Kenzie Brown Dominates, But Sun Devils Fall Just Short Against No. 3 Oklahoma
TEMPE, Ariz. - On a night when all eyes were on the powerhouse visiting from Norman, it was Arizona State’s ace who stole the show.
Kenzie Brown, the Sun Devils’ senior right-hander and 2025 consensus All-American, took the circle Thursday night against No. 3 Oklahoma in a primetime Kajikawa Classic clash. And while the Sooners escaped Farrington Stadium with a narrow 2-1 win, Brown’s performance was nothing short of electric - the kind of outing that doesn’t just turn heads, it demands respect.
Let’s set the stage: Just hours after ASU opened its season with a 4-1 win over Toledo, Brown stepped up against an Oklahoma team fresh off a Women’s College World Series semifinal run. The matchup was billed as a measuring stick, and Brown made sure Arizona State measured up.
She opened the game with a statement - striking out leadoff hitter Ella Parker on three pitches. Then, three pitches later, Kasidi Pickering went down swinging too. Eight pitches, three outs, and a tone was set.
That tone? Dominance.
Brown worked through the Sooners’ lineup like she had the scouting report etched into her glove. She danced around a two-out infield single in the second inning with two more swinging strikeouts, then kept the pressure on through the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth.
By the time the seventh inning rolled around, Brown had racked up 13 strikeouts - the most by any pitcher against Oklahoma in the last seven seasons. For context, the previous high was 10, set by Texas’ Citlaly Gutierrez during the 2024 Big 12 Championship.
Yes, Brown gave up a two-run homer in the sixth that ultimately decided the game, but make no mistake: this was her night.
“No one expected us to be in that game,” Brown said afterward. **“Obviously, we weren’t favored, but it takes at-bats from players like Kaylee (Pond) to keep us in it, and then just an all-around great team effort defensively.
We were making defensive plays in both games today that we weren’t making over the last three seasons, so I think we are on the right track.” **
She’s not wrong. Arizona State’s defense was sharp, and the energy in the stadium reflected the belief that something’s building here. Head coach Megan Bartlett echoed that sentiment.
“Opening night … I thought our girls competed tremendously well,” Bartlett said. **“They certainly got a taste of what a Super Regional, Women’s College World Series game looks and feels like, so I’m excited.
I’m excited for this year. It’s a talented bunch.
They’re locked in and they’re hungry, which is going to make them dangerous.” **
One of those hungry players? First-year Sun Devil Kaylee Pond, who provided ASU’s only run of the night with a towering solo homer in the third inning - a 246-foot blast that gave the Sun Devils a brief 1-0 lead. For Pond, it was her second home run in three games against Oklahoma, dating back to her time at Cal.
And while the Sun Devils couldn’t hold the lead, they walked away with a new program record: 2,373 fans packed into Farrington Stadium, setting a new high-water mark for home attendance and surpassing the previous record set against Arizona in 2014.
Earlier in the day, ASU opened its season with a solid 4-1 win over Toledo. That victory marked the first time since 2022-23 that the Sun Devils have won back-to-back season openers. In that game, senior lefty Aissa Silva - a Tucson native and transfer from Arizona - made her Sun Devil debut in relief, tossing two scoreless innings to earn the save.
So yes, the scoreboard shows a loss to Oklahoma. But the story? That’s about a team that went toe-to-toe with one of the nation’s best and looked every bit like it belonged.
Next up: Arizona State (1-1) dives back into Kajikawa Classic play Friday night against Texas State (1-0), who’s coming off an 8-2 win over Toledo. First pitch is set for 6:15 p.m.
MST. Don’t be surprised if the Sun Devils bring that same fire - and if Kenzie Brown’s performance becomes the early-season spark this team rallies around.