AUSTIN, Texas – In front of a nation-wide audience on ESPN2, Kenzie Brown showed the country why the right-hander’s name deserves to be mentioned among the game’s best pitchers as the senior spun Sun Devil Softball to a game on the program’s 20th all-time Women’s College World Series berth following a 4-1 Arizona State victory over the Texas Longhorns on Friday night.
After squaring off against the Big 12’s Co-Pitchers of the Year two weeks ago, a showdown between Brown (18-6) and the reigning WCWS Most Outstanding Player Teagan Kavan (24-5 awaited fans underneath the lights at Red & Charline McCombs Field to open the weekend’s NCAA Austin Super Regional.
The pair of All-Americans kept each team’s offenses out of the run column for the first time frames, before Samantha Swan broke the 0-0 tie with a two-out, two-strike single up the middle to score Tiare Ho-Ching, who left off the inning with an infield single before advancing to second on a Kavan throwing error, from second.
It took until the bottom of the fourth for the Longhorns to get the run back as freshman Hannah Wells sent the first pitch of her fourth-inning plate appearance over the center field fence for a game-tying, solo home run.
It was the last time a Longhorn reached base the rest of the game.
Brown responded to the home run by striking out six of the final 11 Texas batters she faced, including ending the game having struck out five consecutive Longhorn batters. Overall, Brown did not allow back-to-back batters to reach base at any point of the 2-hour, 8-minute game. Outside of Wells’ home run, Texas only had four at bats with a runner in scoring position throughout the game.
While Brown was up to her old tricks in the pitching circle, it allowed her offense to string together hits as Ho-Ching and Tanya Windle recorded back-to-back singles to begin the top of the fifth. Those two hits were instrumental in Arizona State added insurance runs as Swan brought home both Windle and Corie Shull, who pinch ran for Ho-Ching, with a one-out single. Nehanda Lewis, who pinch ran for Swan, came around to score as well during the inning when Ashleigh Mejia doubled home Lewis to make it 4-1 Sun Devils.
GAME NOTES
- Kenzie Brown’s 10 strikeouts throughout Friday night’s seven-inning affair were the most by an Arizona State pitcher in a NCAA Super Regional contest since Dallas Escobedo had 15 in seven innings in the Sun Devils’ 3-2 win over Texas A&M in the NCAA Tempe Super Regional on May 26, 2011.
- With the win, Arizona State is now 4-0 to begin its 2026 NCAA Tournament action, which is the longest winning streak by a Sun Devil squad to begin a NCAA Tournament since the 2018 team won five straight en route to sweep through the Tempe Regional and Tempe Super Regional.
- The win is also the first by Arizona State in a NCAA Super Regional game since May 28, 2022, when the Sun Devils beat Northwestern, 7-4, in eight innings during the 2022 Tempe Super Regional.
- Friday night’s contest marked the first time Arizona State has not hit at least one home run in a game beating BYU, 11-3, in the 2026 regular season finale in Provo, Utah on Saturday, May 2.
- By beating the Longhorns without hitting a long ball, the Sun Devils move to 9-8 on the season when not hitting a home run in a game.
- As a result of the victory, Friday night marked the first time Arizona State has beaten Texas during the NCAA Tournament.
- The Sun Devils entered the weekend with an 0-3 all-time record against the Longhorns throughout the NCAA Tournament with the last matchup occurring on May 30, 2013 at the Women’s College World Series in Oklahoma City.
UP NEXT
Arizona State (45-16) will look to close out the NCAA Austin Super Regional on Saturday, May 23, when the Sun Devils and Texas Longhorns (45-11) square off at Red & Charline McCombs Field at 5 p.m. MST / 7 p.m. CDT on ESPN.
A win for the Sun Devils would mark the first time Arizona State has clinched a berth in the Women’s College World Series after winning both a road regional and super regional since the regional and super regional format began prior to the 2005 postseason.
The last time Arizona State won a road “regional/super regional” to advance to the WCWS was in 2002, when it won Regional No. 3 in Lafayette, La.
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