(Chapel Hill, NC) Katie Chester may have not had the performance she would have liked during Sun Devil Softball’s 3-1 win over Marist, but the first-year Sun Devil immediately turned it around during Arizona State’s 9-2 victory against North Carolina to cap ASU’s two-game slate.
After going 0-for-3 at the plate against the Red Foxes to snap an active six-game hitting streak, Chester, a Liberty, Missouri native, bounced back with a 2-for-4, two home run, five RBI outing against the Tar Heels. The two home runs and five RBI set a single-game career high in both categories for the Missouri transfer, while the two hits marked the eighth time this season she’s turned in a two-hit outing.
With the multi-RBI performance, Chester (12) broke a tie with teammate Kaylee Pond (11) for the most multi-RBI games by a Sun Devil so far this season. Chester also becomes the first Arizona State player to drive in five runs during a single game this season.
As Arizona State was clinging to a 3-2 lead over North Carolina in the top of the sixth, Chester announced her presence in the game by hitting a 2-1 pitch from Kendall Frost (7-3) for a two-run home run that also scored Corie Shull, who entered the game as a pinch runner for Ashleigh Mejia after the sophomore singled through the left side to start the frame. The long ball extended the Sun Devils’ lead out to three.
The three-run lead was doubled the following inning when Chester, again, connected with a Frost pitch to send a 1-0 pitch over the scoreboard in left field for a three-run home run to balloon Arizona State’s lead from 5-2 to 8-2.
GAME NOTES
Ashleigh Mejia’s fourth-inning solo home run against Marist marked the first home run surrendered by Red Fox pitcher Ava Metzger in 53.1 innings of work on the season up to the home run.
Entering the Friday’s game with just four strikeouts, Kenzie Brown and Meika Lauppe combined to strikeout UNC’s Shelby Barbee twice, marking just the second time this season – March 6, 2026 vs. Virginia – that Barbee struck out multiple times in the same game this season.
With her two-home run game against North Carolina, Katie Chester joins Tanya Windle, Ashleigh Mejia and Emily Schepp as the only Sun Devils to record a multi-home run game this season.
By connecting for two home runs in each the Marist and North Carolina games, the Arizona State offense has hit multiple home runs in three-or-more consecutive games for the fourth time this season and second time during the month of March.
Marist’s one base hit – a two-out single to shallow left field by Lily Roumelis in the top of the fourth – in 10 at bats with a runner on base was the fewest hits allowed by Sun Devil pitching with a runner on base since holding then-No. 21/15 Oklahoma State 1-for-9 with a runner on base.
FROM HEAD COACH MEGAN BARTLETT
“(Katie Chester) is doing a better job right now of staying present in the moment and believing in herself a little bit more at the plate. She is what she is mechanically, which is a very dangerous hitter against anyone in the country, so we’ve seen her hit changeups out in previous games, but seeing her hit the riseball out tonight, I was like, ‘OK, sis. Now we are starting to get somewhere.’ Katie just has such a high standard for herself and she’s such a perfectionist, so she gets frustrated really easily, so we are just trying to keep her calm and process ordinated. She’s now squaring up different heights and dimensions at the plate, so I’m just super proud of her. I think it’s maturity, honestly. She’s growing up as the season has gone on.”
Press Release courtesy of Sun Devil Athletics – Chris Brown
Click on Logo
