Being the ace of a pitching staff is no small feat and can carry a lot of weight on the shoulders of those who are considered as such. However, for graduate pitcher Kenzie Brown, that is just another accolade she can take pride in as she leads ASU down the stretch of the 2026 regular season.
"I can't say enough about (Kenzie)," head coach Megan Bartlett said. "It's not even just the talent, it's not even just the strikeouts; we are certainly going to miss all of those things and everything that she brings to us on the field. She's our leader, we go as she goes, and she has done nothing but sacrifice and be our hardest worker."
Brown is concluding her illustrious Sun Devil career in just a few weeks, but on April 7, she received a Golden Ticket. This means she was drafted into the Athletes Unlimited Softball League, but she is waiting to see which team will choose her during the draft on May 4.
"It was definitely super emotional," Brown said. "I don't think it has set in; it was such a surprise. Playing with that behind my back, too, now, is such a blessing."
Brown transferred to ASU following a freshman season at Tulsa, where she struggled with a 6.78 ERA in 52.2 innings pitched before transferring to Tempe in the offseason.
"My entire time here has been such a blessing, that's why I chose to stay," Brown said. "I love Tempe, I love this team and I love this coaching staff."
Her sophomore year saw some improvement, where she dropped her ERA to 4.35 in 74 innings pitched. However, she redshirted her junior year in 2024 and didn't see the field. This extra year of working on her craft was a big reason why 2025 was one of the best pitching seasons in the country.
Brown finished with 289 strikeouts (fourth best in the country) over a monstrous 174.1 innings, and kept her ERA to a minuscule 1.28.
"(She's) always been real calm when she needs to go out there and do her job," senior outfielder Tanya Windle, Brown's teammate of three years, said. "I think the Golden Ticket, getting that for her, is huge and a step in the right direction for the rest of the season for us."
Brown earned numerous awards in 2025-2026, including NFCA first team All-American and an All-Big 12 first team, just to name a couple.
She became a hot commodity for coaches across the country looking to bolster their staff with a bona fide ace. In the age of transfers, the graduate chose to stay in the desert.
"She chose to be a Sun Devil when everybody in the country was trying to tamper out of the program," Bartlett said. "They just don't make humans and kids like that anymore ... She felt like she needed to stay and finish the journey here, that we wanted her when nobody else in the country wanted her."
Though this year hasn't been as dominant for Brown, it was going to be hard for her to replicate the production she had last year. Despite that, her track record was enough to catch the eye of the AUSL and ensure that her playing career will extend past her time as a Sun Devil.
"It's family, and it's love, and it's loyalty, and that's how she will certainly be remembered here by her teammates and her coaching staff," Bartlett said.
Edited by Niall Rosenberg, Jack McCarthy and Pippa Fung.
Reach the reporter at mseal6@asu.edu and follow @masonseal23 on X.
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Mason Seal is a reporter in the sports department. He provides intel and paints stories about many different sports for The State Press. He is in his third semester at The State Press.
