(Photo credit: Joshua Eaton/WCSN)
TEMPE — As senior right-handed pitcher Kenzie Brown triumphantly strutted off the mound following ASU’s win against Baylor on Thursday night, the Bears’ six-game winning streak came to an end.
Brown was dominant in the Sun Devils’ 5-0 win, going all seven innings and striking out nine batters. Not only did the coaching staff recognize Brown’s greatness, but her teammates could see it as well.
“It’s definitely a breath of fresh air knowing that we have a pitcher who dominates,” freshman infielder Takyla Davis said. “It’s easier on us as a defense.”
This performance was not out of the ordinary for Brown, as she has been one of the best pitchers in the country throughout 2025. However, this was just one more feather in the cap of the senior, who now has an astonishing 230 strikeouts in 137.0 innings pitched. Brown’s 1.12 ERA is also among the best in the country, and her 17-4 record reflects that.
Even more impressively, Brown accomplished this against a red-hot Baylor team that had won its last six contests coming into Thursday. The Bears had been able to score a combined 47 runs in those six games.
That scorching offense came to a screeching halt against Brown, who only allowed three hits on the night. Brown did issue multiple walks, her total tally coming out to three in that category. Overall, though, the ASU ace kept the basepaths mostly clear during her dominant outing.
Brown did run into trouble during the second inning, a couple of walks and a base hit meant the bases were loaded with just one out. Brown battled back with a strikeout and a groundout to neutralize the Bears’ scoring threat.
After that, it was smooth sailing for the Sun Devils, who gave Brown more than enough run support. ASU scored three runs in the third before adding a couple more insurance runs in the sixth to extend its lead to five going into the final frame.
Now up 1-0 on the series, the Sun Devils will look to lock up the series win Friday evening. Sophomore right-handed pitcher Meika Lauppe will get the ball tomorrow for game two as the Sun Devils look to clinch a top-five spot in the Big 12 to secure a bye in the tournament.
“Any time you are heading into any sort of postseason tournament to be able to let the girls rest and be at the field, be in that stadium and immersed in the environment, it’s really cool,” head coach Megan Bartlett said. “We have a lot of young ones, so to be able to expose them to that before we get to step on the field, it would be a good time.”
In order to clinch a bye in the tournament, the Sun Devils would need to sweep the Bears, then get some assistance from BYU or Oklahoma State, which sit below ASU in the standings.
Though Bartlett and company would love a bye, they are focused on the task at hand: finishing the regular season strong.
“We need to continue to play the way we are capable and catch the momentum,” Bartlett said. “They are women on a mission right now, but it is something that we, quite honestly, talk about every single day, like, what was the grind worth? What was the sacrifice about? And it was the shot to go to OKC.”
