Rivalries are give and take. You win some games, and you lose some. And in the battle of Arizona vs. ASU softball, both teams have gained some key figures from one another and lost some.
Before winning eight national championships for the Wildcats, former UA head coach Mike Candrea earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Arizona State.
“Nobody talks about that, though, it’s like this dark time that, no, I’m just kidding, I don't know if he claims it anymore,” joked UA head coach Caitlin Lowe. “We always have heated games. I think that's the biggest thing, we have quite a few rivalries across the country ... and it's all about the excitement in those games and how they go tend to go back and forth. You've got to compete from the first pitch of Friday to the last pitch on Sunday, no matter how many innings that is and the circumstances.
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“So it's one thing we talked about a lot after (Texas) Tech was it doesn't matter what circumstances develop, we really have to hunker down and execute, whether it's a one-run game or we're in kind of a boat race with people.”
No. 11 Arizona (21-7, 4-2 Big 12) hosts ASU (22-7, 2-4) for a three-game series starting Friday.
This season, ASU features two players who were Wildcats last year: senior pitcher Aissa Silva and junior catcher Emily Schepp.
Arizona State catcher Emily Schepp (17) during a game against Eastern Illinois on Feb. 27, 2026, in Tempe.
“It's gonna be awesome, I miss that,” said UA senior catcher/utility Sydney Stewart about seeing the two. “Issa and I will talk here and there, but I think it's gonna be like full circle, just seeing that again, obviously it's different because they're gonna be on the other team, but I'm just really excited to see them.”
ASU also has senior outfielder Yannixa Acuña, who went to Salpointe Catholic.
Silva, who is from Tucson and went to Mountain View High School, spent her first three seasons at UA, where she earned NFCA All-West Region Second Team (2024). This year she is 8-1 with a 3.22 ERA over 54⅓ innings pitched.
In 2024, she went 22-6 with a 3.25 ERA over 155 innings, but last year she was 3-1 with a 3.77 ERA in just 26 innings, often coming in for just one batter.
Schepp spent her freshman and sophomore years at the UA, where she started 70 of 91 career games at catcher or designated player. This season, she is hitting .289 with 24 RBIs.
Last year, Schepp hit .244 with 16 RBIs but Stewart, a second-team NFCA All-American, became the catcher starter and UA added senior utility Grace Jenkins, who was Big East Player of the Year last season as a backstop.
Arizona State starting pitcher Aissa Silva (3) during a game against UNLV on Feb. 27, 2026, in Tempe.
“Great competitors, we recruited them for a reason,” Lowe said about Schepp and Silva. “We have a whole lot of respect for the way they train, the way they show up and just looking forward to great weekend of softball.”
The UA-ASU connections don't end there.
Arizona assistant coach Amber Freeman was a three-time All-American and 2013 Pac-12 Player of the Year at ASU. Freeman, who focuses on UA hitters and catchers, was hired in August 2024, and last season the Wildcats led the Big 12 in batting (.348).
Lowe joked that “she ended up in the right colors.”
“She's very proud to be a Sun Devil alum and at the same time she is exactly where her feet are and very happy here … can’t say enough good things about her,” Lowe said.
Emma Kavanagh (18) and Arizona assistant coach Amber Freeman share a fistbump at Hillenbrand Stadium, Feb. 28, 2026.
Arizona is 104-54-1 all time against the Sun Devils, but ASU did snap its six-game losing streak to the Wildcats in the series finale last season.
Stewart was impressed by the rivalry after transferring from Washington. The Huskies’ prime in-state rival, Washington State, doesn’t have a varsity softball team.
“It's definitely intense,” Stewart said. “When I was at my previous school we didn't really have an in-state rival, so last year when I got to experience it for the first time, it was very intense, but now that we're at our home turf, I think it's going to be just a different experience having our fans and everything.”
UA senior pitcher Jalen Adams transferred from Iowa State, which doesn't play its primary rival as much as the Wildcats and Sun Devils do. The Hawkeyes play Iowa State twice this year, same as last, in midweek games.
“I would say the Iowa/Iowa State rivalry is a pretty good rivalry and I played with a lot of those girls growing up, so that's always a really good series and I think it's just a whole new level here,” Adams said.
Extra bases
– Arizona moved up a spot in the USA Softball rankings to No. 11. The Wildcats remained 13th in the NFCA’s coaches’ poll, moved up a slot to No. 12 in the D1 Softball rankings and went up two rankings to No. 15, according to Softball America.
ASU is receiving votes in the USA Softball poll, the first team out of the Top 25. The Sun Devils were ranked until they got swept by Utah in early March.
As of Wednesday afternoon, Arizona was No. 18 in the RPI, ASU was 34th. Last week, the Wildcats were No. 23 in the RPI.
– UA is asking fans to wear red to each game of the series.
– Friday is Yoga Night and red Arizona script shirt giveaway. Saturday is Game Show Day with an Arizona Monopoly giveaway. Sunday is KidCats Day and a Labubu giveaway for kids.
– As of Wednesday afternoon, the weather forecast, according to the Weather Channel, is a high of 104 degrees on Friday, 103 Saturday and 100 on Sunday.
“We did like a week of winter a couple weeks ago,” Lowe said. “It’s kind of been random this year, but I mean in Tucson you're ready.”
Triple digits would be 20-25 degrees above normal for Tucson in March. It has never hit 100 degrees in Tucson in March before.
Adams is from Fort Dodge, Iowa, but in the Hawkeye State high school softball is played during the summer.
“It gets pretty hot back in Iowa where I'm from and we play it in the summer time, so I am used to the heat, so I think it'll be all right,” Adams said.
