ASU Softball: No. 11 Sun Devils power to two wins to open Orange and Blue classic

No. 11 Arizona State (13-1) scored a combined 31 runs on Friday on their way to a pair of wins over Montana and Incarnate Word in El Paso, Texas.

Game One

Montana (2-9) hung around with 11th-ranked Arizona State for most of its contest, but a nine-run six inning propelled the Sun Devils to a 17-5 victory.

Just about everyone got a hit in that sixth inning. However, the sequence that overshadowed everything else was the four consecutive home runs.

Jazmine Hill, Maddi Hackbarth, Alynah Torres and Mailey McLemore — her first career home run — all jacked home runs in order.

Every starter in the lineup collected a hit and Arizona State matched its run total in the hit department as well.

Alli Tatnall had homered earlier in the game before McLemore took her place in the lineup. Kindra Hackbarth extended her hitting streak to 10 games and added two RBIs.

Cielo Meza and Allison Royalty split the six innings of work in the circle. Meza got the start and struck out four, only a pair of Montana doubles really hurt her.

For Royalty, she had a poor three-batter set where the Grizzlies hit back-to-back singles followed by a three-run home run. Those would be the only three hits she allowed.

Game Two

Royalty shutout Incarnate Word (2-5) as her offensive exploded the second time through the order. It took time, but the Sun Devils dominated in a 14-0 victory.

Since her outing against top-ranked Oklahoma, Royalty has had a bit of a tough stretch allowing home runs. Her performance on Friday looked to be a confidence booster. The freshman righty allowed four baserunners through six innings and struck out 11 batters.

The bats only manufactured one run through the first three innings. However, Jordyn VanHook, who got the start to give Kindra Hackbarth a game off, slammed her first home run of the season to get the momentum going.

Maddi Hackbarth, Tatnall and DeNae Chatman each homered later in the game as well. Freshman Savannah Price got her first hit at the collegiate level and drove in two runs.

Arizona State has two more games in Texas on Saturday against Incarnate Word and UTEP.