Snapping ASU softball's nine-game win streak was the three-day Sun Devil Classic. Where a flu-riddled Sun Devil roster was also plagued with losses in the team's opening and closing games.
During the course of the Sun Devil Classic, over five games, an ASU team, which suffered the sniffles, managed to accumulate 41-runs in three wins and two losses.
In their classic debut, the Sun Devils fell to Michigan in an 8-9 loss, despite the multi-run efforts of senior outfielder Tanya Windle and sophomore outfielder Ashleigh Mejia.
Alongside their multi-run Michigan game, these outfielders sported familiar career-high numbers, with Windle matching her career-high with four RBIs and Mejia matching her single-game career best with four RBIs.
In addition to her pair of runs in the loss to the Wolverines, Windle reached a new base with the 200th hit of her collegiate career.
The Sun Devils concluded day one of the tournament with an 11-10 win over Southern Utah University's Thunderbirds. A major component that fueled ASU's late-night win was the resiliency displayed by its hitters.
"I was pleased with resiliency and the fight and the maturity out of the hitters," ASU's head coach Megan Bartlett said. "That's something we haven't seen at Club Farrington (Stadium) in a while."
Contributing to this win was freshman pitcher Mary Peyton Hodge, who earned her first win after remaining on the mound for the game's last four innings.
Alongside being pleased with the effort of her hitters, Bartlett was proud of the continued battle Hodge displayed. Describing the freshman as someone who improves every time she is rolled out in a Sun Devil lineup.
"I was most excited about those two balls she fielded at the very end of that game," Bartlett said. "Those are not easy balls for a left-handed pitcher, and she's worked really, really hard on that this season."
The Sun Devils took their spark from Friday night and lit a flame with it, as the team amassed two mercy-rule wins in one day.
On their home field, Alberta B. Farrington Softball Stadium, the Sun Devil team put on a show, with an 8-0 mercy-rule victory over Michigan in six innings and a 9-1 mercy-rule win over New Mexico State in five.
There are tone expectations to follow when inside the stadium, with senior pitcher Kenzie Brown describing the club and team as energetic.
"I mean, we're at Club Farrington, so we definitely set the tone in the dugout," Brown said. "We love softball, so it definitely shows in the dugout."
During the five-inning game against New Mexico State, ASU pitcher Aissa Silva set her own tone, with nine strikeouts in her first complete game representing the maroon and gold.
Following their dominant performances Saturday in Tempe, the Sun Devils failed to maintain this momentum, instead falling to the New Mexico State University Aggies Sunday in a 5-6 loss.
ASU head coach saw her athletes dig themselves into a hole that they weren't able to get themselves out of. Holding a shovel in creating this Sun Devil hole was Aggies' pitcher Faith Aragon whose "tough left-handed arm" posed a challenge for ASU, Bartlett said.
Outside of a challenging New Mexico State pitcher, the Sun Devils tempted their fate by giving away several free bases and having four scoreless innings.
Despite these challenges, Sun Devils like Windle felt the team fought in every Sun Devil Classic game.
"We fought every single game," Windle said via Sun Devil Athletics. "We still refused to lose no matter the situation that we were put in. So, I don't think it was all bad, because we always fought until the very end."
Although the tournament ended with a loss, positives motivated ASU athletes to turn things around for the Sun Devils as they head into the ASU Invitational on Feb. 26.
"It's a fun group, and they're a motivated group and they're driven," Bartlett said. "They've got a bit of a chip on their shoulder, and they know what it's going to take to be a top-16 seed. Got to keep getting wins, so we don't have to motivate it very much. They're great kids (and) they're ready to win ball games."
Edited by Alan Deutschendorf, Senna James and Ellis Preston.
Reach the reporter at cjoneil6@asu.edu and follow @cjojournalism on X.
Like The State Press on Facebook and follow @statepress on X.
Char O’Neil is a junior studying sports journalism with a minor in special events management. This is her third semester with The State Press. She has also reported for AZPreps365, Blaze Radio and Phoenix College Basketball.
