TEMPE – Ashleigh Mejia and Kelsey Hall each hit a two-run home run while Kenzie Brown recorded 13 strikeouts as Sun Devil Softball defeated Kansas 4-3 on Sunday at Farrington Stadium. With the win, ASU wins its third Big 12 series of the season.
Brown struck out three in the top of the first and then was staked to a 2-0 lead when Mejia lifted her 11th home run of the season over the right field wall after Tiare Ho-Ching led off the inning with a walk.
After Brown put two more zeroes on the Kansas linescore – including three straight strikeouts in the second inning – Yannixa Acuña reached with a bunt single and then scored when Hall homered to left to double the ASU advantage.
The Jayhawks ended their scoring drought in the fourth, plating a runner from second on a single up the middle after the runner reached on a walk. A pair of home runs in the fifth would put Kansas within one at 4-3.
Brown found her stuff again in the sixth with two more strikeouts and a weak grounder. She then struck out the side in order in the seventh to close out the series win for the Sun Devils.
Notable
Arizona State Head Coach Megan Bartlet
On how important this win was giving them a positive record in conference play
"Super proud of the girls, they did a nice job of staying present and letting last night go. They showed up this morning ready to fight. That's all that we can ask of them."
On how the consistency from their veterans helps support the team
"That's the job of the veterans honestly. Your primetime players have to show up in some capacity every single day if you're going to win ball games. That is their capability level and it's what we need them to do to win ball games."
Graduate Student Kelsey Hall
On how important this win was to the team
"It was huge. The game last night was obviously a tough one, and we're talking a lot about character building and who we want to be, and we want to be consistent. This was just another stepping stone in the right direction of who we want to be. We want to see postseason, we want to see everybody step up and all facets of the ball locked in today so it was a good day for the Devils."
Up Next
Sun Devil Softball will travel to El Paso, Texas, to take on UTEP in a doubleheader on Wednesday at 11 a.m. AZT.
Brown struck out three in the top of the first and then was staked to a 2-0 lead when Mejia lifted her 11th home run of the season over the right field wall after Tiare Ho-Ching led off the inning with a walk.
After Brown put two more zeroes on the Kansas linescore – including three straight strikeouts in the second inning – Yannixa Acuña reached with a bunt single and then scored when Hall homered to left to double the ASU advantage.
The Jayhawks ended their scoring drought in the fourth, plating a runner from second on a single up the middle after the runner reached on a walk. A pair of home runs in the fifth would put Kansas within one at 4-3.
Brown found her stuff again in the sixth with two more strikeouts and a weak grounder. She then struck out the side in order in the seventh to close out the series win for the Sun Devils.
Notable
- This was the second straight start with 10-plus strikeouts for Brown, and she recorded 29 in the series.
- She has now recorded double-digit strikeouts in consecutive appearances twice this season.
- Brown ends the weekend No. 2 in the NCAA and leading the Big 12 with 196 strikeouts on the year.
- Mejia is the seventh freshman in ASU history with at least 11 home runs in a season.
- The homer was her seventh to tie the game or give ASU the lead.
- Hall's home run was her first since March 12 at Stetson and the 49th of her career.
- Hall also singled in the sixth for her team-best 14th multi-hit game of the season.
- This was just the third time in Big 12 play that the Sun Devils hit multiple home runs in the same game.
- ASU improves to 3-1 this season in games after they were shutout.
Arizona State Head Coach Megan Bartlet
On how important this win was giving them a positive record in conference play
"Super proud of the girls, they did a nice job of staying present and letting last night go. They showed up this morning ready to fight. That's all that we can ask of them."
On how the consistency from their veterans helps support the team
"That's the job of the veterans honestly. Your primetime players have to show up in some capacity every single day if you're going to win ball games. That is their capability level and it's what we need them to do to win ball games."
Graduate Student Kelsey Hall
On how important this win was to the team
"It was huge. The game last night was obviously a tough one, and we're talking a lot about character building and who we want to be, and we want to be consistent. This was just another stepping stone in the right direction of who we want to be. We want to see postseason, we want to see everybody step up and all facets of the ball locked in today so it was a good day for the Devils."
Up Next
Sun Devil Softball will travel to El Paso, Texas, to take on UTEP in a doubleheader on Wednesday at 11 a.m. AZT.