Two weeks ago, it wasn’t the battle that took place on the field that stopped her.

It wasn’t the high level of competition, or the pressure she felt from the fans.

She wasn’t worried about her team’s ability to defend their newly won national title, nor did she think about what was going to happen in the long run.

She had confidence in every player, shared in the team’s philosophy and knew the desire it would take to lead from the circle.

Still, there was something she was missing.

“I realize now that you just have to go out there and believe you can do it,” junior pitcher Megan Elliott said. “I think I’ve taken that out there, and I feel better about it. I’m taking steps forward for Fullerton and of course Pac-10.”

Elliott needed to find confidence in herself — she needed to find a way to step into the circle and own the field.

Over the weekend, she did exactly that.

In addition to a two-hit complete game against Southern Utah University on Sunday, where she struck out three, Elliott boasted a one-hit, 60-pitch complete game against Utah State on the opening day of the Wilson/DeMarini Invitational.

“I think this weekend was good for me,” she said. “I feel like I’m taking good steps in the right direction. I’m still battling a little bit, but I’m taking it each pitch, each bat at a time. I feel a lot more confident in myself.”

As a complement to the pitching, the Sun Devil offense kicked in to full gear this weekend as well.

Friday night’s second win came in the form of a 20-5 victory over South Alabama, with home runs from junior infielder Ashley Muenz, senior outfielder Kaitlin Cochran, senior catcher Renee Welty and freshman shortstop Katelyn Boyd — who belted her first career grand slam.

Welty’s mentality and the success at bat that followed changed with a few simple words.

“I got some really good advice coming in to this tournament to do some really simple things when I’m at bat,” she said. “Get a straight ball over the plate and stay through it. That’s what I tried to think about going up to the plate this weekend: keep it simple, and that’s what I did.”

In their two games on Saturday, the Sun Devils scored a total of 18 runs against Northern Colorado and New Mexico State.

“I think this tournament went really well,” Welty said. “Our hitting came around, and that’s what we’ve been waiting for.”

The Sun Devils went undefeated on the weekend, improving their overall record to 18-4.

Reach the reporter at emiley.darling@asu.edu.