Samantha Swan's Grand Slam and Six RBI Send Arizona State Softball Past UTEP 13-0

TEMPE, Ariz. — Arizona State's softball team had just come off a tough loss to Kansas, and Tuesday's non-conference game against UTEP was supposed to be the kind of get-right afternoon that every contender needs. It turned into something closer to a clinic. The No. 23 Sun Devils scored in every inning they batted, got a grand slam from catcher Samantha Swan, and ended the day early with a 13-0 run-rule win after five innings at Farrington Stadium.

ASU improved to 30-11. UTEP, at 11-24, got two hits and two walks and never really saw the scoreboard move in its direction. By the third inning it was a matter of how soon the umpires would get everyone home.

Five Runs Before the Visitors Blinked

The first inning was a hit parade. Katie Chester's RBI double scored Tanya Windle, and Swan followed with a two-run double into the left-center gap that scored Ashleigh Mejia and Chester. Emily Schepp doubled in another run, and Brooklyn Ulrich singled through the left side to make it four consecutive run-scoring hits and a 5-0 lead.

That was the end of the day for UTEP's starter. Tatyana Vega, who took the loss and fell to 8-10, left after the five-run opening frame, and Ryann Presswood came in to try to stop the bleeding. She did not, at least not quickly.

The Grand Slam

The second inning is where Swan made the game her own. Windle grounded out to second to open the frame, and then Kaylee Pond and Mejia strung together back-to-back hits. Chester drew a four-pitch walk to load the bases, and Swan stepped in.

She took two pitches, then turned on a 1-1 offering and sent it to deep center field for a homer, 228 feet by ASU's measurement, the first grand slam of her career and her seventh home run of the season. It made the score 9-0 after two innings and made the afternoon feel like a formality.

"I just tried to keep it simple," Swan said afterward. "We came off a tough loss to Kansas, so we were just trying to get back on top and get back on the grind. Yeah, it was good."

Swan finished with six RBI on the day, two from the first-inning double and four from the slam. She came out of the game at the top of the fourth, replaced behind the plate by freshman Brooke Piwowar.

A Bonus Run, Then a First-Time Homer

ASU kept adding. In the third, Pond's sacrifice fly scored Tiare HoChing and made it 10-0. In the fourth, the Sun Devils got three more, and the 13th run came on a single by Sydney Saenz that scored Yannixa Acuna.

The fourth also included a milestone. First-year Sun Devil Millie Roberts, playing in her 61st career collegiate game, connected for her first career home run, a 235-foot shot to deep left that pushed the lead from 10-0 to 11-0. A passed ball added another run, Saenz's single made it 13-0, and the run rule ended it after five.

Brown Is Perfect in the Circle

On the pitching side, senior Kenzie Brown was the story. She threw three innings without allowing a hit, struck out five and retired nine of the 11 batters she faced, improving to 8-4. According to ASU, Brown has not allowed a hit or a run to a UTEP batter in her two appearances against the Miners this season, striking out 11 of 17 faced in five combined innings.

Aissa Silva threw a scoreless fourth, and Meika Lauppe closed out the fifth. UTEP was limited to two hits, from Iliana Munoz and Jayde Pagdilao, and Ari Leon reached base twice on walks, but none of them came around.

Turning Point

The grand slam. UTEP had survived the opening inning and had a chance to settle in after changing pitchers. Instead, two hits and a walk loaded the bases for Swan, and one swing took the game from a rout in progress to a rout in the books. After 9-0, the remaining innings were about getting through the paperwork.

Stats That Matter

Arizona State outhit UTEP 13-2, did not commit an error, and drew three walks to UTEP's two. ASU's pitchers combined for six strikeouts. Windle, playing in her first game since leaving a Feb. 27 win over UNLV, went 2-for-3 with a double and a run scored, extending her hitting streak to a team-high 12 games despite sitting out all of March. Swan joined Mejia and Chester as Sun Devils with a 5-plus RBI game this season.

What It Means

For Arizona State, the numbers are fine, but the real value was timing. The Sun Devils (30-11, 4-8 in the Big 12) had been grinding through conference play, and a game like this gives a team confidence at the right moment. Coach Megan Bartlett said as much. "We always welcome momentum," she said. "We talk about confidence and belief; this can be a really dangerous ball club."

She also talked about how small the margin can be in this game. "It's a round bat and round ball; it's a game of millimeters and sometimes teams get into those ruts once in a while." ASU returns to Big 12 play on Friday, April 10, against UCF at Farrington Stadium.

For UTEP, it was a rough Tuesday on the road in a season that has not gone the way the Miners wanted. The Miners have conference play still to come, and the day's small positives were a pair of hits from Munoz and Pagdilao and two walks from Leon.

The Close

Sometimes a softball game ends before most fans have found their seats. This one did, and the person who put the stamp on it was a junior catcher who simply refuses to have an off day. Swan's grand slam did not need any extra volume. It spoke for itself.

Photo Credit: David Venezia/Undrafted