The Arizona State University softball program will open the 2016 season at home on Feb. 11 against Utah State as part of the Kajikawa Classic, the first of 37 scheduled home contests slated to take place this season. The 2016 non-conference schedule and the tentative Pac-12 schedule, as announced by co-interim head coaches Robert Wagner and Letty Olivarez features eleven teams that competed in the postseason last year.
The 2016 campaign features four tournaments played right in ASU’s backyard at Farrington Stadium and features five road series and the Fullerton, Calif.-based Judi Garman Classic as the only dates away from Tempe. This gives fans ample opportunity to come out and enjoy some shade and top-tier collegiate softball.
ASU will take on seven teams in five days as part of the Kajikawa Tournament (Feb. 11-15) – including contests against 2015 NCAA postseason qualifiers Tennessee and Kentucky. Tennessee advanced to the Women’s College World Series last season while Kentucky did so in 2013-14 and advanced to the Super Regional against eventual champion Florida last season.
The Sun Devils will also take on Utah State, San Jose State, East Carolina and Portland State.
The season opening tournament will kick off the first of three straight home tournaments and five straight weekends of tournament softball and features over 30 teams and over 75 contests over the span of the weekend. Eleven of those teams advanced to the NCAA Postseason last year.
The Sun Devils will take on five teams as part of the Littlewood Classic (Feb. 19-21) the following weekend. ASU will face off against Michigan State, Memphis, Illinois State, Northern Iowa and Montana in the tournament.
The following weekend will feature a battle against 2015 NCAA Tournament qualifier Minnesota on Feb. 26 as part of the Diamond Devil Invitational (Feb. 26-28) and two contests against St. Francis. The tournament will also feature games against Houston and Mount St. Mary’s.
ASU will travel to Fullerton, Calif., the following weekend as part of the Judi Garman Classic, scheduled to take place March 3-6, where the team will take on 2015 NCAA postseason qualifiers Missouri, Northwestern and Baylor. ASU will also play Long Beach State, Wisconsin and the host Cal State Fullerton over the course of the weekend.
ASU wraps up the non-conference “tournament season” at home with the Louisville Slugger Invitational (March 11- 13) which will include contests against Nebraska and James Madison, both of which qualified for the 2015 NCAA Tournament. The Sun Devils defeated Nebraska last season in the Baton Rouge Regional. The tournament will also feature Ohio State and two games against Georgetown.
While the Pac-12 Conference schedule is not set in stone, the Sun Devils are slated to open the season with a series against in-state rival Arizona, a 2015 NCAA Super Regional team, in Tempe the following weekend (tentatively March 18-20).
ASU will play one non-conference series at home against Texas Tech, a three-game set taking place from March 24-26.
The Pac-12 schedule will have ASU on the road for series against Cal, Utah, Oregon State and a trip to 2015 WCWS qualifier UCLA. The home slate will include series against Arizona, Oregon (also a WCWS qualifier of the 2015 NCAA Tournament), Washington – a 2015 postseason team - and close out the 2016 regular season at home against Stanford.
Season ticket renewals are currently taking place through the Sun Devil Ticket Office and fans may also place deposits for 2016 season tickets as well. Call the Service VIP line at 480-965-5333 to for more information.