Sun Devils return to Regionals for first time since 2022
(Tempe, AZ) Sun Devil Softball makes its 34th appearance in the NCAA Softball Championship when it faces San Diego State on Friday at 7 p.m. AZT on ESPN2 in the first round of the Los Angeles Regional. Arizona State is the No. 2 seed at the regional, while San Diego State is the No. 3 seed.
UCLA is the host and No. 1 seed of the Los Angeles Regional. They will face No. 4 seed UC Santa Barbara in the first game at 4:30 p.m. AZT on Friday. The double-elimination bracket at Easton Stadium will feature three games on Saturday, leaving two teams to play in the Region Final on Sunday.
How to Follow
All NCAA Tournament games will be available for viewing on the ESPN Family of Networks. Courtney Lyle (PBP) and Danielle Lawrie (analyst) will call the action in Los Angeles.
Live scoring will be available during each game. Links for all of the live features are available on the softball schedule page at TheSunDevils.com.
Updates will also be provided on social media via X/Twitter (@asusoftball) and Instagram (@sundevilsb).
Sun Devil Notes
The Sun Devils are 35-19 this season and have earned a regional bid for the first time since 2022. They finished fifth in the Big 12 regular season standings at 14-10 and advanced to the semifinals of the Big 12 Championship.
ASU enters the Regional fourth in the Big 12 with a .303 batting average and a .843 OPS. They average 4.78 runs per game and place third in the conference with 420 hits, fourth with 50 home runs and 51 stolen bases.
Arizona State pitchers hold a 3.40 ERA and 1.38 WHIP entering Friday. The staff leads the conference – and ranks eighth in the NCAA – with an average of 7.73 strikeouts per seven innings while adding a 3.12 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
About the Los Angeles Regional
UCLA earned the No. 9 national seed with a 49-10 overall record and a runner-up finish in the Big Ten by going 17-5. Megan Grant (23) and Jordan Woolery (20) have combined to hit 43 home runs while Savannah Pola is batting .439.
San Diego State earned an automatic bid to the tournament after winning its third straight Mountain West tournament with a 37-17 record. Bella Espinoza leads SDSU with 62 hits, while Shannon Cunningham has eight home runs and 35 RBIs.
UC Santa Barbara won six straight elimination games to capture the inaugural Big West Championship with a 34-24 record. Giselle Mejia leads the Gauchos with a .391 average while Bella Fuentes has 11 home runs and 60 RBIs.
Postseason History
ASU will be making its 34th appearance in the NCAA Softball Tournament. The Sundevils have an 85-52 record in the Regional round, and the Sun Devils have advanced to the Super Regionals, which began during the 2005 season, 10 times in program history, with the last coming in 2022. The team has reached the Women’s College World Series 19 times overall, including 12 times since softball became an NCAA sport in 1982, with four National Championships.
NCAA Tournament Experience
Only two players on this year’s ASU squad – AJ Murphy and Nehanda Lewis – have played in an NCAA Regional. Murphy has played in 12 NCAA postseason games with San Diego State over three seasons. Murphy went 11-for-38 (.289) in those outings with three doubles, two home runs, and eight RBIs.
Lewis made one appearance as a pinch runner for UCF during the 2023 Tallahassee Regional. Kelsey Hallwas on the 2021 Fresno State team that played in the Los Angeles Regional, but she was out with an injury.
Strike First, Finish Strong
The Sun Devils have habitually scored early in games, outscoring their opponents 89-46 in the first two innings this season. ASU has crossed the plate 52 times in the first inning, more than in any other. Those early runs contribute to a 24-3 record when the Sun Devils score first, including a 16-2 mark when scoring in the first inning.
ASU has also put teams away by scoring late in games. They have an 81-57 edge in scoring in the fifth and sixth innings, with 47 runs scored in the fifth alone. The Sun Devils are 23-1 when leading after five and 27-0 when leading after six.
Three is Key
Scoring at least three runs in a game has been crucial to a positive result for the Sun Devils this season. ASU has gone 33-6 when they put three-plus runs on the board, including an 18-0 record when they score at least six runs.
In contrast, the team is just 13-19 when the opposition scores at least three runs and 22-0 when they hold the opposition to two or fewer.
Brown is Back
After sitting out last season with an injury, Kenzie Brown has returned as one of the top pitchers in the country. Entering the weekend, Brown is third in the NCAA with 265 strikeouts and second at 11.77 strikeouts per seven innings. Her strikeout total is the highest of any pitcher in a Power 4 conference.
Brown had 18 strikeouts against BYU on March 6 to tie the ASU record for strikeouts in a 7-inning game. She ranks in the Big 12 top five in 11 statistical categories, including second by allowing 4.13 hits per seven innings, third with a 1.29 ERA, and fourth with 19 wins. Brown’s strikeout total is the 10th-most for a season in ASU history, and she has double-digit strikeouts in a game 11 times.
Hall Pass
Kelsey Hall opened the season in the starting lineup 277 days after tearing her ACL. Having started all 54 games, Hall is batting .325 with a .929 OPS. She leads the team with 47 RBIs, posting 53 hits with six doubles and 10 home runs.
In her sixth season of collegiate softball, Hall ranks 28th among players with 159 RBIs and 30th with 364 total bases. She is also 33rd with 152 runs scored and 39th with 40 home runs.
Tanya Time
Tanya Windle leads the team with 60 hits and a .368 batting average. She also has 13 doubles and three triples, ranking third in the Big 12 in doubles and seventh in hits. Windle has 17 multi-hit games and four games with three-plus hits.
Windle ranks 17th among active NCAA players with 12 triples in her career. Her .392 career batting average is 13th among active players with at least 475 career at-bats.
Freshman Gem Part 1
Ho-Ching is batting .344 with 56 hits and 24 RBIs. The freshman has one of the two 4-hit games by a Sun Devil this season while adding eight multi-RBI outings. Ho-Ching has a hit in 10 of the last 14 games, with four multi-hit games during the run.
Ho-Ching has settled in as the team’s leadoff hitter. ASU has gone 25-11 when she bats in the No. 1 spot in the lineup, and she reaches 45 percent of the time when leading off an inning.
Freshman Gem Part 2
Ashleigh Mejia leads the club with 13 home runs and is second with 44 RBIs. Seven of the freshman’s homers have tied the game or given ASU the lead. She had four multi-hit games during April, with 11 multi-RBI games during the season.
Her 13 home runs are the second-most by a Freshman in the Big 12 this season and fifth-most by a freshman in ASU history. Mejia batted .310 and was third in the Big 12 with nine home runs and second with 26 RBIs in conference games.
Around the Horn
Samantha Swan has been behind the plate at some point in every game this season while starting at catcher 53 times. She is batting .313 with 46 hits and 13 doubles. Her four games with at least three hits are tied for the most on the team.
AJ Murphy capped the regular season with a .365 average and five home runs. She homered twice in the final four games of the regular season and tallied seven multi-hit games.
Meika Lauppe enters the Regional as the No. 2 pitcher on the staff with a 9-8 record, three saves, and a 3.13 ERA. Her 77 strikeouts are second on the team, and she limits the opposition to a .285 batting average.
Press Release courtesy of Sun Devil Athletics – Josh Fisher
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