TEMPE – Sun Devil Softball split two contests on Saturday at Farrington Stadium during the third day of the Littlewood Classic. Arizona State won the first game against No. 25 Washington 4-1 but lost the second game to Belmont 5-1 in eight innings.
The Sun Devils picked up a third win over a ranked opponent through the early portion of the schedule behind timely hitting and solid pitching performances from Meika Lauppe. Nehanda Lewis drove in Kelsey Hall with an RBI groundout to break the ice for ASU in the second inning.
After Washington answered in the third to tie the game at one, Hall came up with her second single of the game with one out in the fourth. Yannixa Acuña stole second as a pinch runner and scored on an Ashleigh Mejia RBI single. Mejia advanced to second on the play before scoring on a single from Lillian Holtje to make it 3-1. With bases full of Devils in the fifth, Hall increased the lead to three with her own RBI single.
Lauppe held Washington to one run on four hits over the game's first three innings. Brown then shut the door on the Huskies with seven strikeouts over four shutout innings to earn her second win of the season.
The nightcap with Belmont was a classic pitchers duel, with Lauppe holding the Bruins to just one run through the seven regulation innings. Belmont took advantage of some ASU fielding miscues to plate four runs in the eighth to claim the victory.
The Sun Devils never found an answer for the Bruins lefthanded ace, Maya Johnson. She limited ASU to just two hits, one a solo home run from Tiare Ho-Ching in the fourth that gave ASU a 1-0 lead.
Notable
Arizona State Assistant Coach Hailey Decker
On Meika Lauppe's performances in both games:
"Meika's been fantastic. I've really enjoyed watching her play and really come into her own. Unfortunately, we didn't quite have the defense or the bats behind her, but man did she kill it today. She was fun to watch."
On the motivation that winning against ranked teams provides:
"At this point, I think it's three wins against top 25 teams, and we keep preaching that good ball clubs don't beat top 25 teams. So, yes, we've had some lows, but we are having moments where we're proving to ourselves and to others that we are a competitive ball club."
Up Next
Tomorrow marks the final day of the Littlewood Classic as the Sun Devils will play Utah Valley at 11:30 a.m.
The Sun Devils picked up a third win over a ranked opponent through the early portion of the schedule behind timely hitting and solid pitching performances from Meika Lauppe. Nehanda Lewis drove in Kelsey Hall with an RBI groundout to break the ice for ASU in the second inning.
After Washington answered in the third to tie the game at one, Hall came up with her second single of the game with one out in the fourth. Yannixa Acuña stole second as a pinch runner and scored on an Ashleigh Mejia RBI single. Mejia advanced to second on the play before scoring on a single from Lillian Holtje to make it 3-1. With bases full of Devils in the fifth, Hall increased the lead to three with her own RBI single.
Lauppe held Washington to one run on four hits over the game's first three innings. Brown then shut the door on the Huskies with seven strikeouts over four shutout innings to earn her second win of the season.
The nightcap with Belmont was a classic pitchers duel, with Lauppe holding the Bruins to just one run through the seven regulation innings. Belmont took advantage of some ASU fielding miscues to plate four runs in the eighth to claim the victory.
The Sun Devils never found an answer for the Bruins lefthanded ace, Maya Johnson. She limited ASU to just two hits, one a solo home run from Tiare Ho-Ching in the fourth that gave ASU a 1-0 lead.
Notable
- ASU improved to 3-0 this season against ranked former Pac-12 rivals with the win over Washington.
- Meika Lauppe continued her fantastic start to the season, allowing just two earned runs in 10.1 innings in the two games.
- Battling through illness, Brown struck out seven Huskies for her fourth appearance this season with five-plus strikeouts.
- On the season, Brown has struck out 27 of the 59 batters she has faced.
- Hall became the fifth different Sun Devil to record three hits in a game by going 3-for-3 against Washington. It was her first three-hit game since March 27, 2024, at San Diego and her fourth as a Sun Devil.
Arizona State Assistant Coach Hailey Decker
On Meika Lauppe's performances in both games:
"Meika's been fantastic. I've really enjoyed watching her play and really come into her own. Unfortunately, we didn't quite have the defense or the bats behind her, but man did she kill it today. She was fun to watch."
On the motivation that winning against ranked teams provides:
"At this point, I think it's three wins against top 25 teams, and we keep preaching that good ball clubs don't beat top 25 teams. So, yes, we've had some lows, but we are having moments where we're proving to ourselves and to others that we are a competitive ball club."
Up Next
Tomorrow marks the final day of the Littlewood Classic as the Sun Devils will play Utah Valley at 11:30 a.m.