For the third straight series, No. 24 Arizona State (25-17, 5-10 Pac-12) was swept by a top-10 opponent. The Sun Devils sustained a ninth straight loss by being upended by No. 4 Washington (35-6, 12-3) 6-0 on Sunday.
The Huskies scored lone runs in the first, second, and fourth inning before dropping a three-spot in the sixth to seal a win against ASU.
Washington cashed in on its six runs with nine hits, but one of their biggest stars of the day was sophomore pitcher Gabbie Plain. Plain gave up four runs against ASU in her start on Friday, but the second time around she got the best of the Sun Devil bats.
Last year’s NFCA Third Team All-American spun a complete game, 11-strikeout performance. She allowed just three hits and continued to move her ball all over the zone to keep ASU’s hitters off balance.
ASU senior center fielder Morgan Howe had two of the team’s three hits against Plain.
As for the Husky offense, they squared off against freshman Abby Andersen and the juniors of Cielo Meza and Sam Mejia.
UW redshirt junior catcher Morganne Flores had two home runs and three RBI’s while freshman outfielder Madison Huskey went 2-2 with two RBI’s and a solo home run. Junior shortstop Sis Bates was also 2-4.
Altogether, the Huskies were able to string together a quality performance behind the arm of Plain and big hits from the offense.
The Devils are now 5-10 in Pac-12 play but the most daunting part of their schedule seems to be out of the way. Facing three top-10 teams with All-American arms in the circle is no easy task, and ASU took the brunt of the toughest part of their season thus far.
The positive is now the team has a week off to reset before going back out on the road to Palo Alto to take on Stanford in a series that has implications in regards to the fourth spot in a lethal Pac-12 Conference. With the top-three spots running through top-10 teams in No. 4 Washington, No. 6 Arizona, and No. 1 UCLA, the fourth spot still seems up for grabs.
Although the team has struggled as of late, ASU could gain ground quickly with games coming against Stanford, Cal, and Oregon, with Cal and Oregon sitting at the bottom of the conference.
Additionally, Stanford is 7-2 in Pac-12 play and their record might look better than ASU’s right now, but they have still yet to run the gauntlet of playing UCLA, Washington, and Arizona. They play at U of A next week. The series with the Cardinal could be a fight for one of the final regional hosts as well, as the top-four in the Pac-12 often host.
With so much that can still unfold, ASU will look to gather themselves with the home stretch of the season coming up. The Devils are back to action in the Bay Area beginning with game one against Stanford on Friday, April 26 at 7 p.m. MST.