Brown Ks 18 in a Shutout of BYU to Start Big 12 Play

TEMPE – Kenzie Brown shook off her first-inning nerves and pitched herself into the ASU record book in a 1-0 win by Sun Devil Softball over BYU on Thursday night in the program's Big 12 opener.

Brown opened the game by walking the first two batters she faced before settling in and posting 18 strikeouts in a two-hit shutout. She struck out the side in the first, third, fourth and seventh innings while adding two strikeouts in the second, fifth, and sixth frames.

Her 18 strikeouts are tied for the second-most in program history – and tied for most in a seven-inning game – while setting the mark for a conference contest. This is her third double-digit strikeout performance in a week after Sun Devil pitchers accomplished the mark just 10 times since 2019.

ASU's offense was being held in check with just three hits through the first five innings. Tiare Ho-Ching broke through leading off the sixth inning with a line drive to left-center that snuck over the wall and provided all the scoring the team would need.

BYU ended the night 0-for-11 with runners on base, including 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position. Brown worked out of trouble in the first and fifth innings, where she stranded Cougars on second and third.

Ho-Ching picked up two of ASU's four hits, with Tanya Windle and Samantha Swan adding the others.

Notable

• Brown's 18 strikeouts are tied for the second-most in program history behind the 23 from Katie Burkhart in nine innings against Southern Utah in the 2007 Tempe Regional.
• Brown tied Burkhart for the most strikeouts in a seven-inning game, matching Burkart's total against Western Michigan in 2008.
• The 18 strikeouts are the most by a Sun Devil in a conference game, surpassing the 16 by Dallas Escobedo against Arizona in 2014.
• The last Big 12 pitcher to record 18 strikeouts in a game was Kelley Maxwell (Oklahoma State) versus Kansas in 2022.
• This is the third 10-plus strikeout game of the season for Brown, and she is the first since G Juarez in 2018 to reach that total.
• From 2019 through 2024, ASU pitchers combined for 10 games with double-digit strikeouts, Brown now has three in a week.
• The multi-hit game by Ho-Ching is her fourth of the season.
• Ho-Ching's home run was her third of the year and second go-ahead homer.
• This is ASU's first 1-0 victory since May 21, 2016, against LIU Brooklyn.
• This is the second shutout win this season, with the first being an 11-0 victory against Weber State on Feb. 14.

Quotable
Arizona State Head Coach Megan Bartlett
On Kenzie Brown and Tiare Ho-Ching's performances
"Kenzie was brilliant tonight, and then Tiare came up clutch. I thought Tiare had some really nice at-bats tonight and certainly executed the plan well."

On her outlook on the remainder of the series against BYU
"Winning a series is much different than winning a one-off game. You have to be a team that not only prepares well but makes adjustments well and doesn't get sped up if we have to change the plan. It's a chess match, and BYU is very good. We're going to get to the film and just continue to get back to the drawing board as the weekend goes on."

Senior Kenzie Brown  
On what helped her have 18 strikeouts
"I didn't even know I had that many strikeouts until after I was done. I had full trust in my pitches, in Samantha Swan behind the plate, and in my defense. My ball just happened to work for me tonight."

Freshman Tiare Ho-Ching  
On the team's goal of beating the same team twice 
"We are definitely working through that process because we haven't beaten the same team twice in one weekend, so that is definitely a goal of ours this weekend, and we have to stick to our plan if we want to have a chance to achieve this goal."

Up Next
The Sun Devils will host the Cougars in game two of the series at Farrington Stadium on Friday at 6 p.m.