Pac-10 Softball: No. 7 ASU Nips Beavers in 11-Innings, 8-7

Paige Lowe led the Beavers with a 3-for-5 effort from the plate.

Senior pitcher Ta'Tyana McElroy allowed just three earned runs in 10.2 innings of work against No. 7 ASU on Sunday

TEMPE, Ariz. - The No. 13 ranked Oregon State softball team suffered a heart-breaking 8-7 11-inning loss to No. 7 Arizona State on Sunday when Sun Devil third baseman Bianca Cruz hit a 2-out RBI single to left field.

The 3-hour and 27-minute game saw the teams combine for 23 hits on the afternoon and score a combined 13 runs over first five innings of play.

Arizona State (42-11; 8-4 Pac-10) took a 3-0 first inning lead, amassing four hits and knocking Beaver starter Brianne McGowan from the circle.

Fellow senior pitcher Ta'Tyana McElroy entered the game with the bases loaded and forced Jackie Vasquez to line into a double play and Rhiannon Baca to pop-up to Sherina Galvan at third base to end the inning.

The Beavers (34-15; 6-5 Pac-10) got one run back in the top of the second inning when sophomore catcher Stefanie Ewing hit her fourth home run of the season with a shot over the right field fence.

Kaitlin Cochran hit a RBI single to right-center field in the bottom of the second to push the ASU lead to 4-1.

McGowan helped get a pair of runs back for the Beavers in the top of the third when she belted her sixth home run of the season with a 2-run shot to right-center field. Her blast plated Mia Longfellow who had tallied her 223rd career hit, tying Tarrah Beyster (1997-00) for second place all-time at OSU.

Oregon State tied the game in the fourth when DeAnn Young hit a lead-off single to left field and came around to score when Paige Lowe’s liner found the gap in right-center field.

The Beavers took a 5-4 lead when Longfellow followed with her second hit of the game in a shot up the middle that scored Lowe for the go-ahead run.

ASU regained the lead with a pair of unearned runs in the bottom of the fourth inning, but the Beavers tied it up again in the top of the fifth after Galvan singled to right-center field, scoring pinch runner Kellie Roberts.

The Sun Devils once again answered in the bottom of the fifth, grabbing a 7-6 advantage after catcher Kristen Miller led-off the frame with a home run.

The Beavers rallied back to send the game into extra innings when McGowan drew a lead-off walk in the seventh.

Pinch runner Mindy Bean was sacrificed to second and came around to score after back-to-back singles from Young and Galvan.

ASU ended the game in the bottom of the 11th when Cruz’s RBI line drive to left field dropped just in front of a diving Cambria Miranda.

McElroy scattered seven hits over 10.2 innings of work and allowed just three earned runs, while striking out four on the afternoon.

Lowe led the Beavers with a 3-for-5 effort from the plate, while both Galvan and Longfellow picked up a pair of hits each.

Oregon State heads back home to face rival University of Oregon on Wednesday. The Civil War as presented by the Northwest Dodge Dealers will begin at 4:00 PM at the OSU Softball Complex. The winner of the game will secure the NW Dodge Dealers Civil War Series title.

Adding comments to these stories has been disabled. View the current sports stories Salem-News Sports