No. 5 Arizona State is making its 11th trip to the WCWS, the seventh with head coach Clint Myers, after sweeping No. 12 Kentucky in the Tempe Super Regional, winning game two 5-2. The Sun Devils will play No. 4 Texas on May 30 and join fellow Pac-12ers No. 11 Washington.
ASU has won the WCWS title twice; last in 2011 after beating Florida, finishing their season 60-6, and first in 2008 over Texas A&M. Could this be Arizona State's year?
TEMPE SUPER REGIONAL:
No. 5 ARIZONA STATE vs. No. 12 KENTUCKY: Arizona State 5-4, 5-2
GAME TWO:
Arizona State (49-10) opened with a run in the top of the first, followed with singles in the third and fifth and earned two runs in the seventh for the win. Kentucky (41-21) plated singles in the bottom of the second and third.
Alix Johnson finished 2-for-4 with two runs, Haley Steele went 3-for-4 with one homer and 4 RBI, and Cheyenne Coyle was 1-for-1 with two runs, one RBI and three walks.
Johnson scored Arizona State's first run on Coyle's RBI single to right before Kentucky tied it 1-all on Nikki Sagermann's solo homer to left center in the bottom half of the inning's first at-bat.
Steele hit an RBI single to center to plate Coyle, but Kentucky rallied again when Ginny Carroll scored on Kara Dill's RBI single to center.
In the fifth, Johnson recorded her second run of the day; on a Steele RBI single, before Steele herself hit a two-run homer in the seventh that plated Coyle.
Dallas Escobedo (30-4) pitched the complete game, striking out five, walking three, allowing four hits, and both of Kentucky's runs were earned.
Kentucky's Nunley also threw the full seven innings, fanning two, walking five, getting seven hits, and all five of ASU's runs were earned.
Next, the Women's College World Series will start May 30 in double-elimination bracket play. The Championship Series will run game one on June 3, game two on June 4, and if necessary, game three on June 5 in a best-of-3 series.
SCHEDULE:
May 30 at 12:00 p.m. ET: No. 11 Washington vs. No. 14 Nebraska
May 30 at 2:30 p.m. ET: No. 2 Florida vs. No. 7 Tennessee
May 30 at 7:00 p.m. ET: No. 5 Arizona State vs. No. 4 Texas
May 30 at 9:30 p.m. ET: No. 1 Oklahoma vs. No. 8 Michigan