While the ASU softball team enjoyed a well-deserved day off at the Women's College World Series, the ASU baseball squad took care of business against Charlotte, winning 16-1 in the Tempe Regional.
Deploying a balanced offensive attack, the Sun Devils scored runs in seven of the nine innings on Saturday. Riccio Torrez led the team with four RBI, while catcher Xorge Castillo stroked five hits against the 49ers.
This big victory wasn't the only good thing that happened for ASU on Saturday -- Texas lost. Per AZ Central and Jeff Metcalfe:
With No. 7 national seed Texas losing at home to Kent State, they are one Longhorns loss from the chance to host a fifth consecutive super regional next week.
Texas must win twice Sunday and again Monday to advance and automatically host a best-of-three super regional against the Tempe winner.
The Sun Devils look to be in pretty good shape regardless of what Texas does, and the first order of business is obvious: win on Sunday and get to the Super Regional stage.
Arkansas and Charlotte will meet today in the elimination game at 1:30 PM Pacific time, with the winner moving on to face the Sun Devils at 6:00 PM.
ASU can advance to the Super Regional with a win tonight, but if they falter they will be given another chance to advance on Monday night per the double elimination format.
What about the ASU softball team? Our Sun Devils are set to play in about an hour (12:30 PM Pacific time) against Baylor, the 11 seed from Waco, Texas.
Baylor has been getting by with the absolute minimum on offense. In three games in Oklahoma City, the Bears have scored two runs. Seriously! They defeated Oklahoma State and Missouri in 1-0 pitching duels, while losing to Alabama 3-0.
Dallas Escobedo will need to be in prime form against this Baylor team, who features an excellent pitcher in Whitney Canion. Against Missouri, she pitched 13(!) innings and 177 pitches in an incredible shutout performance.
Will Canion be able to bounce back the next day and have her best stuff? Will she be able to control the Sun Devils offense? Will Escobedo show her what a real ace looks like?
Find out on ESPN in about an hour. It's also going to be broadcast on ESPN3.com. GO DEVILS!