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Gators Drop Nail-Biter to Arizona State in Game 1 of WCWS

Just kidding. 

The Sun Devils slaughtered the Gators 14-4 in the first game of the best-of-three Championship Series by playing almost flawlessly in every facet of the game. ASU freshman pitcher Dallas Escobedo riddled the Gators with a steady diet of rise balls that the Gators could not lay off of - yielding only run on three hits trough the first six innings.

Meanwhile ASU batters took turns pounding on both freshman starter Hannah Rogers and senior Stephanie Brombacher. The Sun Devils scored an unearned run in the first inning on a fielding error by center fielder Michelle Moultrie to take a 1-0 lead. ASU then exploded for six runs in the second, all coming with two out to take a commanding 7-0 lead. The Sun Devils added three more in the third to make it 10-0 and force Coach Tim Walton to pull Rogers in favor of Brombacher. ASU then just switched to the long ball with a solo shot in the fourth and two more bombs in the fifth to make it 14-0.

The Sun Devils' 14 runs came on 13 hits, with an amazing 11 runs coming with two outs. ASU was led by senior Krista Donnenwirth, who clubbed two homers, tallied four RBI and made several stellar plays at third base to end Gator scoring threats.

The Gators finally got on the board in the sixth when Kelsey Bruder belted her 19th homer run of the season to left center. To the Gators credit, they kept playing hard until the end, adding three more runs in the seventh on a Cheyenne Coyle solo shot and yet another Moultrie homer to dead center, a two-run shot and her record-tying fourth long ball of the WCWS.

The Gators must regroup and beat these same Arizona State Sun Devils on Tuesday in order to stay alive and force a decisive third game on Wednesday. Tuesday's game is set for 8pm eastern and will be televised on ESPN2.