After ASU’s victory against South Dakota this past Tuesday, senior pitcher Breanna Macha praised her teammate sophomore Giselle “G” Juarez.
“She’s a heck of a pitcher. The game she had those 13 strikeouts you can really see the confidence. She’s grown in the last two years that she’s been here,” Macha said. “We’ve gotten a lot closer this year and it’s really exciting to see how much she’s really grown.”
Juarez tied her career-high as she struck out 13 Golden Gophers in Arizona State’s (19-2) victory 6-0 against Minnesota (12-8) on Friday night. The sophomore left-hander went all seven innings allowing just two hits hit on top of her 13 strikeouts. And for the fifth straight game the pitching staff threw a shutout.
The team leader in home runs, freshman first baseman Danielle Gibson extended her lead on Friday. Gibson repeated what she did against South Dakota as she found the long ball twice. A solo shot in the second and a three-run bomb in the third. The first baseman now has eight home runs on the season.
“Mo has been struggling a little bit,” head coach Trisha Ford talked about her junior center fielder Morgan Howe following Tuesday’s game. “We’re giving Mo a little bit of a break. We’re going to need Mo she’s going to be back in there.”
For the second straight game, Howe was back in the starting lineup for the Sun Devils. As well for the second straight game she hit a home run as she gave the Sun Devils a 1-0 lead in the first. Howe might be back to her early season form that saw her batting average over .600. She finished the night with two RBIs to go with Gibson’s four.
B1 | You can put that one on the board! @morgannnriley drives one over the wall in left field to put the Devils up! pic.twitter.com/gDBQ84benD
— Sun Devil Softball (@ASUSoftball) March 10, 2018
The Sun Devils will finish their series with Minnesota on Sunday as they will play the Golden Gophers in a doubler header with the first game starting at 2:00 p.m. MT.