(Photo credit: Joshua Eaton/WCSN)
With the regular season over, Arizona State softball enters the Big 12 tournament as the No. 5 seed. ASU will be taking on the No. 4 seed Oklahoma State in the first round.
The Big 12 foes will face off Thursday for just the second time in 2025. In the first matchup, Oklahoma State dominated to the tune of a 4-0 victory on April 2.
In that matchup, Oklahoma State’s junior pitcher Ruby Meylan vanquished the ASU lineup in 7.0 innings pitched, giving up four hits, zero earned runs and three strikeouts. Meylan has been great for the Cowgirls all year and is undoubtedly the best pitcher on the staff.
Meylan’s 1.59 ERA in 189.0 innings pitched has helped carry the OSU pitching staff in 2025. Not to mention her very impressive 21-7 record is also a big reason OSU is near the top of the Big 12 standings.
Her counterpart will likely be Arizona State’s ace of its own. Senior right-handed pitcher Kenzie Brown was on the losing end of the aforementioned April clash between these two schools and will be looking for revenge.
Brown’s line of 4.0 innings pitched, three hits, one earned run and nine strikeouts was not bad by any means, but without the run support to back her, head coach Megan Bartlett ended Brown’s day early, and the Sun Devils fell in the midweek game.
On the year, Brown has a fantastic 1.30 ERA, .98 WHIP and 18-6 record over 150.2 innings pitched. Like Meylan, Brown is the most important cog in the ASU pitching staff and plays a massive part in why the Sun Devils have made such a big leap from last year.
This pitching matchup is one that will be fascinating to watch, with both of these teams looking to move into the second round of the tournament, with two of the best pitchers in the conference likely going at it.
On the offensive side, the Cowgirls have relied on sophomore outfielder Tia Warsop, who leads OSU in batting average with a .364 mark. Combining that with sophomore infielder Rosie Davis’ team-leading 50 hits, 49 RBI and .462 on-base percentage, OSU forms a good punch at the top of the order.
However, the most dangerous hitter in the Cowgirls’ lineup is likely junior catcher Amanda Hasler. Hasler leads the squad in OPS with a massive 1.158 as well as 15 home runs and a .737 slugging percentage.
On the Arizona State side, a well-balanced offensive attack has been crucial to the success of the Sun Devils. Junior outfielder Tanya Windle and freshman infielder Tiare Ho-Ching have been great spark plugs at the top of the ASU lineup. Windles’ .373 average leads the team, while Ho-Ching is rocking a .354 mark.
Freshman outfielder Ashleigh Mejia has brought the punch in the middle of the order with 13 home runs, 44 RBI and a team high .622 slugging percentage.
All-time, the Sun Devils are 8-10 against the Cowgirls, and as of late, OSU has dominated the series. In fact, OSU has come out victorious in the last four games, including the matchup earlier this year.
Considering OSU has won four in a row and six of its last eight, the Sun Devils will have a tough task when game time rolls around Thursday.
The pitching matchup is likely one of the best conference tournament matchups in the country and will set the stage for a monumental quarterfinalBig 12 tournament matchup.
