TEMPE – Kaylee Pond left No. 21/15 Oklahoma State pondering what more the Cowgirls could have done while the first-year Sun Devil and her teammates were celebrating Sun Devil Softball’s 3-2 win over OSU at Farrington Stadium on Friday night.
The answer to the Cowgirls’ question? Nothing. It was just meant to be.
And it became evident as the 2-hour, 45-minute game went on.
The first sign popped up in the top of the first when Oklahoma State had runners at second and third with two away. And neither scored.
An inning later, the Cowgirls loaded the bases with no outs. No runners came across to score.
In the fourth, OSU’s Amanda Hasler, who drew a six-pitch, one-out walk to reach base, successfully stole second with two outs. But she was stranded there as Kenzie Brown struck out Aubrey Jones swinging.
Even after Brown eventually flinched and surrendered a two-out, two-run home run to Rosie Davis to push Oklahoma State (17-8, 1-3) ahead in the top of the fifth, Brooklyn Ulrich had her pitcher’s back with a one-out, two-run in the bottom half of the inning to tie the game, again.
Following the home run, Brown went on to retire the next seven consecutive Cowgirl batters, four of which came via strikeout to push her total on the night to 14.
The top of the eighth presented the final piece of evidence of the eventual outcome.
With two runners on base and two outs in the inning, Arizona State catcher Samantha Swan threw behind Audrey Schneidmiller, who just finished taking a secondary lead off first base following a Meika Lauppe (7-2) pitch to Amanda Hasler, at first base, where Katie Chester applied an inning-ending out as the Sun Devils’ junior backstop picked off Schneidmiller.
Despite Oklahoma State challenging the call of out on the field, which ultimately was confirmed minutes later, the game’s outcome was moments away from being finalized.
Upon returning to action following a commercial break between innings, Kaylee Pond sent the first pitch of the bottom of the eighth 251 feet to right-centerfield for a game-ending, solo home run.
FROM HEAD COACH MEGAN BARTLETT
“Tonight was a big win for us. It's really nice to have Kenzie (Brown) back. (Kaylee Pond) came up so big with that home run at the end. Brooklyn (Ulrich) got through a nice ball, too, and it's just really nice to get that win, because Oklahoma State is a great team and that game, truly, could have gone either way. The girls were gritty and figured out how to find a way.”
FROM SENIOR OUTFIELDER KAYLEE POND
“Tonight’s win meant so much, because I'm such a competitor. Looking at the stats, we were 0-3 in conference after Utah and that is not what we wanted. So, just getting our first win builds momentum, so we have to start stacking momentum and stacking wins right now. Winning this weekend’s series is the goal and we can do that tomorrow. I'm excited. I’m ready to go get a good night's sleep, so we can be ready to attack tomorrow.”
FROM SENIOR INFIELDER BROOKLYN ULRICH
“(Oklahoma State’s Ruby Meylan) was throwing a lot of drop balls to us, and I knew that is one of her main pitches she throws. So, it was pretty easy for me to home in on that. She's throwing it on both sides of the plate, and I just was waiting until I got mine and I did.”
GAME NOTES
- Arizona State senior right-handed pitcher Kenzie Brown matched her season-high single-game strikeout total with 14, marking the most by Brown in a single game this season since fanning 14 Indiana Hoosiers in seven innings of work on Feb. 12.
- Friday night’s win marked the first extra inning victory for the Sun Devils since Saturday, March 8, 2025, when Arizona State beat BYU, 5-4, in eight innings in Tempe.
- By striking out 14 Oklahoma State batters over the course of seven innings, Kenzie Brown turned in her 18th career double-digit strikeout performance and fifth of the 2026 campaign.
- On Friday evening, Kaylee Pond became the sixth different Sun Devil to have six multi-hit contests this season. The first-year Sun Devil joins Katie Chester, Emily Schepp, Asheligh Mejia, Samantha Swan and Tanya Windle on the plateau.
- With the victory, Arizona State moves to 6-2 on the season when Kaylee Pond hits a home run.
- Friday’s win over Oklahoma State marked the first time in program history that Arizona State has beaten the Cowgirls in back-to-back seasons.
UP NEXT
On Saturday, March 14, Arizona State (21-6, 1-3) will look to clinch its first Big 12 series on the young 2026 season when the Sun Devils and Oklahoma State Cowgirls (17-8, 1-3) take the field at Farrington Stadium for a 4 p.m. MST first pitch on ESPN+.
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