Kenzie Brown, Tanya Windle earn preseason all-conference honors; ASU picked third
(Tempe, AZ) Sun Devil Softball’s Kenzie Brown and Tanya Windle were selected to the 18-member 2026 Big 12 Conference Preseason Team, the league announced Wednesday morning. Brown’s inclusion on the team was one of seven done so unanimously.
Additionally, Arizona State was tied with Arizona for third in the 2026 Big 12 Softball Preseason Poll as both programs earned 77 points. Both the Sun Devils, Wildcats, BYU Cougars and Oklahoma State Cowboys all tied for the second most preseason honorees with two apiece, while the Texas Tech Red Raiders, who were chosen as the conference’s preseason favorites, received seven preseason all-conference honors. Baylor, BYU and UCF each earned one selection.
Last season, Brown led the Arizona State pitching staff with 19 wins in 35 pitching appearances, while her 289 strikeouts were the fourth most in Division I softball. She concluded the 2025 campaign by being named an All-American by the NFCA (First Team), D1Softball (Second Team) and Softball America (Second Team).
In 2025, Windle paced the Sun Devil offense with a .371/.413/.547 batting line with a team-best 63 hits in 170 official plate appearances. Her 21 extra base hits (15 doubles, three triples and three home runs) were the second most by an ASU player behind Ashleigh Mejia’s 24 (13 home runs, 11 doubles).
The duo made up half of a Sun Devil foursome – Brown, Windle, Mejia and Tiare Ho-Ching – who all earned All-Big 12 honors in the program’s first season in the league.
Each of the top five programs in the conference’s preseason poll earned a bid to last season’s NCAA Tournament, while 16 student-athletes, including transfers, on the preseason team earned an all-conference honor in 2025.
Both the conference’s preseason poll and team were voted on by Big 12 softball head coaches, who could not vote for their own team or players.
2026 Big 12 Softball Preseason Poll
| Ranking | Team | Points (First-Place Votes) |
| 1. | Texas Tech | 100 (10) |
| 2. | Oklahoma State | 87 (1) |
| 3. | Arizona | 77 |
| Arizona State | 77 | |
| 5. | UCF | 63 |
| 6. | BYU | 55 |
| 7. | Iowa State | 44 |
| 8. | Baylor | 42 |
| 9. | Kansas | 28 |
| 10. | Utah | 21 |
| 11. | Houston | 11 |
2026 Big 12 Preseason Team
| Name | School | Position |
| Regan Shockey* | Arizona | CF |
| Sydney Stewart* | Arizona | C/UTL |
| Kenzie Brown* | Arizona State | P |
| Tanya Windle | Arizona State | OF |
| Brooklyn Carter | Baylor | OF |
| Ilove’a Brittingham* | BYU | C/OF |
| Lily Owens | BYU | UTL |
| Isabella Vega | UCF | P |
| Jessie Clemons | Iowa State | UTL |
| Rosie Davis | Oklahoma State | IF |
| Ruby Meylan* | Oklahoma State | P |
| Lauren Allred | Texas Tech | 1B |
| Jasmyn Burns | Texas Tech | C |
| NiJaree Canady* | Texas Tech | P |
| Mihyia Davis* | Texas Tech | OF |
| Alana Johnson | Texas Tech | OF |
| Taylor Pannell | Texas Tech | 3B |
| Kaitlyn Terry | Texas Tech | P/UTL |
*denotes unanimous selection
Press Release courtesy of Sun Devil Athletics – Chris Brown
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