PHOENIX — BYU softball fell to No. 23 Arizona State University 8-0 in five innings on Thursday evening in its first game of the Sun Devil Classic at Alberta B. Farrington Softball Stadium.

ASU started off with four runs in the bottom of the first inning. First, senior Yannira Acuña homered past right field to take a 1-0 lead for ASU. It was her 50th career home run. Later, sophomore Emily Cazares doubled to left field, allowing ASU to score. After a quick 2-0 lead, BYU’s Chloe Temples came in to pitch in place of Autumn Moffat-Korth. The Sun Devils scored two more runs off a triple down the right field line by senior Marissa Schuld, bringing the score to 4-0.

Temples had two back-to-back strikeouts in the bottom of the third inning, her only strikeouts of the game.

BYU got a couple runners on base in the top of the fourth. Macy Simmons was walked and Martha Epenesa singled to right field for Simmons’ pinch runner Alexis Gilio to make it to third base. Gilio was then picked off for BYU’s third out.

Arizona State would score four more runs in the bottom of the fifth inning. Another home run from Acuña made the score 5-0. Then, a three-run walk-off home run by senior Jazmin Rollin ended the game at 8-0. 

Up next, the Cougars will play Grand Canyon University and Rutgers University at 12 p.m. MST and 2:30 p.m. MST, respectively. The game against GCU will be streaming live on ESPN+.

PHOENIX — Coming off of four wins in four games in San Diego, BYU softball will now travel to Phoenix, Arizona for the Sun Devil Classic. The Cougars will face No. 23 Arizona State University, Rutgers University, Grand Canyon University, Ball State University and the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

BYU comes in at No. 29 in the NCAA's first RPI rankings for softball after four weeks of play. The Cougars have a 13-4 overall record.

Schedule & Information

No. 23 ASU – Thursday, March 10

The Sun Devils are 13-5 on the season and were ranked No. 23 in this week's ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25. ASU is on a two-game winning streak. The Sun Devils lost 4-0 to Loyola Marymount of the West Coast Conference on March 5. In their third game of the season, the Sun Devils upset No. 13 Duke 8-7 with a walk-off home run from redshirt freshman Kristiana Watson. ASU also played against Cal Baptist and won 8-0. BYU lost to Cal Baptist 6-3 in the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic.

• Time: 6 p.m. MST
• Stadium: Alberta B. Farrington Softball Stadium
• Stream: Pac-12+
• Stats: StatBroadcast

Rutgers – Friday, March 11

Rutgers is 13-7 on the season and are coming off a 9-8 victory over George Washington University in the Liberty Softball Invitational. Rutgers took a 6-0 lead by the middle of the second inning, but George Washington battled back to go ahead 8-6 behind a six-run fourth inning. Kayla Bock lifted the Scarlet Knights to the come-from-behind victory behind a three-run home run in the top the seventh. Rutgers also battled against No. 23 Notre Dame in the Liberty Softball Invitational and fell 4-3 after the game went into nine innings. 

• Time: 12 p.m. MST
• Stadium: GCU Softball Stadium
• Stats: StatBroadcast

GCU – Friday, March 11

The Lopes are 15-5 this season, and have played every single game on their own home field. Notable wins include a 7-3 win over Idaho State and 9-3 win over Pacific.

• Time: 2:30 p.m. MST
• Stadium: GCU Softball Stadium
• Stream: ESPN+
• Stats: StatBroadcast

Ball State – Saturday, March 12

Ball State has an overall record of 5-9. The Cardinals played No. 17 Northwestern last weekend, suffering a 10-4 loss.

• Time: 11 a.m. MST
• Stadium: GCU Softball Stadium
• Stats: StatBroadcast

UMKC – Saturday, March 12

The Roos are 4-14 on the season, playing four games against top-25 programs: No. 16 Michigan (2), No. 6 Florida and No. 10 Arkansas. UMKC lost back-to-back games against UNLV 4-3 and 11-7. BYU also fell to UNLV earlier this season 5-3.

• Time: 1:30 p.m. MST
• Stadium: GCU Softball Stadium
• Stats: StatBroadcast