What to know about Kenzie Brown, one of college softball's best pitchers

Arizona State has a proud and lengthy softball tradition, with four national championships (two NCAA and two AIAW) and 10 Women’s College World Series appearances since 1999.

This season, the Sun Devils have worked to add to that impressive history. Coach Megan Bartlett’s team is 41-16 and fresh off the first conference tournament championship in program history, an accomplishment the Sun Devils achieved by knocking off NiJaree Canady and a top-five Texas Tech team in the Big 12 tournament title game on May 9.

On Friday, May 15, they’ll continue their dreams of a WCWS appearance with a game against McNeese in the College Station Regional of the 2026 NCAA Tournament.

The player set to step inside the pitching circle for them is one of the biggest reasons why they’ve gotten as far as they have this season.

Kenzie Brown is capping off her exceptional college career on an appropriately high note. Arizona State’s senior ace has continued blowing away batters this season, earning first-team All-Big 12 honors and being named the MVP of the conference tournament.

If the Sun Devils make a run to the super regional round or all the way to the WCWS, they’ll likely have Brown to thank for it.

As the NCAA tournament gets set to begin, here’s a closer look at Brown:

Kenzie Brown's career

For the past two seasons, Brown has been one of the best pitchers in college softball while leading Arizona State to back-to-back NCAA tournaments.

In 2025, Brown was an NFCA first team All-American and a D1Softball second team All-American after striking out 289 batters, the fourth-most at the Division I level. She ranked in the top five of the Big 12 in innings pitched, saves, shutouts, strikeout-to-walk ratio, strikeouts and wins. No moment exemplified her dominance more than a March 6 game against BYU, when she matched a program single-game record with 18 strikeouts.

This season, she’s been just about as good, making the All-Big 12 first team after a regular season in which she finished fifth in Division I in strikeouts, with 238.

Her breakthrough season in 2025 came after she redshirted during the 2024 campaign to preserve a year of eligibility.

For all she has accomplished at Arizona State, Brown began her career elsewhere, joining the Sun Devils after playing at Tulsa as a freshman.

Kenzie Brown AUSL

Whenever Brown’s time at Arizona State comes to an end, it won’t mark the conclusion of her softball career.

Back in early April, Brown was one of 17 players presented with a “golden ticket” from the Athletes Unlimited Softball League (AUSL). The golden ticket serves as an official notification to a player that they’ve been drafted into the league.

“That was crazy,” Brown said at the time of being presented with the ticket. “I was not expecting it. I'm still obviously in shock.”

Kenzie Brown stats

Here’s a look at Brown’s career stats:

• 2026 (Arizona State): 15-6, 2.29 ERA, 143.2 innings pitched, 14 complete games, five shutouts, 238 strikeouts, 70 walks
• 2025 (Arizona State): 19-8, 1.28 ERA, 174.1 innings pitched, 13 complete games, four shutouts, 289 strikeouts, 70 walks
• 2023 (Arizona State): 10-2, 4.35 ERA, 74 innings pitched, one complete game, one shutout, 76 strikeouts, 47 walks
• 2022 (Tulsa): 3-7, 8.72 ERA, 52.2 innings pitched, 45 strikeouts, 51 walks