May 15 | Game 1: ASU vs. McNeese
Just six days after ASU secured its first Big 12 Tournament win, the Tempe natives traveled to Bryan-College Station to face McNeese in their opening regional game.
The Sun Devils kept this one short, defeating the Cowgirls 8-0 in five innings. ASU did so without the assistance of their star ace, Kenzie Brown, who didn't grace the mound with her presence for a single minute of the game.
Instead, the efforts of junior pitcher Meika Lauppe held the Cowgirls to a scoreless game, while off-the-bat homers led the Sun Devils to victory.
In this mercy-ruled contest, Lauppe threw 70 pitches, allowing five hits and one walk.
Opening the game with three quality hits, McNeese challenged Lauppe's arm, but this test ended with the top of the first.
"Meika (Lauppe) settled in nicely on the mound, got great run support (and) picked up the ball really well on defense from go," head coach Megan Bartlett said via 12th Man TV following the game.
ASU stepped up to bat, determined to silence the energy McNeese entered the game with. The Sun Devils scored two runs, off homers from senior outfielder Kaylee Pond and junior catcher Samantha Swan.
Following ASU's dominant first inning and a 2-0 lead, the Sun Devils were quiet through the second and third, with zero runs and one hit. McNeese failed to answer ASU's scoreless stretch, putting up only one hit of their own.
The desert's very own brought a heat to the fourth inning.
Warming up ASU's offense was sophomore infielder Tiare Ho-Ching, who homered the ball out to left field, enabling senior infielder Brooklyn Ulrich to run home.
This heat was one that continued to rise, cutting the game short before ASU could reach its full potential.
"Coach (Bartlett) has been talking about how we haven't hit our peak yet, and we just keep going on the up and climbing," Ho-Ching said via 12th Man TV.
READ MORE: Megan Bartlett is changing ASU softball culture on, off the field
Providing an additional surge was senior outfielder Tanya Windle. Windle stepped up to the plate, singled to the left side, stole second and scored off a hit from junior catcher and infielder Emily Schepp.
These team offensive efforts by the Sun Devils culminated in a hefty 5-0 lead to close out the bottom of the fourth.
With zero runs, McNeese entered the top of the fifth in an unfamiliar place, having been held scoreless by an opponent in just five games this season.
"We had our miles per hour up there and so I could tell if I went too hard," Lauppe said via 12th Man TV. "I was overthrowing the ball, which is something we've talked about. So I was like 'OK, take a deep breath and just let your ball work for you.'"
By holding the Cowgirls from the scoreboard this afternoon, it marked the second time in Lauppe's career that she's had a complete game shutout.
Leading off the bottom of the fifth was sophomore outfielder Ashleigh Mejia, who made a solo trip home off one pitch.
Alongside a career game for Lauppe, Ho-Ching hit a second solo home run for 229 feet.
With Mejia and Ho-Ching taking ASU up 7-0, the Sun Devils were one run shy of ending this one early. Ready to answer this one-run ask was Windle, who waited on second base and made it home off a single by Swan.
After opening the NCAA Bryan-College Station Regional in a dominating fashion, defeating McNeese 8-0, ASU looked to face Texas A&M. The last time the Sun Devils and Aggies met in an NCAA tournament game was Spring 2011.
"They're good in big moments," Bartlett said via 12th Man TV. "This is a really resilient group. They have a lot of belief, and we know when we start picking up the ball a little bit on defense, that it's going to be a pretty good day for us because we have a pretty consistent offensive threat."
May 16 | Game 2: ASU vs. Texas A&M
ASU entered its contest with Texas A&M on a 7-game win streak, the most recent one coming less than 24 hours prior.
Seven proved to be a lucky number for the Sun Devils. The team snapped their scoreless stretch and took the game's lead at the top of the seventh. They took back the game after a somber start, finishing with a 4-3 win over the Aggies.
ASU's ace, Brown, was well-rested heading into this game, as junior pitcher Lauppe subbed in for the star the night before.
READ MORE: Kenzie Brown looks to wrap up ASU career, sets sights on AUSL
During Brown's first inning on the mound, she was called for an illegal pitch, her first of the season. This pitch gave Aggies' senior Micaela Wark a second chance, erasing her 0-2 count, which she used to gift her team with trips home for her and Mya Perez.
With this illegal pitch came immediate consequences, as Wark lifted the Aggies to a 2-0 lead.
Although, this lead didn't last long, as ASU's junior infielder Katie Chester answered in the second with her 20th home run of the season, just one shy of Sun Devil softball's single-season home run record.
