TEMPE – Under sunny skies and an energized crowd at Farrington Stadium, No. 25/22 UCF’s (31-11-1 overall, 9-7-1 Big 12) offense proved too difficult for Arizona State (31-12 overall, 5-9 Big 12) to contain as the Knights defeated the Sun Devils 8-1 on Saturday.
ASU struggled in the circle. Senior left-handed pitcher Aissa Silva started for Megan Bartlett’s side, recording two strikes while facing 11 batters and surrendered a home run in the first two innings. Junior right-handed pitcher Meika Lauppe relieved Silva in the third inning and pitched the remainder of the gamer, allowing seven hits and five runs from the 20 batters she faced.
UCF, which lost 7-1 less than 24 hours prior, responded to even the best-of-three series. Junior infielder Sierra Humphreys ended the game batting .405 and recording one home run.
“I don’t think we really executed very well,” Bartlett said after the loss. “(We) picked up some ground balls.”
Despite the lopsided score, the Sun Devils started the game brightly. Bartlett’s team held UCF hitless and scoreless in the first inning.
However, the Knights broke through with a four-run surge over two innings. It started with a one-run home run by sophomore catchers Beth Damon. And after a pitching change by the hosts, UCF’s sophomore utility Izzy Mertes forced a throwing error from junior catcher Samantha Swan, allowing one runner to score.
That made way for sophomore utility Kendall Yarnell to register a two-run home run to put the Knights up 4-0.
“She (Lauppe) lost her command a little bit,” Bartlett said. “Meika had done a nice job. That’s not a team you can kind of fly by the seat of your pants. They are good hitters.”
Sophomore outfielder Ashleigh Mejia briefly swung momentum back with a leaping catch on the wall, drawing a roar from the crowd after another home run threat. But the Knights continued to apply pressure, capitalizing on key opportunities as the game slipped away from the Maroon and Gold.
ASU looked for an offensive spark and found one in the fifth inning. Mejia had another big moment, driving a double down right field to bring senior outfielder Tanya Windle to home plate from first base.
But Sparky’s late rally ended in just a single run. Humphreys responded with a solo home run in the sixth inning to extend UCF’s lead to 5-1.
That play proved to be the dagger for the Sun Devils.
“I mean, once UCF took the momentum, they certainly didn’t give it back,” Bartlett said.
The Knights added three more runs in the final inning to hand ASU its heaviest defeat since March 7.
Despite the setback, the Sun Devils’ single run means the Marron and Gold have scored 320 runs through 43 games, their highest since the 2022 squad recorded 370.
“Keep showing up,” Bartlett said. “I think we were at 31 (wins), which is our entire win total last year, so it’s exciting to know the program is going to continue to grow loops and bounds.”
The loss sets up the series finale on Sunday at 12 p.m. MST as ASU aims to secure its first Big 12 series win since mid-March.
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