Arizona State opens its Big 12 chapter with record-breaking attendance at Phoenix Municipal Stadium. (Photo courtesy of Sun Devil Athletics)
TEMPE – Energized by record-breaking crowds and a renewed commitment to excellence, Arizona State’s baseball team is experiencing a resurgence both on and off the field.
The passionate and sometimes rowdy throngs of fans attending Sun Devils games this season has been a highlight for coach Willie Bloomquist and his team, giving players an extra ounce of energy when they take the field and attempt to replicate ASU’s success from the program’s glory days in the Pac 12.
During the Sun Devils’ first four games of this season, as they settled into a new era with the Big 12 Vonference, the team was greeted by a packed house when it took the field with 13,232 fans in attendance. They set a new record for the largest opening weekend crowd in ASU baseball history with 10,570 during the first series of the year against the Ohio State Buckeyes, where the Sun Devils ended up with a clean three-game sweep.
As the weather grows warmer and the Big 12 tournament nears, ASU hopes to keep turning up the vibe at Phoenix Municipal Stadium, its home turf, where the Sun Devils are 18-8 compared to 7-8 on the road.
Bloomquist, an ASU alum who was a two-time All American during his three seasons at Arizona State from 1997 to 1999, returned to the program when he was hired in the summer of 2021. He always anticipated bringing the fans back around to support the baseball program.
ASU’s first Big 12 home series against the Kansas Jayhawks was a proud moment for Bloomquist as he watched fans fill Phoenix Municipal Stadium hours before the game, with the crowd eventually resulting in 5,834 strong.
“That was awesome,” Bloomquist said. “I envisioned this place being like this since I got this job. Tonight was really one of the few nights that I’ve come out of the tunnel to go out in the dugout and the fans are already there half an hour before the game. They just kept piling in… hopefully they keep coming because it adds a lot of energy. Not only the environment, but our guys just have an extra gear of motivation when there’s that many fans in the ballpark and it’s just a heck of a lot more fun atmosphere when we have a packed house.”
ASU players were equally excited by the fan response from that first Big 12 conference game.
“It was electric. It was really fun,” ASU pitcher Jonah Giblin said. “I’m glad we’re bringing them out now and they’re showing up. Means a lot to us. Really helps us with the energy and intensity. It just shows that ASU is heading in the right direction with the baseball program. The fans showing up means a lot to all of us.”
The fans did indeed keep coming out and presented an energetic atmosphere when in-state rival University of Arizona came to Tempe, as the first game of the series set a school record with a sell-out crowd of 7,084. The student attendance for ASU has also spiked this season, setting a new attendance record early in the season with 750. But that mark was quickly shattered when 1,320 ASU students rallied to watch the rivalry against the Wildcats.
Through 33 home games last season, ASU totalled an attendance of 95,094, with an average 2,882 fans per game. This season, with 26 home games played heading into Thursday’s three-game series against BYU and nine more regular season home games on the docket, Phoenix Municipal has averaged 3,667 fans per game, with a total attendance of 95,333.
One of the reasons for the rise in attendance for ASU baseball this season has to do with the school’s reinvestment into the program. The Sun Devils have a rich history of success on the diamond with five national championships and 22 Men’s College World Series appearances. MLB legends like Reggie Jackson, Barry Bonds and Dustin Pedroia have all strapped on their cleats for the maroon and gold.
The reinvestment into Sun Devil baseball is due in part to the commitment of athletic director Graham Rossini, an ASU alumni who is in his first year at the helm in Tempe.
In just one year, Rossini has witnessed the ASU athletic program capture two Big 12 conference championships, first when the women’s volleyball team brought home the first conference title for the program in team history and the first Big 12 championship across all ASU sports, followed by ASU football’s surprising and exhilarating race to the Big 12 title after pundits expected the Sun Devils to finish at the bottom of the pile.
Now, Rossini wants to restore ASU baseball back to one of the premier programs in the country.
“We’re trying to get the shine back to Sun Devil baseball,” Rossini said. “We have a history of developing players very well in this program, we want to get back to the history of competing for championships alongside that.”
Jim Grose, who graduated from ASU in 1968 and has been a season ticket holder for Sun Devil baseball for the past 20 years, believes ASU’s success at winning games at a high level has encouraged fans to fill the stadium following seven seasons with Tracy Smith as skipper.
“Winning helps people like a winner,” Grose said. “Coach Tracy Smith was a terrible selection and he had two seasons with 23 wins, with Bloomquist we got 24 already with many more games to be played.”