TEMPE – Sun Devil Softball's hot start and dominance in the circle won them the first game of their weekend series with Kansas on Friday at Farrington Stadium. Arizona State's seven hits and six runs in the first two innings were enough to seal the game's final score at 6-1.
Arizona State quickly shook off an early 1-0 deficit in the bottom of the first, stringing together four hits and capitalizing on a wild pitch to pull ahead 3-1. Kelsey Hall and Ayden Allen each had RBI singles in the inning.
After striking out three in the first inning, Kenzie Brown added three more in the second to get out of a bases-loaded jam. That momentum carried to the plate where Ashleigh Mejia followed singles from Takyla Davis and Tiare Ho-Ching with a three-run homer over the wall in left.
Brown took over from there, retiring 12 of the next 13 Jayhawks she faced, allowing just an infield single, and striking out nine. She worked around two hits in the top of the seventh with one more strikeout and two ground outs to close the win.
In total, Brown recorded 16 strikeouts while allowing just one run on four hits. She had multiple strikeouts in six of the seven innings after the first seven outs of the game came via the punch out.
Ho-Ching and Mejia had two hits apiece to lead the team's 10-hit outburst. All nine starters reached base with eight recording a hit. Samantha Swan added a double in the first.
Notable
Arizona State Head Coach Megan Bartlett
On how they bounced back from a loss and came out strong early
"They certainly flipped the script early tonight after getting punched pretty quickly in the first. This is a special group. We spend a lot of time on the mental side of the game and our culture. I think the value that a strong clubhouse brings to the table when playing at a high level has a lot to do with it."
On how Kenzie Brown is able to self-correct and play through adversity:
"We certainly have a lot of confidence in her, and she does in herself as well, which is the most important thing. She got into a couple of tough spots, but her timing was good. It was just a matter of keeping her rolling and pitch calling to get her back into profile."
Senior Kenzie Brown
On reaching 300 career strikeouts:
"It shows how much work I put in to get better. The majority of my strikeouts have come from this year, and that's special to me because I've put in the work to do that."
On how she has improved this year
"My Maturity. To play at this level, you need a sense of emotional and physical maturity. I finally reached that with myself. Doesn't mean I don't have room to grow, but to continue to embrace the process instead of being result-oriented has been good."
On having the offensive support tonight
"It's a huge weight lifted off the shoulders. I can attack the zone and don't have to worry about throwing it in the middle. At the end of the day, they still have to hit and put up six against me."
Freshman Ashleigh Mejia
On how it felt to contribute to the win with her 3-run home run
"It felt good because I knew we needed it. We've been working hard and trusting each other. To be part of that win and doing things to help get that win meant a lot to me. I feel supported by my team, doing that for them was an honor."
On how they will use this momentum against Kansas
"Knowing that we are able to beat them. We proved that we can do it. To do so again and come out with the same mindset, the same confidence and cheers. We can win this series."
Up Next
Arizona State continues its series with Kansas on Saturday at 5 p.m. at Farrington Stadium with a celebration of the 2010s Sun Devils.
Arizona State quickly shook off an early 1-0 deficit in the bottom of the first, stringing together four hits and capitalizing on a wild pitch to pull ahead 3-1. Kelsey Hall and Ayden Allen each had RBI singles in the inning.
After striking out three in the first inning, Kenzie Brown added three more in the second to get out of a bases-loaded jam. That momentum carried to the plate where Ashleigh Mejia followed singles from Takyla Davis and Tiare Ho-Ching with a three-run homer over the wall in left.
Brown took over from there, retiring 12 of the next 13 Jayhawks she faced, allowing just an infield single, and striking out nine. She worked around two hits in the top of the seventh with one more strikeout and two ground outs to close the win.
In total, Brown recorded 16 strikeouts while allowing just one run on four hits. She had multiple strikeouts in six of the seven innings after the first seven outs of the game came via the punch out.
Ho-Ching and Mejia had two hits apiece to lead the team's 10-hit outburst. All nine starters reached base with eight recording a hit. Samantha Swan added a double in the first.
Notable
- Brown recorded her seventh double-digit strikeouts performance of the season.
- She became the fourth Sun Devil to have multiple games with at least 16 strikeouts in their career.
- Brown is the only pitcher in the Big 12 with 15-plus strikeouts in a game this season, and she has done it twice.
- Brown's 12th strikeout came to end the fifth inning, and it was the 300th of her career.
- Ho-Ching had two hits in the game, which extended her hitting streak to seven games.
- Mejia became the ninth freshman in ASU history to hit at least 10 home runs in a season with her second-inning blast.
- Tanya Windle singled in the sixth inning for her 100th hit as a Sun Devil.
Arizona State Head Coach Megan Bartlett
On how they bounced back from a loss and came out strong early
"They certainly flipped the script early tonight after getting punched pretty quickly in the first. This is a special group. We spend a lot of time on the mental side of the game and our culture. I think the value that a strong clubhouse brings to the table when playing at a high level has a lot to do with it."
On how Kenzie Brown is able to self-correct and play through adversity:
"We certainly have a lot of confidence in her, and she does in herself as well, which is the most important thing. She got into a couple of tough spots, but her timing was good. It was just a matter of keeping her rolling and pitch calling to get her back into profile."
Senior Kenzie Brown
On reaching 300 career strikeouts:
"It shows how much work I put in to get better. The majority of my strikeouts have come from this year, and that's special to me because I've put in the work to do that."
On how she has improved this year
"My Maturity. To play at this level, you need a sense of emotional and physical maturity. I finally reached that with myself. Doesn't mean I don't have room to grow, but to continue to embrace the process instead of being result-oriented has been good."
On having the offensive support tonight
"It's a huge weight lifted off the shoulders. I can attack the zone and don't have to worry about throwing it in the middle. At the end of the day, they still have to hit and put up six against me."
Freshman Ashleigh Mejia
On how it felt to contribute to the win with her 3-run home run
"It felt good because I knew we needed it. We've been working hard and trusting each other. To be part of that win and doing things to help get that win meant a lot to me. I feel supported by my team, doing that for them was an honor."
On how they will use this momentum against Kansas
"Knowing that we are able to beat them. We proved that we can do it. To do so again and come out with the same mindset, the same confidence and cheers. We can win this series."
Up Next
Arizona State continues its series with Kansas on Saturday at 5 p.m. at Farrington Stadium with a celebration of the 2010s Sun Devils.