No. 25 Arizona State softball couldn’t have asked for a better weekend.

The Sun Devils (28-9) won twice in run-rule fashion on Saturday, March 28, at Anderson Softball Stadium in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The offense was electric, smashing five home runs, which included two grand slams from sophomore right fielder Ashleigh Mejia. 

ASU finished off an undefeated weekend, defeating Marist (15-16) 12-3 and North Carolina (23-9) 15-3, each in five innings.

With the wins, ASU finished the Mizuno Showdown 4-0.

After only managing three runs against the Red Foxes and three runs through five innings against the Tar Heels on Friday, March 27, the Sun Devils put up 27 runs on Saturday over two games.

ASU put up several high-scoring innings, including a seven-run third and five-run fourth against UNC and a five-run fifth against Marist.

In each game, the Sun Devils only failed to score in one inning, a massive improvement from Friday.

Mejia was the catalyst for the offense, hitting two grand slams against the Tar Heels.

Additionally, senior center fielder Kaylee Pond had two home runs on the day for ASU, hitting one against UNC and one against the Red Foxes.

The Tar Heels also hit Pond three times.

On the flip side, junior first baseman Katie Chester continued her hot streak, homering against Marist after a two-homer outing on Friday night against UNC.

While the bats were busy going off, the Sun Devils’ pitchers continued their dominant weekend.

For the second straight day, ASU gave the ball to senior left-handed pitcher Aissa Silva against the Red Foxes, and she delivered once again, recording 10 strikeouts and earning the win.

Silva pitched four innings and allowed three runs, a day after going 5 ⅔ innings. 

Against the Tar Heels, the duo of junior right-hander Meikka Lauppe and senior right-hander Kenzie Brown got the job done for the second straight day.

This time, Lauppe started the game, allowing two runs over the first two innings before Brown took over.

With the Sun Devils comfortably ahead, Brown pitched the final three innings against UNC, only surrendering one run and recording four strikeouts. 

Also similar to Friday, Lauppe made a relief appearance against the Marist, getting the first two outs of the fifth inning before freshman left-hander Mary Peyton Hodge, a North Carolina native, secured the final out against the Red Foxes.

On offense, several ASU hitters produced.

Junior third baseman Emily Schepp went 3-for-4 at the plate against the Tar Heels, and junior designated player Ryan Brown went 3-for-4 against Marist with an RBI.

Two other Sun Devils also had multi-hit games against the Red Foxes.

Junior catcher Samantha Swan went 2-for-4, and sophomore second baseman Tiare Ho-Ching went 2-for-3 with an RBI.

After a mostly quiet day at the plate for ASU on Friday, it exploded for two run-rule wins on Saturday, which is a huge confidence boost, as the Sun Devils turn their focus back to the Big 12 slate.