TEMPE – The weather report for Sun Devil Softball’s 8-0 win over Pacific to close out the Littlewood Invitational on Sunday afternoon may have read 70 degrees with a slight breeze and the sun shining. But, on the field, Arizona State combined Kenzie Brown’s pitching elements with a combustible offensive lineup to create a perfect storm at Farrington Stadium.
In her first appearance since earning a two-inning save against Nevada on Friday, Feb. 13, Brown (3-1) tossed just 81 pitches – the fewest in a start this season – over the course of six innings of work. She induced five flyouts, three groundouts and struck out 10 to finish three over the minimum number of batters faced. She issued just one walk – the second batter of the game – and scattered just two hits: a bloop single into shallow left field to start the third and a two-out double that landed a foot inside the left field foul line in the top of the sixth.
No other Tigers successfully reached base against the reigning Big 12 Conference Pitcher of the Week.
That's now 4⃣ straight home starts with 🔟+ K's for 🔟😈#ForksUp /// #BeElite pic.twitter.com/gelsObm89j
— Sun Devil Softball (@ASUSoftball) February 15, 2026
Brown’s ability to keep the opposing offense at bay allowed the Arizona State offense to work early and often.
Five batters into the bottom of the first, Arizona State already put up a run on a Kaylee Pond single to right field that scored Emily Schepp from third. It was 3-0 Sun Devils after the next batter as JazMarine Roberts sent an 0-1 pitch to the left-center field gap for a two-run double.
Pacific made a pitching change that momentarily halted the offensive outburst.
The Sun Devils returned to the run column in the bottom of the fourth, when freshman Avery Motroni singled through the left side of the infield to score Samantha Swan. An inning later, Roberts scored Pond from first on the freshman’s second double of the contest.
Just a freshman making an early impact 😈#ForksUp /// @averymotroni14 pic.twitter.com/CfEUsjZv3W
— Sun Devil Softball (@ASUSoftball) February 15, 2026
By the time the sixth inning rolled around, Arizona State was on the edge of its third run-rule victory of the season.
And fans didn’t have to wait too long to watch it unfold as Schepp and Katie Chester both had back-to-back run-scoring hits to extend the Sun Devils’ lead out to a seven-run advantage. Moments later, Pond closed the book on the afternoon with a run-scoring double that scored Nehanda Lewis from second.
FROM HEAD COACH MEGAN BARTLETT
“The girls have just been trying too hard. I had to remind them how good they were at hitting and then it was off to the races. I'm incredibly proud of them, though. There weren't a lot of physical adjustments to be made at the plate; that's not really a thing. At this level between week one and week two, it was just getting them to relax, have the game come to them and hit good pitches. This is a very good ball team with a lot of depth that can absolutely hit a lot. Yesterday, you had the chance to see a lot of pinch hitters and people you probably haven't seen hit yet, and they were getting hits all over the yard. So, I'm just proud of them.”
FROM SENIOR OUTFIELDER KAYLEE POND
“I just like how the offense, this weekend, really trusted the next person up and were just passing the bat. There was an instance where Katie Chester - with her big bat - could have tried to do a little more than she needed to, but she hit a ground ball to the opposite side and scored the runner. And then Ashleigh Mejia walked, continuing the inning, then I ended up barreling up a pitch and driving some people in.”
GAME NOTES
- With her strikeout of Bailey Boetjer to end the top of the sixth, Kenzie Brown extended her streak of consecutive home starts with 10-or-more strikeouts to four. It marks the first time throughout her collegiate softball career that Brown has struck out 10-or-more opposing batters in four straight home starts.
- Additionally, the sixth-inning strikeout of Boetjer also pushed a streak of consecutive overall starts with double-digit strikeouts by Kenzie Brown to eight consecutive games dating back to the 2025 season.
- By not striking out a batter during the three-hitter top of the fifth, it marked the first inning of the season that Kenzie Brown did not record at least one out in an inning via strikeout. She responded with a pair of strikeouts in the sixth to strikeout at least one batter in 27.1 of 28.1 innings worked this season. (Brown faced one Texas State batter on Feb. 6 and struck her out for just a third of an inning of work.)
- With the win over Pacific, Arizona State moves to 10-1 on the young season, marking the best record for the Sun Devils through a season’s first 11 games since the 2021 campaign, when ASU began the season 17-1.
UP NEXT
- Having now swept through the Kajikawa Classic and Littlewood Invitational in consecutive weekends, Arizona State (10-1) will now test its luck with the Sun Devil Classic that will begin on Friday, Feb. 20, when Michigan and New Mexico State begin the tournament’s action. The Sun Devils will conclude the day’s four-day slate against Michigan (3:30 p.m. MST/ESPN+) and Southern Utah (6:15 p.m. MST/ESPN+).
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