As the postseason approaches, the No. 11 Washington softball team (34-15, 11-8 Pac-10) knows that quality pitching in the NCAA is in no short supply.

And if that knowledge hadn’t already been sufficiently gained, the Huskies were given a stark reminder in last night’s 2-1, pitching-heavy loss to No. 9 Arizona State (48-14, 12-7 Pac-10).

“We have a chance to finish in second place, and that’s all great,” coach Heather Tarr said. “But it’s more important how we finish. We have a great opportunity to prepare for postseason play with three tough games this weekend against two tough teams, so we just need to finish well.”

The limited success enjoyed by the Husky lineup came early. Ashley Charters was hit by a pitch to lead off the game, stole second and scored on an RBI single by Lauren Greer, giving the UW a 1-0 advantage in the first inning. Danielle Lawrie followed Greer with a single of her own before the third out was made, but as the first inning ended, so too did the success of the Washington offense.

Sun Devil ace Katie Burkhart did not surrender a hit after Lawrie’s single in the first, and Kaitlin Cochran’s two-run homer in the bottom of the third gave ASU the deciding margin.

“We didn’t do much offensively to counter that home run,” Tarr said. “It was just one bad pitch, and they got two runs from it.”

Lawrie went the distance for the Huskies, taking the tough loss while displaying an effort usually worthy of a win. The sophomore hurler surrendered just three hits and struck out seven in her complete game effort, battling valiantly to suppress multiple Sun Devil scoring threats. ASU had runners in scoring position in the first, third, fifth and sixth innings, but Lawrie managed to work out of trouble each time to avoid any further damage. Unfortunately for Lawrie and the Huskies, the one mistake she did make cost them the game.

“Danielle pitched a great game,” Tarr said. “She just made one bad pitch.”

The closest thing Washington had to a threat came in the bottom of the fourth. After the Huskies went down in order in the second and third innings, Greer led the inning off with a strikeout, Lawrie reached on a two-base throwing error, and Ashlyn Watson fouled out. Alicia Matthews reached base on an error by the first baseman, but pinch runner Dani Stuart was gunned down at home trying to score from second, thwarting any thoughts of a rally.

“We knew what we were getting into,” Tarr said. “It was a lot like the last game we played against them. We knew how it was going to be.”

The fourth inning threat was the last peep heard out of the Husky offense. Burkhart set the UW down in order in the fifth, sixth, and seventh innings to put the finishing touches on a two-hit, 10-strikeout masterpiece and pushed her season record to 29-10.

Washington now travels to Tucson for a pair of games against No. 5 Arizona today and tomorrow.

“We still get to play two more games this weekend,” Tarr said.

Reach reporter Christian Caple at sports@thedaily.washington.edu.