Sun Devil softball's 2026 roster begins to take shape

In the 2024 season, Arizona State softball hit rock bottom, winning only 20 games, the fewest since 1975, a season in which the Sun Devils played only 18 games. Head coach Megan Bartlett had a huge roster overhaul as she brought in six transfers and eight freshmen and kept seven returnees. 

The team punched above their preseason expectations as they won 35 games and made it to the NCAA tournament for the first time in Bartlett’s tenure. The team currently has thirteen players returning, led by fifth-year pitcher Kenzie Brown. The NFCA first team all-American confirmed she will return via her instagram. 

Arizona State has brought in four players in the portal. The Sun Devils have lost six players in the portal, according to D1 softball, along with losing graduate outfielder Kelsey Hall and senior infielder AJ Murphy.

The first player that Bartlett brought in was graduate infielder Brooklyn Ulrich, who at one point was the number one overall transfer according to 64 analytics. The Marshall transfer had a slash line of .322/.372/.559 in four years with the Thundering Herd. Her best season was in 2024, where she had a batting average of just under .400 and an OPS of over 1.100. 

Ulrich can expect to have both her career totals of runs scored and RBIs hit surpass 100 as she needs to score once and drive in two to hit the triple-digit mark. The local product has attended Alberta B. Farrington Stadium before, but as a fan when she was younger, making it a bit of a homecoming for the Red Mountain High School graduate.

Ulrich primarily played second base at Marshall, with a career fielding percentage of .947. It is unclear if she or rising sophomore Tiare Ho-Ching, who has a .972 fielding percentage, will play second. The Sun Devils also have openings at first base and shortstop, with rising sophomore Grace Molitor competing for those positions as well.

The Sun Devils get another graduate transfer, in utility Kaylee Pond. Pond, a sixth-year player, has spent time at Cal and Iowa State. She lost her first year at Iowa State and her first year at Cal due to injuries.

Pond’s career slash line is .286/.427/.461. Her best season was last year, her third year in a Golden Bears uniform, going .317/.474 /.493 at the plate. Pond’s name might be familiar to Sun Devil fans as she has played Arizona State four games, all at Farrington. She was productive in those games, going 5-12 with a walk, three RBIs and two runs scored.

Pond primarily played left field for Cal and third base for Iowa State. The Sun Devils' three outfielders of Yannixa Acuna, Ashleigh Meija and Tanya Windle have not hit the portal along with their starter at third base, Takayla Davis. Pond will likely play the designated player position, which is the softball equivalent of baseball’s designated hitter.

The Sun Devils bring in another bat in utility Millie Roberts. Roberts spent two years at Auburn, going .189/.279/.216 before taking a year off from softball in 2025, as she was not on the Tigers roster. It appears that she has two years of eligibility remaining. Roberts will likely be a depth piece for Arizona State this season as the team lost a few of its depth pieces.

The Sun Devils added a quality pitching arm as well in rising senior left-handed pitcher Aissa Silva heads north up Interstate 10 from Tucson. Silva pitched 228 and two-thirds innings for the Wildcats with a 25-10 record and a 3.77 ERA, limiting opposing offenses to a .251 batting average.

Silva’s usage shrunk significantly in 2024 compared to 2023, appearing in about 40% fewer games and throwing less than 20% of the previous season’s innings. She only saw her ERA rise from 3.27 to 3.77. 

In her career, Silva faced Arizona State three times with one run allowed in 15 innings. In her lone outing in Farrington, Silva threw a scoreless five and a third innings.

Silva will compete to be the Sun Devils' number two arm behind Brown. Rising junior Meika Lauppe will be Silva’s biggest competition for the spot, as both are good pitchers.

The majority of the six pieces that have departed Arizona State would likely have found influential roles in the 2026 season, but decided to opt into the transfer portal. Two players have found their new homes.

One is rising sophomore right handed pitcher Cambree Creagor who started the year as Arizona State’s ace but did not stay that way for long. Creagor, who was a top recruit that did not live up to the hype as she had a 8.08 ERA and a 2.41 WHIP in 17 appearances going 2-3. 

Creagor is staying in the BIG 12 and is joining the Baylor Bears. The Sun Devils might take on the Bears next season, as they played eight of ten conference opponents in weekend series last season and played Oklahoma State in a midweek game. The Sun Devils' schedule will likely be released around late October to early November.

Another arm entering the portal is rising sophomore right-handed pitcher Julianne Tipton. Tipton had a better season than Creagor with a 7.00 ERA and a 1.88 WHIP in 24 appearances with a 5-2 record. Tipton has not announced which school she will join in the 2026 season. Both pitchers would have been on the bottom half of ASU’s pitching staff.

Rising senior infielder Ayden Allen leaves after a pair of seasons as a Sun Devil, after spending her first year at Houston. Allen has a career slash line of .242/.303/.352, spending most of her time at first. She has not signed with any school yet.

The Sun Devils also lost their backup first baseman and catcher, rising sophomore Lillian Holtje. Holtje has a slash line of .225/.398/.507 and showed flashes of power, six home runs, hitting them at a rate similar to ASU’s top home run hitter, rising sophomore Ashleigh Mejia.

Holtje would have fought for the starting position at first and could have won it if she had stayed. It is unclear who will be starting at first base in 2026. Holtje will head to Florida Atlantic in 2026.

Rising junior outfielder Jolee Benson will head to her fourth team in as many years. Benson’s career started at BYU, where she slashed .300/.364/.400 in limited playing time. She then transferred to Chandler-Gilbert Community College, where she improved to a slash line of .491/.535/.799. Her .491 batting average led the Arizona Community College Athletic Conference.

Benson did not see much playing time in her sophomore season for Arizona State in a packed outfield, as she failed to reach base in four plate appearances. Her NCAA career slash line is .214/.267/.286.

Another player who saw little playing time was rising junior infielder Maddie Okano. Okano failed to reach base in her two plate appearances but scored five runs as a pinch runner. 

Okano will head to her third school in as many years, as she spent her freshman year at UT Tyler. The Arizona native had a slash line of .245/.368/.321 in her one year with the Patriots.

Arizona State has four freshmen signed to join the team in 2026. The Sun Devils have catchers Brooke Piwowar and Avery Motroni joining, along with infielder JazMarie Roberts and pitcher Marie Peyton Hodge. That leaves room for maybe one more player to join in the portal if someone else were to enter.