HOUSTON – With three weekends remaining in the 2026 regular season, the Sun Devil Softball program will look to continue positioning itself for a potential postseason berth this weekend, when Arizona State takes on Houston for a three-game Big 12 Conference series in the Lone Star State.
Series schedule
- Friday, April 17 – at Houston, 4 p.m. MST / 6 p.m. CDT (ESPN+)
- Saturday, April 18 – at Houston, 1 p.m. MST / 3 p.m. CDT (ESPN+)
- Sunday, April 19 – at Houston, 10 a.m. MST / 12 p.m. CDT (ESPN+)
Television
- Will Conerly (play-by-play) and Shae Sloan (analyst) will call the weekend’s action on the ESPN+ broadcast, while Nicole Beckelman will serve as a sideline reporter throughout the weekend.
The opposition
- Arizona State will enter the weekend series with a 3-0 all-time record against Houston: 2-1 (March 3, 2007); 6-5 (Feb. 26, 2016); 8-4 (March 5, 2023).
- Friday night’s game will mark the first-ever matchup between Arizona State and Houston at Cougar Softball Stadium.
- The previous three all-time meetings between the two programs took place in Tempe, Ariz.
- Only one active Sun Devil has ever faced off against the Cougars: Kenzie Brown.
- During Arizona State’s 8-4 win over Houston in Tempe on Sunday, March 5, 2023, Brown entered the pitching circle in the top of the second and proceeded to throw the next 4.2 innings, before giving way to Marissa Schuld.
-
-
- Brown earned the win by throwing 4.2 scoreless innings, while striking out six of the 18 batters she faced.
- Current ASU graduate assistant Jordyn Vanhook also played in that contest and went 2-for-4 with a home run, a double and three RBI.
- Brown earned the win by throwing 4.2 scoreless innings, while striking out six of the 18 batters she faced.
-
-
- During Arizona State’s 8-4 win over Houston in Tempe on Sunday, March 5, 2023, Brown entered the pitching circle in the top of the second and proceeded to throw the next 4.2 innings, before giving way to Marissa Schuld.
Leading off
- By appearing – and starting – in one game this weekend, second-year Sun Devil Ashleigh Mejia will appear – and start – in her 100th career collegiate game.
- Mejia (99) will join Kaylee Pond (211), Brooklyn Ulrich (205), Tanya Windle (180), Katie Chester (153), Yannixa Acuña (142), Yazzy Avila (138), Samantha Swan (137) and Emily Schepp (136) as active Sun Devils to appear in 100-or-more career collegiate games.
- With a sweep of the three-game series, Arizona State would match the best single-season win total (35) under fourth-year head coach Megan Bartlett after winning 35 games a season ago in 2025.
- Reaching the 35-win plateau this season would mark the first time the Sun Devils have won 35 or more games in back-to-back seasons since 2018 (48) and 2019 (35).
- Arizona State has never failed to make an NCAA Regional when winning 35 or more games in a single season.
- Reaching the 35-win plateau this season would mark the first time the Sun Devils have won 35 or more games in back-to-back seasons since 2018 (48) and 2019 (35).
- With 19 strikeouts over the weekend, Kenzie Brown will surpass the 200-strikeout mark for the second consecutive season after having 289 throughout the 2025 campaign.
- When Brown reaches the 200-strikeout mark this season, she’ll become the first Sun Devil pitcher with back-to-back 200-strikeout seasons since Dallas Escobedo (2013 – 325; 2014 – 336) did so over a decade ago.
Follow us
For the latest information on the team, follow @SunDevilSoftball on X, Facebook and Instagram. General athletic news can also be found at @TheSunDevils on X, Instagram and Facebook.