No. 23 Arizona State dominated its first Sun Devil Classic matchup against BYU with an 8-0 run blowout on Thursday. The Cougars eliminated the Sun Devils from the 2021 NCAA Tournament in the teams' last meeting.
The Sun Devils had a 4-0 lead over the Cougars after one inning. BYU started out batting at the top of the first with one hit by Huntyr Ava, zero errors and zero runs. ASU put the first run on the board at the bottom of the first inning when senior outfielder Yannira Acura homered to centerfield. BYU transfer Chloe Temples made her pitching debut for the Cougars at the bottom of the first inning.
Both teams were left scoreless by the end of the second inning leaving the Sun Devils in the lead. Macy Simmons started the batting rotation for the Cougars, flying out to rightfield. She was followed by Martha Epenesa, who got the first walk of the game, advancing to first base. Junior infielder Alyssa Podhurcack got the second walk of the game. The Sun Devils had six hits by the end of the second.
A stagnant BYU offense was left with zero runs, zero errors and one hit at the top of the third inning. The first two batters up for the Cougars grounded out to second base while sophomore outfielder Violet Zavodnik struck out looking. The Sun Devils added one hit in the third.
The Sun Devils maintained a 4-0 lead in the fourth inning. The Cougars put up just one hit in the fourth.
A dormant Cougar squad was met by an offensive explosion from the Sun Devils in the fifth inning to which the Cougars were unable to respond. ASU put up three more home runs, giving them an 8-0 win in five innings. BYU was left with a total of two hits, zero runs and two errors by the end of the game.
BYU is set to face Rutgers University on Friday for day two of the Sun Devil Classic.