After struggling in the early game, Arizona State’s bats eventually woke up on day one of the Mizuno Showdown.

The No. 25 Sun Devils (26-9) started the tournament on the right foot at Anderson Softball Stadium in Chapel Hill, N.C., defeating Marist (15-15) 3-1 before demolishing host school North Carolina (23-8) 9-2 on Friday, March 27. The pitching staff excelled in both games, powering ASU to a 2-0 start at the home of the Tar Heels.

Senior left-handed pitcher Aissa Silva got the start against the Red Foxes, marking her fourth straight game with an appearance, including two innings against NC State on Thursday, March 26.

Despite a heavy workload recently, Silva earned the win, allowing only one run over 5 ⅔ innings.

Senior right-hander Kenzie Brown started the second game against UNC, tossing three innings while allowing two runs and striking out five.

After breezing through the order the first time around, Brown struggled in the third inning, opening the door for the Tar Heels to trim the Sun Devils’ 3-0 lead down to 3-2.

As she so often does, Brown bounced back with two strikeouts to end the inning, stranding runners at first and third to preserve the ASU lead.

After a rocky third inning, Sun Devils head coach Megan Bartlett elected to take Brown out of the game and bring in junior right-hander Meika Lauppe, who pitched a flawless 1 ⅓ innings to close out the game against Marist earlier in the day.

Lauppe stayed hot, finishing off UNC with four scoreless innings and picking up her ninth win of the season. 

The victory didn’t come without some help from the ASU offense in the late innings, though, particularly from junior first baseman Katie Chester.

With the Sun Devils leading the Tar Heels 3-2 entering the sixth, Chester hit two massive home runs down the stretch to put the game out of reach.

Chester blasted a two-run homer in the sixth and a three-run shot in the seventh, driving in five of ASU’s six runs over the final two innings.

Sophomore right fielder Ashleigh Mejia and junior designated player Ryan Brown also performed well at the plate against UNC, each going 2-for-4 with one RBI.

While the Sun Devils offense came to life against the Tar Heels, they sputtered against the Red Foxes.

ASU struggled to hit the ball against graduate right-hand pitcher Ava Metzger, who currently holds the second-lowest ERA in the MAAC.

Metzger only allowed three hits, pitching a six-inning complete game with four strikeouts.

The only problem? Two of those hits were solo home runs, and Marist’s bats only managed one run against Silva and Lauppe.

Despite the Sun Devils’ offensive issues, they managed to pull out a 3-1 win over the Red Foxes.

Not only did the ASU pitching staff save the day against the Red Foxes, but it also kept a potent UNC offense in check and ended an unprecedented streak of homers.

The Sun Devils snapped the Tar Heels’ 29-game home run streak, previously the longest active streak in the nation. 

ASU wraps up the Mizuno Showdown with games against Marist and UNC on Saturday, March 28, before continuing Big 12 play on the road against Kansas.

With the heart of conference play around the corner, the Sun Devils need to keep up their stellar pitching in order to navigate the tough Big 12 games remaining on the schedule.