ASU Softball: Sun Devils handle Illinois State, DePaul by combined score of 19-3

TEMPE - Good teams take advantage of the games they are supposed to win. Great teams make the opponent question whether it was worth showing up.

Not only is Arizona State Softball (7-2) winning to start the season, it is convincingly taking care of inferior opponents. On Saturday, Illinois State (2-7) and DePaul (4-4) were the victims during the Littlewood Classic at Farrington Stadium

Illinois State

Sophomore pitcher Kenzie Brown allowed 3 early runs in just 2.0 innings of work, and ASU found itself down 3-0 early. The Sun Devils then exploded in the third inning for five runs, including back-to-back homers from Jaz Hill and Jasmyn Rolljn, with Hill’s being a three-run shot. After three innings, ASU was up 5-3. The Sun Devils would go on to score a total of 11 unanswered runs.

Makenna Harper and Jordyn VanHook also added homers.

Yanni Acuña led all Sun Devil-hitters by going 3-for-4 with a double and 2 runs-scored.

Ball State-transfer Deborah Jones threw 3 innings of scoreless relief, striking out 5 and earning the win.

“(Jones) is just a master of changing speeds,” head coach Megan Bartlett said. “And she’s got this brilliant composure about her.. She has thrown a ton of innings in her career. I’m excited for Deb. I think she can compete at a really high level for us. She is a very talented pitcher and she is an even better human.”

ASU won by run-rule in the 5th inning.

DePaul

VanHook did not slow down, not from last-week-to-this-week, or from Friday-to-Saturday. The senior infielder is lighting-up the diamond to start her junior season. In 9 games, VanHook is 13-for-27 (.481) with 6 homers. In the DePaul game Saturday, she added another long-ball on a 2-for-3-showing.

ASU exploded for a six-run third inning and never looked back. VanHook’s homer in the fourth inning was the dagger in the 8-0 victory.

Nine-of-10 Sun Devil batters recorded at least one hit in the DePaul game. VanHook was the lone player with multiple hits.

Virginia Tech-transfer Mac Osborne, who has had an up-and-down start to the season, threw 5 innings of one-hot, shutout ball in her second start of the weekend. Osborne’s ERA drops from 8.69 to 5.73.

The Sun Devils can go undefeated in the Littlewood Classic with a win over Weber State on Sunday at 10:30 a.m.