Chester's homer enabled catcher and infielder Schepp, who patiently waited on base, to also make a trip home, tying the game 2-2.
The tie went unbroken until the bottom of the fourth, when a ball off the bat of sophomore Kelsey Mathis sent junior outfielder Hailey Golden home, lifting the Aggies' lead to 3-2.
This Aggies lead went unanswered until the top of the seventh, with the Sun Devils amassing one hit until this point.
Watering this drought was a safe call at base for infielder Ulrich, who successfully maneuvered an Aggies' tag and survived a Texas A&M challenge.
With Ulrich declared safe at second, in came junior infielder Nehanda Lewis to pinch run.
Setting the Sun Devils up for success was outfielder Pond, who struggled early on but aimed to work "unselfishly" at bat as the game progressed.
"In the top of the sixth (hitting coach Josh Bloomer) talked about having unselfish at bats and really being productive with our outs," Pond said via 12th Man TV.
With Lewis on third and senior outfielder Tanya Windle hit by a pitch, Pond's single to left field allowed Windle to advance a base and Lewis to score a run. This tied the Sun Devils and Aggies at 3-3, but only briefly.
At the plate, Schepp sent a ball out to second base, allowing Windle to sneak home, taking the lead of the game up with her up to 4-3.
The Aggies only had the bottom of the seventh to recover from ASU's two-run inning, and instead of doing so, Brown struck out two swinging.
ASU's late-game comeback puts them up 2-0 in the Bryan-College Station Regionals. The Sun Devils rematched the Aggies on Sunday afternoon, hopeful to eliminate them again and advance to the Super Regionals.
"There's a lot that hasn't gone wrong to this point and we did that to ourselves," Bartlett said via 12th Man TV. "So if we could find some momentum (and) catch it late – devils hit late."
May 17 | Game 3: ASU vs. Texas A&M
After a weekend in the Lone Star State, the Sun Devils sealed a trip to the Super Regionals in star-like fashion, with a grand slam off the bat of infielder Ulrich to cut the game at 9-1 in the fifth.
Unlike their late seventh-inning lead the day before, ASU set the tone early on, scoring two runs in the bottom of the first.
The Aggies answered at the top of the second with a run of their own, taking the score to 2-1 and marking the only time Texas A&M touched the scoreboard.
The Sun Devils took things a step further, doubling the score of the inning before and then adding one more, 5-1.
Runs by Ulrich, Ho-Ching and Pond helped fuel this score, but a successfully maneuvered tag by Pond at home plate fueled the Sun Devil spirit.
"We were all coming together," Ulrich said via 12th Man TV. "Talking bout 'Hey, tomorrow we're playing one game, and we're only going to play one game, and we're just going to give it our all for the seven innings.' We weren't going to let foot off the gas, and we were going to strike first."
Following ASU's three-run inning, senior pitcher Aissa Silva came in for Lauppe to start the third. But after back-to-back walks, Silva's time at the mound was cut short, and AUSL draftee Brown was summoned from the bullpen.
Brown stepped onto the field with the Sun Devils up by five and two Aggies on base. Her first move was striking out junior Perez. With Brown now on the mound, Texas A&M struggled, putting up zero runs and hits and leaving two on base.
With only one hit until the fifth, the Sun Devils entered the inning looking to get into a position where they could wrap this one up early.
Setting ASU up was infielder Chester, who reached first base on a throwing error, and subbed in freshman utility player Corie Shull to pinch run.
Shull advanced to second on a hit to center field by senior utility player Yazzy Avila. With senior outfielder Yannixa Acuña at bat, she advanced Shull to third and Avila to second. Acuña found herself at first base, marked bases loaded and no outs for the Sun Devils.
In an attempt to counteract how the cards fell for ASU, Texas A&M brought in sophomore pitcher Sydney Lessentine, whose first ball was to Ulrich.
Ulrich, who mentioned how the team "wasn't going to let their foot off the gas," put her own on the accelerator, hitting a homer off Lessentine's second ball and over Davis Diamond's wall.
This sent the Sun Devils on base and at bat running home for a 9-1 walk-off win over the Aggies.
"(I'm) feeling an overwhelming sense of pride and gratitude for this group of 23," Bartlett said via 12th Man TV. "They have fought and worked so hard this whole season, and they just continue to believe and show up in big moments."
The Sun Devils ended the Bryan-College Station Regionals with three wins, advancing them to the Super Regionals, where they will return to Texas for the NCAA Austin Super Regional on May 22.
Edited by Dhemi Bell, Senna James and Pippa Fung.
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.
