Adrienne Alo's 8th Inning Walk-Off Home Run Leads No. 7 Softball To 3-2 Victory Over No. 9 Arizona State

TEMPE, AZ – Senior belted two home runs including a game-winning walk-off bomb in the bottom of the eighth inning as the No. 7 ranked Oregon State softball team beat No. 9 ranked Arizona State, 3-2, in Thursday’s make-up Pacific-10 Conference game.

Originally scheduled to be played on April 2 in Corvallis, the contest was postponed due to rain, setting up a pair of games to be played in the Tempe heat.

With the victory, Oregon State upped its record to 38-10 overall and 10-7 in Pac-10 games, while ASU fell to 43-13 and 7-10 in conference action.

The Beavers got a little bit of redemption with the win as it was the Sun Devils who broke OSU’s school record 28-game winning streak with an 8-inning 3-2 victory on April 1.

The game shaped up to be a pitcher’s dual from the start between Oregon State’s (24-5) and Arizona State’s Desiree Serrano. Both hurlers were tossing no-hitters until the offenses came alive in the fourth inning.

ASU took a 1-0 lead after back-to-back hits to start the frame and then Heidi Knabe rolled a two-out RBI single up the middle into a diving ’s glove.

The Beavers got the run back in the bottom of the fourth behind Alo’s first home run of the game and seventh on the season. The fill-in third baseman (junior missed the game with a family emergency) belted a solo shot over the right-center field fence to make it 1-1.

Arizona State regained the lead at 2-1 when Arizona State’s Katie Cochran belted a fifth inning home run over the right field wall.

OSU fought its way back however behind two hits and a walk in the bottom of the sixth and tied the game at 2-2 when crossed the plate on an RBI single to center field from .

McGowan retired the middle of the Sun Devil line-up in order during the top of the eighth, setting up Alo’s two-out walk-off shot over the left field wall in the bottom of the frame.

Alo ranks second in all-time home runs at Oregon State with 34 in her career and moved into fourth place in the Beaver record book with 119 career RBI.

Alo and Allen each went 2-for-3 from the plate, while McGowan scattered five hits and struck out four batters in her 21^st complete game of the season.

The Beavers and Sun Devils return to the field at 7 p.m. for the second game of the double-header.

GAME RESULTS:

No. 9 Arizona State – 000 110 00 – 2 5 1
No. 7 Oregon State – 000 101 01 – 3 5 1

McGowan and Allen (OSU), Serrano and Knabe (ASU). Win – McGowan (24-5). Loss – Serrano (15-7). HR – Alo, 2 (OSU), Cochran (ASU).