OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. – Following a 54-game 2026 regular season schedule, the No. 24/25-ranked Sun Devil Softball program will now turn its attention to the 2026 Big 12 Softball Tournament presented by Allstate, which is slated to begin on Thursday, May 7.
The sixth-seeded Arizona State Sun Devils (38-16) will take on the third-seeded Arizona Wildcats (35-15) in the quarterfinals of the three-day tournament at 5:30 p.m. MST on Thursday, May 7.
Tournament schedule
- Thursday, May 7 – vs. Arizona, 5:30 p.m. MST / 7:30 p.m. CDT (ESPN+)
- Friday, May 8 – vs. TBD, 5 p.m. MST / 7 p.m. CDT (ESPN+)
- Saturday, May 9 – vs. TBD, 9 a.m. MST / 11 a.m. CDT (ESPN)
Television
- Emma Tiedermann (play-by-play) and Cat Osterman (analyst) will serve as the announcing talent for Thursday night’s ESPN+ broadcast. Nicole Mendes (sideline reporter) will join the duo for the semifinals.
- Eric Frede (play-by-play) and Madison Shipman (analyst) will call the championship game of the Big 12 Softball Tournament on ESPN.
The opposition
- Thursday night’s game between the Sun Devils and Wildcats will mark the first time the two in-state foes have played in a conference tournament game since 2023, when Arizona beat Arizona State, 13-4, in five innings of the first-ever game of the inaugural Pac-12 Softball Tournament that was held at Hillenbrand Stadium in Tucson.
- 2026 will mark the first time Arizona State and Arizona have played four times in a single season since 2023, when the Wildcats took three of the four meetings.
- Thursday’s contest will mark the 232nd all-time meeting between Arizona State and Arizona since first playing each other during the 1971 season.
- Over the 55-year series history between the two, the Wildcats hold a 120-111 all-time record over the Sun Devils.
- Thursday’s conference tournament game will mark the first time Arizona State and Arizona have played a neutral-site game since March 16, 2002, when the then-No. 8 Sun Devils beat then-No. 2 Arizona, 3-0, behind a combined seven-inning shutout from Bonnie Brannen, Erica Beach and Kirsten Voak in the quarterfinals of the Kia Klassic hosted by Cal State Fullerton in Fullerton, Calif.
Leading off
- With her next walk, Kaylee Pond will turn in the 19th 40-walk season by a Sun Devil in program history.
- Pond will join Kaitlin Cochran, Katelyn Boyd, Alix Johnson, Cheyenne Coyle, Sierra Rodrigue, Cydny Sanders, Lesley Rogers, Krista Donnenwirth, Mindy Cowles and Annie Lockwood as the only Sun Devils to earn 40-or-more walks in a single season.
- Pond would become the first Sun Devil with 40 or more walks in a single season since Cydney Sanders drew 45 in 146 plate appearances throughout the 2022 season.
- If Katie Chester is able to drive in seven or more runs during Arizona State’s stay at this week’s Big 12 Softball Tournament, she’ll join Krista Donnenwirth (74 – 2008) and Annie Lockwood (72 – 2011) as the only Sun Devils to drive in 70 or more RBI in a single season.
- A single RBI in Oklahoma City would push Chester past Cydney Sanders (63 – 2022) for seventh on the program’s single-season RBI list.
- Chester’s 64 RBI would be the most by any Sun Devil since Haley Steele drove in 69 during the 2015 season.
- With her next double, Samantha Swan will break a three-way tie with Yannira Acuña (2022) and Kaitlin Cochran (2008) for the most doubles by a Sun Devil in a single season.
- A single RBI in Oklahoma City would push Chester past Cydney Sanders (63 – 2022) for seventh on the program’s single-season RBI list.
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