ASU softball hosted its rivalry weekend with UA, and the Wildcats marched into Tempe ranked No. 10 on a six-game winning streak.
The series began March 21 in front of a sold-out crowd of 1,979 fans. The three-game series saw 5,976 fans in attendance, the most for a weekend series since 2023. Junior outfielder Tanya Windle was excited to see fans fill the stands.
"I don't know if we've had a crowd like that in a while, so it was really big," Windle said after the game. "It was awesome, having a big crowd and all the Arizona State fans."
Senior pitcher Kenzie Brown started for ASU as UA brought out graduate pitcher Miranda Stoddard. Both pitchers started strong and pitched two scoreless innings.
UA broke the standstill in the top of the third. A single for sophomore utility Regan Shockey and catcher's interference allowed junor utility Kaiah Altmeyer to get into scoring position. Junior utility Sydney Stewart followed with a home run over the center field wall to score three for UA.
The Wildcats never looked back. A fly-out to center scored one in the fourth, and Altmeyer knocked in two RBIs in the sixth to build a comfortable lead. Freshman outfielder Ashleigh Mejia homered in the bottom of the sixth to get one back, but ASU fell to UA in game one 6-1.
Head coach Megan Bartlett was still optimistic about the weekend following game one.
"(The game) came down to a few crucial moments, and we didn't come out with the win tonight," Bartlett said. "We will certainly get them prepped and fight back tomorrow."
UA started hot in game two and quickly took the lead in the first inning. Redshirt senior Devyn Netz led the team offensively, knocking in junior Dakota Kennedy for the opening score. Altmeyer batted in two more in the third before Netz hit a two-run homer in the sixth.
On top of that, Netz pitched all seven innings for the Wildcats. She finished the night with five strikeouts and only gave up one run in the bottom of the seventh on senior utility player AJ Murphy's single.
Once again, Bartlett believed the team could bounce back the next day.
"They're going to have to take advantage of mistakes and continue to be aggressive at the plate," Bartlett said.
Sunday was packed again, with 1,959 fans filling the stadium. The first two innings went scoreless, with Brown and graduate pitcher Saya Swain pitching lights out for ASU and UA, respectively.
This time, it was ASU that struck first in the third inning as Mejia bashed a two-run home run to take the lead.
Stoddard came in to pitch for UA after the home run but gave up quick doubles from graduate outfielder Kelsey Hall and freshman infielder Tiare Ho-Ching to tack on another run for ASU. The Wildcats were forced to switch to redshirt freshman Ryan Maddox.
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The Sun Devils defense stepped up while their offense was kept scoreless for the rest of the game. Brown finished with eight strikeouts and allowed one run in six innings.
Sophomore pitcher Meika Lauppe finished the job for ASU, pitching the seventh and allowing one run with one strikeout to secure the save. The dominant offensive third inning was the decider as the Sun Devils won 3-2.
Up next for ASU is a three-game road trip to face Iowa State from March 28 to 30. All three games are set to broadcast on ESPN+.
Edited by Jack Barron, Abigail Beck and Katrina Michalak.
Reach the reporter at aldeutsc@asu.edu and follow @AlanDeutschend3 on X.
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Alan is a sophomore studying sports journalism. This is his second semester with The State Press. He has also worked at Blaze Radio.
