Softball faces Arizona State in regular season finale
Senior pitcher Jessica Hall said playing at Arizona State is always challenging given the intimidating stadium and rowdy crowd. (Agnijita Kumar/Daily Bruin senior staff)
By Bianca Hock
May 8, 2014 12:44 a.m.
Expect temperatures to rise in Tempe, Ariz., this week as No. 2 UCLA travels to the Grand Canyon state to bring the heat to No. 3 Arizona State University.
A 46-5 record and building a new winning streak, UCLA is heating up just in time for its last series of the regular season.
The Bruins’ first pitch of the three-game series will be thrown on Thursday at the Sun Devils’ Alberta B. Farrington Softball Stadium, which senior pitcher Jessica Hall described as “a little intimidating” and feeling a lot bigger.
Hall recalls her last visit to Arizona State’s softball stadium in 2012 when the Bruins were swept.
“Last time we went there, we felt a little defeated by giving them too much credit with being comfortable in their environment,” Hall said. “I think it got a little in our heads the last time we were there.”
The stadium has a 1,535 seating capacity, meaning that Arizona State can formally seat over two hundred more fans than UCLA’s Easton Softball Stadium.
“Their fans and their crowds are very rowdy and they bring out the mascots and try to rattle us,” Hall said. “I just won’t give them the benefit of getting in my head or getting to my teammates. I’ll step up as a leader any way I can and motivate (our players).”
Having played Arizona State several times in her career, senior utility player Alyssa Tiumalu said the pitching performance by Sun Devil senior pitcher Dallas Escobedo has contributed greatly to Arizona State’s reputation as a tough opponent in Pac-12 play.
“Luckily, I faced (Escobedo) for years, so I kind of have an idea of what she wants to do and what she throws,” Tiumalu said.
Junior infielder Gracie Goulder agreed that Escobedo is the type of pitcher that needs to be prepared for in advance.
“We’re preparing for her rise ball,” Goulder said. “We have coach Lisa (Fernandez) working with us and she tries to mimic what (Escobedo) will throw us.”
Hall said she and her teammates reviewed videos of Escobedo’s pitching on Tuesday.
“She’s very straight up,” said Hall, “She throws the same sequences to every batter so I don’t think that we can be surprised in any way.”
The Bruins may have prepared a little extra for this particular pitcher, but as usual, the team is more concerned with itself than the opponent.
“We have a competition within ourselves,” said Tiumalu, “We’re a lot more focused on who we are and how we play.”
Regionals begin next week for NCAA softball, so the games against Arizona State will mark the last series of UCLA’s regular season.
“If we just go in and play like it’s our field then everything should go according to plan,” said Hall. “We’re prepared for anything.”
