(Photo: Scott Russomano/WCSN)
As Arizona State’s senior right-handed pitcher Kenzie Brown took the circle ahead of Friday night’s game against No. 22 UCF, she seemed to carry a new swagger. Just one day after becoming the seventh player to receive a “Golden Ticket” to the Athletes Unlimited Softball League, she faced a powerful Knights team averaging almost seven runs per game.
Brown showed exactly why she earned her ticket to play professional softball, pitching a complete game with 13 strikeouts in ASU’s (31-11, 5-8 Big 12) 7-1 dominant win over UCF (30-11, 8-7 Big 12).
“I could definitely tell that I was in charge tonight,” Brown said. “Sometimes I forget how good my stuff is… so I just pounded the zone and it worked in my favor”.
Brown finished the night having thrown 117 pitches, which ties for the fourth most she’s thrown in a game this season. Brown has thrown at least 90 pitches nine different times this season, as she’s been the workhorse the Sun Devils have relied on.
“It was her game to finish,” head coach Megan Bartlett said. “If I had tried to drag [Kenzie] off the field, she would have fought me”.
After pitching in six or more innings in 17 games last year, Brown has only reached that mark on eight different occasions this season. Brown said that she switched back to her “All-American” glove on Friday, and for the 1,794 fans in attendance tonight, it seems that vintage Kenzie Brown returned when she was needed.
“She’s getting healthy and it’s exciting,” Bartlett said. “When she’s on, it’s so fun to watch her pitch; just so many tricks. She can go up; she can go down. Changeup was working tonight, too. She did a great job all night.
When Brown’s teammates put up four runs in the opening frame, her play displayed confidence and comfort. Adding three more insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth was all Brown needed to put away the Knights with ease.
“I mean, pitching with the lead is always much easier; I can play more freely,” Brown said. “I had a rocky second inning but got right back into it and started pounding the (strike) zone.”
Junior catcher Samantha Swan broke the scoreless tie with a bloop single, but junior catcher Emily Schepp’s 221-foot three-run homer is what blasted the game open. With a sizeable lead and Brown shutting down UCF’s offense inning after inning, the Sun Devils cruised to their fourth straight conference series-opening victory.
“It makes things a lot easier when we’re not falling behind,” senior outfielder Tanya Windle said. “It helps us a lot more mentally than anything, to go out there and know what we can do in the first inning”.
In the sixth inning, ASU’s aggressive baserunning took advantage of the game’s lone error, as a sac fly from sophomore second baseman Tiare HoChing scored two runs after an error from sophomore catcher Beth Damon.
The Sun Devils remain in seventh place in the Big 12 at 5-8, a stark contrast from their 14-10 conference record last year. With five of its final 11 conference games coming at home against ranked opponents, as No. 1 Texas Tech visits Tempe in two weeks, ASU has an opportunity to boost its postseason resume with a month remaining in the regular season.
“It was nice to see us manufacture some runs, and not just rely on the long ball,” Bartlett said. “[Baserunning] is a focus. It’s certainly a focus. Just trying to incorporate a little bit of that more makes us more dangerous heading into the postseason”.
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