TEMPE – Less than 48 hours after scoring three times on five hits off Oklahoma State starting pitcher Ruby Meylan, the Sun Devil Softball offense were unable to fit the right pieces together to complete the three-game series sweep as the No. 21/15-ranked Cowgirls took the series finale, 4-0, over the Sun Devils.
For the fourth consecutive game, an Arizona State pitcher tossed a scoreless opening frame as Kenzie Brown (4-3) struck out one, before working around a one-out, infield single with back-to-back flyouts to Yannixa Acuña and Ashleigh Mejia, respectively. But the Oklahoma State offense was able to capitalize on a two-out fielding error in the top of the second when Rosie Davis scored two unearned runs to give the Cowgirls a 2-0 lead.
It was a lead OSU never surrendered.
In fact, the Sun Devils never had a runner reach third base at any point during the game’s seven innings:
Mejia reached first via a two-out fielding error in the first but was stranded there as Katie Chester flew out to centerfield to end the inning.
Emily Schepp collected Arizona State’s first base hit of the contest with a one-out single in the bottom of the second, but back-to-back strikeouts prevented her from advancing.
Mejia, again, reached base as she drew a four-pitch walk to not only extend her on-base streak to 26 straight games but also lead off the fourth. She advanced to second base when Chester flew out to right field, but two more flyouts left her on second.
Arizona State did not get another base runner until Chester led off the bottom of the seventh with a single, before being lifted for a pinch runner in Corie Shull. Shull was erased at second on a one-out fielder’s choice as Schepp replaced her at first but was became the Sun Devils’ fourth runner left on base when Acuña struck out to end the game.
FROM HEAD COACH MEGAN BARTLETT
“I’m super happy we were able to get the series win yesterday, because Oklahoma State came out swinging the bats today and made good on some opportunities, which is the name of the game when you’re trying to win top 25 matchups. We, certainly, didn’t swing the bats the way we wanted to today, but we are putting this one behind us and turning out attention to U of A next weekend.”
GAME NOTES
- By making a pitching appearance during Sunday’s game, Arizona State’s senior right-handed pitcher Kenzie Brown made her 100th career collegiate pitching appearance between her season at Tulsa (2022) and her three seasons (2023, 2025-26) in Tempe.
- As a result of striking out Lexi McDonald on four pitches to open the top of the second, Kenzie Brown recorded her 500th career collegiate strikeout between her time at Tulsa (45) and Arizona State (460).
- Despite Sunday’s outcome, the Arizona State offense still drew a walk during the game to extend a streak of 29 consecutive games played in the 2026 campaign – every game so far this season – with at least one walk.
- With her second-inning, one-out single, Emily Schepp was credited with her first base hit in a game at Farrington Stadium since recording a two-out double in the top of the first of ASU’s 2-1 win over CSU Bakersfield on Sunday, March 1, 2026.
UP NEXT
Arizona State (22-7, 2-4) will look to bounce back in the win column when the Sun Devils travel down I-10 to Tucson for a three-game Big 12 series against No. 13/12 Arizona beginning at 6 p.m. MST(ESPN+) on Friday, March 20.
The Wildcats (21-7, 4-2) will enter the weekend having dropped it’s the final two games of a three-game conference series at No. 2/2 Texas Tech on Saturday, March 14.
Arizona has either run ruled their opponents or been run ruled themselves in their last 12 consecutive games, a streak that dates to a 12-2 loss in five innings against then-No. 3 Texas in Stanford, Calif., on Sunday, Feb. 22.
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