(Photo credit: Zina Garcia/WCSN)
TEMPE — Arizona State softball will begin a new era as it hosts Brigham Young on Thursday.
The Sun Devils (15-6) will have their first Big 12 Conference matchup of the season against the BYU Cougars (14-4). The Alumni Weekend celebration starts a three-game series that ASU hopes can turn its conference luck around. Last year in the Pac-12 Conference, ASU finished last in the standings with a 3-21 conference record.
The Big 12 will not be a walk in the park for the Sun Devils, with the team scheduled to face the No. 4 Arizona Wildcats, No. 18 Texas Tech Red Raiders and Utah Utes, a former Pac-12 team that swept ASU last season. Before ASU faces those challengers, it has a demanding set against the Cougars.
BYU freshman catcher and outfielder Ilove’a Brittingham has been dominant for the Cougars in the batter’s box with a team-leading .397 batting average and a .400 on-base percentage. She has also shown her power-hitting ability with five long balls on the year and a 1.107 OPS.
Cougar freshman catcher and infielder Lindy Milkowski leads the team in OPS with 1.113 in the category thus far. She poses a threat to ASU pitching with her .370 batting average and ability to stay disciplined at the plate. Milkowski holds a .482 on-base percentage and has only struck out six times in 56 plate appearances.
Another offensive weapon the Sun Devils will need to look out for is BYU senior outfielder Lauren Flanders. Flanders is similar statistically to Milkowski with a .375 batting average and a team-leading .516 on-base percentage.
The Sun Devil circle will have their hands full with these three hitters in the Cougars batting order. On the opposite side of the roster, ASU batters will need to square up with two dealing pitchers.
BYU right-handed junior Kaysen Korth has been the ace in the Cougars circle. She has earned a perfect 8-0 record paired with a stellar 0.28 ERA. In 51 innings pitched, she has accumulated 48 strikeouts and has an opponent batting average of .174.
If the Sun Devils can get past Korth, they then will need to face sophomore right-hander Kate Dahle. Dahle has the second most innings-pitched on the team with 37.1, and much like Korth, she has the ability to find the zone with 35 strikeouts.
If any ASU team were to walk into tough conference opponents such as BYU, the team fans have seen as of late would be the best equipped.
The Sun Devils have won eight of their last nine games and ended with a 5-1 record in their recent ASU Invitational this past weekend. Their only loss during this stretch was to Oregon State on Sunday, a team ASU beat in the first game of the invitational.
A part of ASU’s recent success has been junior outfielder Yannixa Acuña. Acuña had been pinch-running throughout the season but was injured to start the year and had not been cleared to hit or field until the ASU Invitational. Although she has played only a small sample size of full games, she has an impressive .500 batting average, 1.154 OPS and .529 on-base percentage.
Acuña was not the only player to stand out last weekend. Junior outfielder Tanya Windle also had a successful invitational, batting .579 in the six games. She has been productive on the basepath with three stolen bags and a team-leading 21 runs.
Another player in the Sun Devils’ batting order to pay close attention to is graduate outfielder Kelsey Hall. She leads the team in slugging and OPS with a percentage of .738 and 1.252 respectively.
With all this offensive support, some of the workload will be taken off the defense. Luckily for ASU, the defense has settled down from earlier in the year.
Heading into the ASU Invitational, the Sun Devils had 23 errors. In the six games, the defense only committed three.
One change defensive coordinator Hailey Decker and head coach Megan Bartlett made is the alignment of the left side of the infield. At the start of the Sun Devil Classic back on Feb. 21, freshman infielder Grace Molitor was pulled against Florida after her tenth error of the season.
Senior utility AJ Murphy, who was playing third base, was moved over to shortstop, and freshman infielder Takyla Davis took over her role in the corner. The Davis-Murphy pair was seen throughout the ASU Invitational and will likely continue into Big 12 play.
Within the circle, ASU has a solid rotation that will be testing for the Cougars offense. Fans at Farrington Stadium can expect to see time from sophomore right-hander Meika Lauppe, who leads the Sun Devils in innings-pitched, appearances and starts. Lauppe has been consistent for ASU with a 2.26 ERA and a .218 opponent batting average.
Perhaps the most dangerous pitcher in the ASU rotation is senior right-hander Kenzie Brown. Brown ranks 17th in the country in strikeouts with 70 in just 43 innings pitched. Her .98 ERA and .151 opponent batting average have helped her to a 7-1 record on the season.
With the talent on both sides, fans are in for an exciting series at Club Farrington. This young Sun Devils roster still has a lot to prove, and one way they can continue down the right path is by getting started on the right foot in conference play.
