TEMPE, Ariz.- After sophomore second baseman Tiare Ho-Ching and senior outfielder Kaylee Pond hit two balls out of the park in the first inning, trouble arose for UNLV on a warm winter night. 

After Pond increased the lead to four, the Rebels looked straight for a replacement pitcher, taking out sophomore pitcher Yanina Sherwood. 

Sophomore outfielder Ashleigh Mejia expressed her thoughts on facing five different pitchers in tonight's affair. 

“Obvisouly we’re seeing about 30 pitchers this whole week; so we had to simplify it,” Mejia said. “I feel like we did a good job at adjusting early and just thinking middle third and not doing too much.” 

Arizona State (16-3) defeated UNLV (7-10) 9-2 at Farrington Stadium on Friday, Feb 27, due to stingy defense and huge scoring innings in the first and third innings. Pond and Ho-Ching's early home runs sent fans out of their seats from the very start of the game. 

Similarly, Mejia provided a highlight of her own, making a diving catch in the fourth inning. Mejia and teammate senior outfielder Tanya Windle are seemingly good for a highlight play in the outfield almost every game. 

“We’re such an outfield that nothing is getting past us, nothing's dropping, so I love that competitiveness that the whole outfield has,” Mejia said. “I think that’s why we see a lot of diving catches in the ballpark because we have that mindset that nobody's getting on base.” 

Mejia also acknowledged the growth she’s made as a defensive outfielder from the previous season. 

“I’m just a whole new person, more explosive, and I feel like I’ve always been fast, but fast can only take you so far,” Mejia said, “I feel like I've grown a lot in the outfield, and I’m grateful that I am making those catches now.”

On the other hand, a huge turning point that swung the game's momentum came during the third inning. With the bases loaded and zero outs, senior outfielder Keyannah Chavez stole home plate, shifting the momentum ASU previously built in the prior innings. 

However, Coach Bartlett challenged the call on the plate and won the challenge. The Rebels scored just one run in the third inning, wasting a prime opportunity.

“When it comes to coming in a high-pressure situation, most of the time I’m thinking I’m doing this for the pitcher that's out there,” junior pitcher Meika Lauppe said. “I know I'm going to be in that spot one time, and any one of my pitchers I know will have my back too.” 

Luappe provided a better showing this week compared to last week, allowing no runs, on two runs with one strikeout. 

“It was good to be back. I didn’t have the weekend I wanted last weekend, so it was good to have that redemption again,” Luappe said. 

While Ho-Ching and Pond stole the show in the first inning, junior catcher Sammantha Swan played arguably her best game of the season tonight while feeling under the weather. Swan showed the Sun Devil fans two massive hits, highlighted by a triple hit towards center field, and three RBI.

“I don’t want to jinx it, but we’ve been singing the bat pretty well, and it's exciting to see, especially rolling into conference play,” Swan said. Knowing that we’re at a good hitting place and can only get better.”

The UNLV pitchers handed ASU players some damage, taking a couple of hits from the pitches tonight. 

“I’ve never been hit this many times early in the season,” Swan said. “We're gonna lead the Big 12 by getting hit with pitches, and we’re gonna be proud of it.” 

The Sun Devils look to stay undefeated at the ASU/GCU Invitational, headlining games against Wisconsin and Cal Baptist University on Saturday, Feb. 28. 

“We always love winning,” said Mejia, “We love a good challenge.”