No. 13 Softball Drops 11-Inning Heartbreaker To No. 7 Arizona State, 8-7

Tempe, AZ – 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 from the circle. Fellow senior pitcher entered the game with the bases loaded and forced Jackie Vasquez to line into a double play and Rhiannon Baca to pop-up to 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 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 who had tallied her 223^rd career hit, tying Tarrah Beyster (1997-00) for second place all-time at OSU.

Oregon State tied the game in the fourth when hit a lead-off single to left field and came around to score when ’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 .

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 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 11^th when Cruz’s RBI line drive to left field dropped just in front of a diving .

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 p.m. at the OSU Softball Complex. The winner of the game will secure the NW Dodge Dealers Civil War Series title.

GAME RESULTS:

No. 13 Oregon State – 012 210 100 00 – 7 12 2
No. 7 Arizona State – 310 210 000 01– 8 11 2

McGowan, McElroy (1) and Ewing (OSU), Elliott, Burkhart (4) and Miller (ASU). Win – Burkhart (24-9). Loss – McElroy (12-7). HR – Ewing (OSU), McGowan (OSU), Miller (ASU).