Garcia better the second time through the lineup.

The Devils scratched their first run of the game in the top of the fourth, with Sara Kinch driving in Jordyn Vanhook with a two-out single.

The Beavers threatened to tie in the bottom half as two runners reached with two outs, but Magee stranded both to maintain the 1-0 lead.

Rollin hit the first of her two home runs in the top of the fifth with a two-run shot that just cleared the center-field fence.

The floodgates opened in the sixth, as the Devils put up five runs — all with two outs — to break the game open.

Yanni Acuña drilled a double off the wall in left field to bring home two. Then Rollin smoked another two-run home run, followed with VanHook connecting for her 19th home run of the season.

The first two Beavers reached in the bottom of the eighth, but a 1-5-3 double play and a popup to short quickly ended the game in six.

The win temporarily puts the Devils ahead of Arizona for seventh in the Pac-12 standings, with Arizona holding the tiebreaker thanks to its win over the Devils in March.

However, the standings are not set as ASU has two games remaining in its series against Oregon State, meanwhile Arizona has a three-game series against California going on down south.

In the upcoming inaugural Pac-12 Softball Tournament, the eighth and ninth seeds (currently ASU and OSU) would play one game to advance to the main eight-team bracket. The seventh seed would automatically make the quarterfinals.

The Devils will look to clinch their first series win since the first weekend of April tomorrow with the game two in Corvallis set to begin at 2 p.m.