CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Less than 36 hours after knocking off NC State in Raleigh, the Sun Devil Softball team will make the short trip over to Chapel Hill, N.C., to participate in the three-team Mizuno Showdown hosted by the UNC Tar Heels.
Arizona State (24-9) will play a pair of non-conference matchups against Marist (15-13) and UNC (22-7) over the course of the two-day round robin tournament.
WEEKEND SCHEDULE:
- Friday, March 27 – vs. Marist, 9 a.m. MST / 12 p.m. EDT
- Friday, March 27 – at UNC, 2 p.m. MST / 5 p.m. EDT (ACCNX)
- Saturday, March 28 – vs. Marist, 7 a.m. MST / 10 a.m. EDT
- Saturday, March 28 – at UNC, 9:30 a.m. MST / 12:30 p.m. EDT (ACCNX)
TELEVISION:
- Only Arizona State’s pair of non-conference games against North Carolina will be available to stream with Mike Gerriere and Amanda Poole calling the action on ACC Network Extra.
- The Sun Devils’ two games against Marist will not have a video broadcast.
THE OPPOSITION:
Marist
- Arizona State and Marist have played only once prior to Friday’s matchup: Tuesday, March 15, 2022, when the Sun Devils bested the Red Foxes, 9-1, in five innings in Tempe.
- The only active member of the ASU softball program who appeared in that game was current graduate assistant Jordyn VanHook, who struck out on a five-pitch fourth inning at bat.
North Carolina
- Friday’s game against North Carolina will mark the first time in the program’s 59-year history that Arizona State will play the Tar Heels in Chapel Hill.
- Over the course of the previous eight matchups, only one has occurred in the Eastern Time Zone: Friday, Feb. 24, 2006, when the Sun Devils beat the Tar Heels, 4-3, in Columbus, Ga, behind a nine-inning, 13-strikeout outing by Desiree Serrano.
- Overall, Arizona State has a 7-1 all-time record over North Carolina despite the Tar Heels winning the last matchup, 3-2, on May 20, 2017, when UNC eliminated ASU in the NCAA Oxford Regional hosted by Ole Miss.
- In four home – all in Tempe (1996 [2x], 2007, 2013) – matchups throughout the series, the home team is 4-0.
- March 5, 1996 – ASU 11, UNC 4
- March 5, 1996 – ASU 7, UNC 1
- February 16, 2007 – ASU 3, UNC 1
- March 2, 2013 – ASU 7, UNC 4
LEADING OFF:
- If Kaylee Pond appears in and starts a game on either Friday or Saturday, the first-year Sun Devil will appear in and start her 200th career collegiate softball game.
- Despite not starting her career at Arizona State, Pond will become the only active Sun Devil to appear in and start 200-or-more softball games over the length of a collegiate softball career.
- Entering ASU’s next game, Pond, over the course of her six-season playing career, has appeared in 104 games over three seasons at Cal, 52 games in two seasons at Iowa State and now 33 games in her first season at Arizona State.
- With her next hit, Kaylee Pond (149) will register her 150th career collegiate hit, joining Tanya Windle (213) and Brooklyn Ulrich (169) as the only active Sun Devil softball student-athletes to reach the milestone over the course of their collegiate softball playing career.
- A win over North Carolina this weekend would mark the first time in program history that Arizona State has beaten both NC State and UNC during the same season.
- 2007 was the only previous season the Sun Devils have played both the Wolfpack and Tar Heels during the same season, but NC State beat ASU, 6-4 in eight innings, while ASU beat UNC, 3-1.
FOLLOW US
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