TEMPE – Tanya Windle had three hits and Ashleigh Mejia homered, but it wasn't enough as Sun Devil Softball dropped the opener of its three-game risers with No. 10/10 Arizona 6-1 on Friday night at Farrington Stadium.
Kenzie Brown held Arizona scoreless into the third before a bloop single and catcher interference put two runners on board. After her fourth strikeout of the game, the Wildcats used a three-run home run to take the lead.
Meika Lauppe entered the circle after a sacrifice fly in the fourth inning made it 4-0. She retired all three batters she faced with a pair of strikeouts before exiting. Julianne Tipton worked the final 2.2 innings and allowed two runs.
Mejia got the Sun Devils on the board in the bottom of the sixth with a shot over the wall in left-center for jer seventh of the season. Windle followed with a triple to cap her 3-for-3 outing but was stranded at third.
Notable
Arizona State Head Coach Megan Bartlett
On Kenzie Brown's performance
"Kenzie made one mistake to a very good hitter, but I really thought she did a nice job. I think she continued to do Kenzie things, and if we had left her in, she would have continued to cruise, but that wasn't the night to do that. We're going to try and make sure she is fresh and ready for the next couple of days."
On the feelings of being in a rivalry series
"You can try to describe that environment to young ones who have never experienced it before. But until you live it, I think it's just one of those things you have to live through to really get the essence of it. It's a top 20 softball game, and those are hard series to win. I don't care if it's a big rivalry or if you're playing somebody across the country."
Up Next
Arizona State looks to even the series against Arizona on Saturday at 5 p.m. AZT.
Kenzie Brown held Arizona scoreless into the third before a bloop single and catcher interference put two runners on board. After her fourth strikeout of the game, the Wildcats used a three-run home run to take the lead.
Meika Lauppe entered the circle after a sacrifice fly in the fourth inning made it 4-0. She retired all three batters she faced with a pair of strikeouts before exiting. Julianne Tipton worked the final 2.2 innings and allowed two runs.
Mejia got the Sun Devils on the board in the bottom of the sixth with a shot over the wall in left-center for jer seventh of the season. Windle followed with a triple to cap her 3-for-3 outing but was stranded at third.
Notable
- Windle recorded at least three hits in a game for the third time this season.
- The triple was Windle's third of the season and 12th in her career. She moves into a tie for ninth among active players in career triples and fourth among juniors.
- Brown finished with four strikeouts to give her 250 in her career.
- The game was the first seel out of the season with 1,979 fans in attendance. That is the largest crowd since April 2, 2023, against Washington (2,062).
Arizona State Head Coach Megan Bartlett
On Kenzie Brown's performance
"Kenzie made one mistake to a very good hitter, but I really thought she did a nice job. I think she continued to do Kenzie things, and if we had left her in, she would have continued to cruise, but that wasn't the night to do that. We're going to try and make sure she is fresh and ready for the next couple of days."
On the feelings of being in a rivalry series
"You can try to describe that environment to young ones who have never experienced it before. But until you live it, I think it's just one of those things you have to live through to really get the essence of it. It's a top 20 softball game, and those are hard series to win. I don't care if it's a big rivalry or if you're playing somebody across the country."
Up Next
Arizona State looks to even the series against Arizona on Saturday at 5 p.m. AZT.