First-inning struggles
TEMPE – Arizona State (4-2) lost the first of four games in the Littlewood Classic hosted at Farrington Stadium this weekend. The Sun Devils dropped the home-opener 10-5 to BYU (3-2).
The Cougars scored an immediate 4 runs (3 earned) off Mac Osborne in the first inning. They added another 2 in the second to jump out to a quick 6-0 lead. Osborne only allowed one earned-run in her first start of the season against SDSU. In her last two starts, she has allowed 11 ER.
ASU Softball struggling in the home-opener. BYU is up 6-0 in the 2nd inning. Five of the 6 Cougar runs were earned off Mac Osborne.
Osborne impressed in her season-debut vs SDSU, but she allowed 6 earned vs Notre Dame.
That’s 11 ER in the last 5.2 innings.
— House of Sparky (@HouseOfSparky) February 17, 2023
Kenzie Brown fought-off any additional insurance from BYU, as she tossed three innings of no-hit relief. Brown also struck out 4.
Offensively, Alexa Milius, Jaz Hill and Jordyn VanHook all had 2 hits. Hill and VanHook each homered in the 5th inning to cut the BYU-lead to 6-5 heading into the final two frames.
Veteran Marissa Schuld came in-relief to keep the lead close, but BYU added 4 hits and 4 runs to extend its lead to 10-5. After a string of successful bullpen appearances for Schuld, which included 7 innings without an earned-run, her ERA drops to a still-impressive 3.23.
ASU plays Portland State on Friday night at 5:00 p.m.