Kenzie Brown and Meika Lauppe stand out in Sunday victory

(Photo credit: Zina Garcia/WCSN)

TEMPE — In the sixth inning, senior right-handed pitcher Kenzie Brown got ahead in the count early and then struck out New Mexico State junior outfielder Devin Elam. Brown followed it up by striking out redshirt junior Kristiana Watson and freshman catcher Skye Johnson to end the inning.

By striking out the side, Brown helped to give Arizona State softball (10-5) the 5-1 win over the Aggies (9-8) on Sunday afternoon.

“She forces the opposing team to hunt pitches,” ASU softball head coach Megan Bartlett said. “If that’s not really in your skillset, you’re mistimed and you’re trying to hunt high drops and low rises.”

Brown confused New Mexico State batters via changes in tempo and excellent movement on her pitches. Alongside this was the precise location of her pitches, helping Brown end up with six strikeouts on the day.

Brown proceeded to retire the first ten batters she faced after coming into the game in the fourth inning. Including Saturday’s outing against the Portland State Vikings, Brown retired fifteen opposing batters in a row.

Brown came into the game following a solid outing from sophomore right-hander Meika Lauppe. After a lead-off walk and a wild pitch, Lauppe looked shaky against the Aggies’ first two batters. However, she immediately recovered and notched a 1-2-3 inning in the second. Lauppe only struck out one New Mexico State batter, instead forcing their offense into eight groundouts.

“(Brown) has a little bit more movement on the ball vertically,” Bartlett said. “Meika throws a really heavy down ball, really beautiful cutter. … Right now Kenzie is like facing Meika on steroids.”

The two pitchers contrasted each other perfectly, as they combined for seven innings of one-run ball. This was the third consecutive game for the Sun Devils’ pitching staff only recording one earned run. However, unlike its wins against Cal Baptist and Portland State, the ASU offense struggled to put runs on the board.

A three-run homer in the bottom of the first from freshman outfielder Ashleigh Mejia gave the Sun Devils an early lead. Despite that early lead, ASU only recorded two hits in its next eleven trips to the plate.

“Our pitchers are dealing right now let’s step up,” Mejia said. “A lot of the hitters take it to heart when our pitchers are doing their jobs and we want to show them that we support them by getting those runs.”

More run support finally arrived in the bottom of the fifth inning via home runs from both senior utility AJ Murphy and graduate outfielder Kelsey Hall. By then, the Sun Devils had a 5-1 lead, and it was all but put away.

Following a loss against No. 3 Florida where ASU players believed they could have come away with a win, the Sun Devils bounced back with three consecutive victories through dominant pitching performances.

Ahead for ASU is the ASU Invitational which will be held at Farrington Stadium. There the Sun Devils are tasked with playing six games in four days, including two games against former Pac-12 Conference rival Oregon State.

“It’s good rolling into next weekend and then into conference,” Murphy said. “Trusting our plans and trusting our abilities to do some things in conference.”