TEMPE – Samantha Swan scored on a Tiare Ho-Ching groundout in the bottom of the eighth as Sun Devil Softball rallied for a 5-4 win over BYU on Saturday evening at Farrington Stadium to win their inaugural Big 12 series.
Arizona State (17-7, 2-1 Big 12) was an out away from winning in regulation when BYU (15-6, 1-2 Big 12) got a two-run home run that gave the Cougars a 4-3 lead and stunned the sold-out crowd. Trailing for the first time since the first inning, Ashleigh Mejia led off the bottom of the seventh with a solo blast that forced the game into extras.
Julianne Tipton worked around a BYU single and a walk in the eight to keep the Cougars off the board. Swan doubled to start the ASU eighth and moved to third on a sacrifice from AJ Murphy. A single from Takyla Davis put runners at the corners for the winning play from Ho-Ching. Swan was initially ruled out at the plate before replay determined she was in ahead of the tag, and the Sun Devils had won.
BYU was the first to score on Saturday with a walk and a double in the top of the first. ASU quickly responded with a two-run home run from Kelsey Hall in the bottom of the inning. Murphy scored on a wild pitch in the ASU second for a 3-1 lead and then the Cougars got a run back in the top of the third.
The pitchers took over the following three innings with neither team crossing the plate. ASU had runners in scoring position in the fifth and sixth innings but couldn't add to their lead as they finished the game 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position, and the only hit was the Davis single in the eighth that didn't advance a runner.
Kenzie Brown followed her 18 strikeouts outing on Thursday with another eight strikeouts on Saturday. She held BYU to four hits during her 6.2 innings. Tipton went the final 1.1 innings without allowing a run to move to 3-0 on the season.
Notable
ASU heads to Florida for five games next week, starting with a doubleheader at Stetson on Wednesday at 1 p.m. AZT. The Sun Devils will open a three-game Big 12 series at UCF on Friday.
Arizona State (17-7, 2-1 Big 12) was an out away from winning in regulation when BYU (15-6, 1-2 Big 12) got a two-run home run that gave the Cougars a 4-3 lead and stunned the sold-out crowd. Trailing for the first time since the first inning, Ashleigh Mejia led off the bottom of the seventh with a solo blast that forced the game into extras.
Julianne Tipton worked around a BYU single and a walk in the eight to keep the Cougars off the board. Swan doubled to start the ASU eighth and moved to third on a sacrifice from AJ Murphy. A single from Takyla Davis put runners at the corners for the winning play from Ho-Ching. Swan was initially ruled out at the plate before replay determined she was in ahead of the tag, and the Sun Devils had won.
BYU was the first to score on Saturday with a walk and a double in the top of the first. ASU quickly responded with a two-run home run from Kelsey Hall in the bottom of the inning. Murphy scored on a wild pitch in the ASU second for a 3-1 lead and then the Cougars got a run back in the top of the third.
The pitchers took over the following three innings with neither team crossing the plate. ASU had runners in scoring position in the fifth and sixth innings but couldn't add to their lead as they finished the game 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position, and the only hit was the Davis single in the eighth that didn't advance a runner.
Kenzie Brown followed her 18 strikeouts outing on Thursday with another eight strikeouts on Saturday. She held BYU to four hits during her 6.2 innings. Tipton went the final 1.1 innings without allowing a run to move to 3-0 on the season.
Notable
- The win is the 200th career victory for head coach Megan Bartlett.
- ASU picked up its eighth comeback win of the season and its second walk-off victory.
- The win is the first series win for ASU since defeating Washington during the 2023 season, snapping a run of 13 consecutive series' lost.
- The home run from Hall was her second in as many games and her team-best seventh of the season.
- Mejia's home run was her second game-tying homer in the sixth inning or later this season (Feb. 16 vs. Utah Valley).
- With eight strikeouts, Brown has 38 strikeouts in her last three starts and 51 in her last four appearances of at least five innings.
- Tanya Windle had a pair of hits to extend her hitting streak to nine games.
- Davis recorded her second straight multi-hit game after having just one coming into the weekend.
ASU heads to Florida for five games next week, starting with a doubleheader at Stetson on Wednesday at 1 p.m. AZT. The Sun Devils will open a three-game Big 12 series at UCF on Friday.