No. 19/19 Sun Devil Softball Preview: at NCAA Bryan-College Station Regional

COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Set to play in Bryan-College Station for the first time since April 1981, the Sun Devil Softball program will look to carry the momentum created by last weekend’s Big 12 Conference Championship into the Lone Star State where Arizona State will take part in the NCAA Bryan-College State Regional hosted by Texas A&M.

Arizona State (41-16) will open its slate on Friday, May 15, when the Sun Devils close out the first day of action against McNeese (40-20) – which won the Southland Conference’s postseason tournament championship in a three-game series against Lamar – at 1:30 p.m. MST / 3:30 p.m. CDT on ESPN+.

REGIONAL SCHEDULE: 

 

Friday, May 15

• UConn vs. Texas A&M, 11 a.m. MST / 1 p.m. CDT (ESPN2)
• McNeese vs. Arizona State, 1:30 p.m. MST / 3:30 p.m. CDT (ESPN+)

 

Saturday, May 16

• Game 3: Winner G1 vs. Winner G2, 12 p.m. MST / 2 p.m. CDT (TV: TBD)
• Game 4: Loser G1 vs. Loser G2, 2:30 p.m. MST / 4:30 p.m. CDT (TV: TBD)
• Game 5: Loser G3 vs. Winner G4, 5 p.m. MST / 7 p.m. CDT (TV: TBD)

 

Sunday, May 17

• Game 6: Winner G3 vs. Winner G5, 12 p.m. MST / 2 p.m. CDT (TV: TBD)
• Game 7: Winner G3 vs. Winner G5 (if necessary), 2:30 p.m. MST / 4:30 p.m. CDT (TV: TBD)

 

TELEVISION: 

• For the third time this season, Eric Frede (play by play) and Madison Shipman (analyst) will call the weekend’s regional action across the ESPN platforms.
  • Frede and Shipman also called the first two games of the Sun Devils’ three-game conference series against the Red Raiders in Tempe on April 24 and 25.
  • Two weeks later, the duo returned to the announcer booth to call Arizona State and Texas Tech’s Big 12 Softball Tournament Championship game on May 9.

THE OPPOSITION:

 

McNeese

• Friday afternoon’s game will mark the third time McNeese and Arizona State have played each other during a NCAA Regional.
  • On May 20, 2016, the Cowgirls beat the Sun Devils, 5-2, in the 2-3 matchup of the 2026 Baton Rouge Regional hosted by LSU.
  • The following day, May 21, Arizona State ended McNeese’s season with a 3-2 win in 14 innings.
• Overall, Arizona State holds a 4-2 all-time record against the Cowgirls dating back to the first-ever meeting on Thursday, Feb. 28, 1991, when the Sun Devils won, 8-0, in a neutral site game in the New Mexico State Tournament in Las Cruces, N.M.
• Heading into this week’s action, no team has won back-to-back matchups in the series history since McNeese won, 3-1, in Tempe on Feb. 10, 2012, before winning, 5-2, in Baton Rouge on May 20, 2016.
  • ASU has not won back-to-back games against the Cowgirls since taking a 1996 game, 11-0, and a 2009 meeting, 5-4, in eight innings.

 

Texas A&M

• Arizona State and Texas A&M have an extensive NCAA postseason history:
  • The two programs last met during the postseason during the 2011 NCAA Tempe Super Regional, where the Sun Devils took Game 1, 3-2, on May 26, before closing out the series, 4-2, the following day on May 27.
  • The Sun Devils and Aggies met in the Championship Series of the 2008 Women’s College World Series in Oklahoma City, where ASU took Game 1, 3-0, and Game 2, 11-0, to win the program’s first-ever national championship.
  • ASU and TAMU first met in the postseason on May 19, 2000, when the Sun Devils won, 4-2, in the second game of Regional No. 5 at Tempe.
• Overall, Arizona State and Texas A&M have met 23 times, but a potential matchup against the Aggies would mark the first for the Sun Devils in Bryan-College Station since April 12, 1981, when ASU won, 5-2, in the first-ever meeting between the two programs.
  • ASU holds a 17-6 all-time record over the Aggies.
• Dating back to a neutral site game in San Jose, Calif., on March 18, 1989, Arizona State is 15-1 against Texas A&M over the last 16 matchups.
  • TAMU last beat ASU on Feb. 24, 2017, when the Aggies won, 2-1, in nine innings in a neutral site game in Cathedral City, Calif.

 

UConn

• A potential game against UConn would mark just the second game between the Huskies and Sun Devils
  • The two teams previously squared off on Feb. 22, 2002, when then-No. 8 ASU won, 4-2, in the Huskies’ season-opening contest at the NFCA Leadoff Classic in Columbus, Ga.
    • Kirsten Voak held the UConn offense to just two runs – one earned – in a seven-inning complete game outing.
    • Phelan Wright and Erin Wardein turned in two-hit performances at the plate as a three-run bottom of the fourth by the Sun Devils provided enough insurance to withstand a late-game rally by UConn.

 

LEADING OFF:

• Arizona State will look to continue a trend of consecutive Big 12 Softball Tournament champions to advance out of a NCAA Regional.
  • Kansas, which was also the last No. 6 seed to win the conference tournament – prior to ASU last weekend – after beating Oklahoma, 4-2, on May 13, 2006, was the last Big 12 tournament champion to fail to advance out of a NCAA Regional after winning the league’s postseason tournament.
    • Since then, 12 Big 12 tournament champions have advanced to at least a NCAA Super Regional.
      • The league did not hold a tournament from 2011 to 2016; weather prematurely ended the 2019 edition; COVID-19 canceled the 2020 Big 12 Softball Tournament.
• With this weekend marking the program’s 35th all-time NCAA Regional appearance, the Sun Devils hold a 102-67 all-time record in the NCAA Tournament.
  • However, Arizona State is looking for its first NCAA Tournament win since May 28, 2022, when it outlasted Northwestern, 7-4, in eight innings to win game two of the 2022 Tempe Super Regional.
    • • The Sun Devils will be looking for their first regional win on the road since May 18, 2019, when ASU beat Lipscomb, 10-1, in six innings during the Tuscaloosa Regional hosted by Alabama.
      • Arizona State has not won a road NCAA Regional since 2010, when it swept through the Amherst Regional hosted by UMass.
• This weekend will mark the first time Arizona State has played in the same time zone in back-to-back weekends since March 13 – 15 (vs. Oklahoma State in Tempe) and March 20 – 22 (at Arizona in Tucson).
  • Since then, the Sun Devils have played in the ET (in North Carolina, March 25 – March 28), CT (at Kansas, April 2 – 4), AZT (vs. UTEP / UCF, April 7 – 12; at GCU, April 14), CT (at Houston, April 17 – 19), AZT (vs. Texas Tech, April 24 – 26), MT (at BYU, April 30 – May 2) and then CT (in Oklahoma City, May 7 – May 9).
• A win in College Station this weekend would mark the first-ever NCAA Tournament win as a head coach for Arizona State’s Megan Bartlett.
  • She does, however, have experience in the NCAA Tournament as an assistant coach at Texas, where she helped the Longhorns win a road regional and super regional before making the Championship Series of the WCWS during the 2022 season.

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