AUSTIN, Texas – The clock struck midnight for America’s Cinderella team in the 2026 NCAA Division I Softball Tournament as the unseeded Sun Devil Softball program fell to the No. 2 overall seed Texas Longhorns, 5-0, in a decisive game three of the NCAA Austin Super Regional on Sunday afternoon.
As many expected would happen when the matchup was finalized last Sunday afternoon, Arizona State’s Kenzie Brown (18-8) and Texas’ Teagan Kavan (25-5) went pitch-for-pitch through the game’s opening two innings as neither All-American ace surrendered a run.
After entering Sunday’s contest having already thrown 10 complete innings, the most by any pitcher on either team through the first two games of the super regional, Brown began to lamber in the bottom of the third as the SEC Player of the Year Katie Stewart capitalized on the first pitch of her plate appearance by getting just enough of a pitch that forced Arizona State centerfield Kaylee Pond to leave her feed for a diving catch attempt seconds too early.
As a result, the ball trickled out of Pond’s glove, allowing Ashton Maloney and Jaycie Nichols to score a pair of two-out runs and give the Longhorns a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.
Arizona State had an opportunity to answer in the top of the fourth as Yannixa Acuña and Brooklyn Ulrich both successfully reached base with two away. But Kavan got out of the scoring threat by forcing Tiare Ho-Ching to hit a pitch back to the circle for the inning’s final out.
Viviana Martinez made it, 3-0, Texas in the bottom of the fifth on a one-out triple into the right field corner to score Kayden Henry from first.
The Sun Devils managed a base runner in the top of the sixth via a two-out throwing error during an Emily Schepp at bat but couldn’t capitalize on the opportunity.
The Longhorns, however, added two more in the run column in the bottom of the sixth with a two-out run-scoring single by Stewart.
ASU attempted a seventh-inning rally after Ho-Ching was hit by a pitch and Pond sending a 1-2 pitch through the right side for a two-out single, but Samantha Swan popped up an 0-2 pitch to Nichols at third base to end the game.
UP NEXT
Sunday’s loss ends the Arizona State softball season at 45-18, the most wins by a Sun Devil squad since the 2018 team went 48-13. The 45 wins for ASU throughout the 2026 season were the third most for the program since the 2014 campaign.
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.