TEMPE – The 2024 Sun Devil softball season opened with a split of two games during the Kajikawa Classic at Farrington Stadium. Arizona State dropped its opener 2-0 to No. 20 Northwestern before responding with a 9-4 win over St. Thomas to close the day.
No. 20 Northwestern 2, Arizona State 0
The Sun Devils could not grab the first game of the evening, falling to the No. 20 Wildcats. The team orchestrated multiple chances to tie the game but went 0-5 with runners in scoring position,
Sophomore Kylee Magee delivered the best outing of her career, allowing two runs in the complete game outing. She set a career-high with 11 strikeouts – the most by a Sun Devils pitcher since 2021. She held the Wildcats scoreless over the final four innings of the game.
At the plate, three of the team's four hits went for doubles, but the team left six runners on base.
How It Happened
The Sun Devils bounced back in game two of the doubleheader against St. Thomas, defeating the Tommies 9-4. Alesia Densby led the way with two home runs and four RBIs', followed by Yannixa Acuña, going 3-for-4 and finishing a home run shy of a cycle.
Mac Osborne earned the win in the circle for the Sun Devils, going for 4.0 innings with four strikeouts. After Meika Lauppe made her Sun Devil debut, Marissa Schuld locked down her ninth career save allowing only one hit over the final 2.1 innings.
How It Happened
The Sun Devils will play their second doubleheader of the Kajikawa Classic tomorrow at 4:00 p.m. against Boise State and Maine at 6:30 p.m. Both games will be broadcast on Pac-12 Arizona. POSTGAME QUOTES
Arizona State Head Coach Megan Bartlett
On today's games
"Opening day is so interesting every year. It's a different team. In the first game, I thought we played really tidy defense, so there were good things to take away from that. Then in the nightcap, the bats came alive, and we certainly weren't as clean on defense. I wasn't pleased with that. We made some really outstanding plays, but I don't think we handled the routine ball really well, and that's a staple of what we do here."
On Kylee Magee's performance
"I thought Kylee threw a beautiful first game. Northwestern is a good team, and she threw a complete game and did a beautiful job, so that was certainly nice to see."
On responding in game two
"We got some solid performances on the mound. Mac has some of the best movement in the country, and she's just got to believe it and find a repeatable pattern on the mound with her adrenaline and stress level. Once she figured that out, we kind of shook some nerves out with Meika. She is such a great kid I think she is going to have a really nice career here. It is effortless power and that kid is not even trying, and she is working 68-69 in the circle. And then, of course, Marissa came in and threw beautifully like a veteran and shut the door."
No. 20 Northwestern 2, Arizona State 0
The Sun Devils could not grab the first game of the evening, falling to the No. 20 Wildcats. The team orchestrated multiple chances to tie the game but went 0-5 with runners in scoring position,
Sophomore Kylee Magee delivered the best outing of her career, allowing two runs in the complete game outing. She set a career-high with 11 strikeouts – the most by a Sun Devils pitcher since 2021. She held the Wildcats scoreless over the final four innings of the game.
At the plate, three of the team's four hits went for doubles, but the team left six runners on base.
How It Happened
- Northwestern took an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first before Magee settled in and stranded a pair of runners. That started a run of retiring seven straight until the Wildcats opened a 2-0 lead with a solo home run in the third.
- The Sun Devils had chances throughout the evening but were unable to find the situational hit that would swing the game in their favor.
- ASU left runners in scoring position in the second, third, fifth, and sixth innings.
The Sun Devils bounced back in game two of the doubleheader against St. Thomas, defeating the Tommies 9-4. Alesia Densby led the way with two home runs and four RBIs', followed by Yannixa Acuña, going 3-for-4 and finishing a home run shy of a cycle.
Mac Osborne earned the win in the circle for the Sun Devils, going for 4.0 innings with four strikeouts. After Meika Lauppe made her Sun Devil debut, Marissa Schuld locked down her ninth career save allowing only one hit over the final 2.1 innings.
How It Happened
- The Tommies took an early 2-0 lead off a double in the top of the first inning. The Sun Devils tied the game up 2-2 with a two-run home run from Denby.
- Freshman Samantha Swan started a two-out rally with a double in her first career at-bat, and she scored on a single from Mackenzie Macfarlane to put the Sun Devils in front 3-2 after one inning.
- Kelsey Hall led off with a triple to get things started in the bottom of the third. A sac fly from Swan increased the lead for ASU, and then Acuña doubled to score Ayden Allen to make it 5-2.
- Denby went deep for the second time in the bottom of the fourth to make it 6-2. Later in the inning, Allen doubled in a run that put the Sun Devils up by five.
- St. Thomas cut into the Sun Devils advantage with a pair of runs in the fifth inning.
- Acuña would notch an RBI triple and then Denby drove her in with a sac fly to provide the final tally.
- Her 11 strikeouts in the first game against Northwestern was the fifth game of Kylee Magee's career with 5+ strikeouts. The 11 strikeouts are a career-high and is the first time a Sun Devil pitcher had 10 or more strikeouts since Marissa Schuld on March 15, 2022, against Marist.
- Kayla Lissy is on a 4-game hitting streak dating back to the end of last season. Tanya Windle's single against Northwestern also marks at least one hit in 17 of the last 18 games dating back to last year.
- Boise State transfer Kelsey Hall smacked her first triple since Feb. 19, 2022 vs. Incarnate Word in the bottom of the third against St. Thomas. It's the graduate's fourth career triple.
- Yaya Acuña went a 3-of-4 against the Tommies, making it the first multi-hit game of her Sun Devil career.
- Against St. Thomas, Fresno State transfer Alesia Denby hoisted two home runs, marking the second multi-home run game of her career and her first since April 15, 2023 against Utah State. It's also the 30th multi-hit game of her collegiate career.
The Sun Devils will play their second doubleheader of the Kajikawa Classic tomorrow at 4:00 p.m. against Boise State and Maine at 6:30 p.m. Both games will be broadcast on Pac-12 Arizona. POSTGAME QUOTES
Arizona State Head Coach Megan Bartlett
On today's games
"Opening day is so interesting every year. It's a different team. In the first game, I thought we played really tidy defense, so there were good things to take away from that. Then in the nightcap, the bats came alive, and we certainly weren't as clean on defense. I wasn't pleased with that. We made some really outstanding plays, but I don't think we handled the routine ball really well, and that's a staple of what we do here."
On Kylee Magee's performance
"I thought Kylee threw a beautiful first game. Northwestern is a good team, and she threw a complete game and did a beautiful job, so that was certainly nice to see."
On responding in game two
"We got some solid performances on the mound. Mac has some of the best movement in the country, and she's just got to believe it and find a repeatable pattern on the mound with her adrenaline and stress level. Once she figured that out, we kind of shook some nerves out with Meika. She is such a great kid I think she is going to have a really nice career here. It is effortless power and that kid is not even trying, and she is working 68-69 in the circle. And then, of course, Marissa came in and threw beautifully like a veteran and shut the door."