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It has been nearly a month since the Sun Devils (29-5, 10-0 Pac-12) took the field at Farrington Stadium. They defeated Oregon State in extra innings on March 20 to win their eleventh game in a row.
Thursday night was not that much different as fans flocked to Farrington to see the red-hot Sun Devils defeat Utah (20-18, 2-6) in dramatic fashion after eight innings by a score of 10-9.
It was shortly after a first inning grand slam by Makenna Harper that the ASU live stream came to a halt. Fans following the game had to go the old-school route of listening through Blaze Radio, ASU’s student-run radio station.
Maybe this was a sign from the universe to all of the fans trying to watch at home: You have to come to Farrington to watch this team play. They are really special.
A 5-0 first inning lead had the Sun Devils thinking about the mercy rule early, but the Utes (who as noted in our series preview are know for more small ball) tacked on eight unanswered runs in the forth and fifth frames.
Marissa Schuld surrendered three home runs in just the fifth inning alone. After that horror of an inning, she set down 10 of the last 14 batters she faced in her 3.2 innings of work.
Down to their final six outs in a three-run hole, ASU made a statement that Utah would not be messing with its winning streak. A sacrifice fly from Yannira Acuna and two-run shot by Cydney Sanders tied the game up.
In the eighth inning, it was none other than reigning Pac-12 Player of the Week Jazmine Hill to walk it off. The bases were loaded and Arizona State was trailing by one as Hill was down to her final strike.
Hill blooped a single to right field that allowed two runs to come in and make ASU winners of 18-straight.
Maybe the best part for the fans is that they have an opportunity to watch the squad back in action Friday night at 6 p.m. local time. The ASU website says the game will be on “ASU Live Stream-2” but to play it safe, swing by Farrington. This is must-see softball in Tempe.