Arizona State beats Michigan in a regular-season softball game in Tempe for first time since 1994
(Tempe, AZ) In response to Michigan snapping Sun Devil Softball’s nine-game winning streak on Friday, Arizona State bounced back with a convincing 8-0 win over the Wolverines in six innings and then paired it with a 9-1 victory against New Mexico State in five innings less than two hours later.
And both contests began the exact same way: with a Sun Devil hitting a home run in the bottom of the first inning.
After Kenzie Brown (4-1) tossed the first of her six shutout frames against Michigan (11-3), Kaylee Pond sent a 1-2 pitch 232 feet for a two-out, three-run home run to push the Sun Devils in front 3-0. As Brown willed her way through the middle innings, Katie Chester added a solo home run in the fourth to extend ASU’s lead out to four runs. Two frames later, Brooklyn Ulrich, Tanya Windle and Yannixa Acuña all had run-scoring hits during a four-run, five-hit bottom of the sixth that marked the second mercy-rule win over a Big 10 program for the Sun Devils this season.
In the night cap, Emily Schepp sent the third pitch of Arizona State’s game against New Mexico State over the left field fence for a two-run home run that sparked a four-run, four-hit first for the Sun Devils. A five-run, three-hit second followed for ASU and allowed fourth-year head coach Megan Bartlett an opportunity to rest everyday starters as Aissa Silva (5-1) held the Aggie offense at bay until a two-out double in the top of the fifth plated NMSU’s only run of the contest.
NOTES
Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026 marked the first time the Arizona State softball program earned two mercy-rule victories in the same day since Saturday, Feb. 18, 2023, when the Sun Devils beat Illinois State, 11-3, and DePaul, 8-0, in five innings, respectively.
Aissa Silva’s nine strikeouts against New Mexico State during Saturday’s night cap were tied for the most in a single game by the first-year Sun Devil. She had nine strikeouts at Oregon State on March 9, 2024.
Additionally, by going the duration of Arizona State’s five-inning win over the Aggies, Aissa Silva was credited with her first complete game as a Sun Devil and her first complete game outright since March 9, 2024, when she tossed all seven frames during a 6-0 win as a member of the Arizona softball program.
Kaylee Pond’s one-out, two-run triple in the bottom of the second inning against New Mexico State marked not only the third career triple for Pond, but also her first since Feb. 20, 2022, when she was credited with two in a six-inning game at Howard while a member of the Iowa State softball program.
With its eight-run win over Michigan to begin its Saturday’s slate, Arizona State earned its first outright victory over the Wolverines since May 17, 2014, when the Sun Devils won during the NCAA Regional. Overall, it was the first ASU win over UM in Tempe during the regular season since Feb. 22, 1994.
Press Release courtesy of Sun Devil Athletics – Chris Brown
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