Arizona State Women's Softball 2024 season in the last Pac-12 season as they transition into the Big-12 Conference.
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This is the final year for the Pac-12 Conference as we know it to be the conference of champions. After 65 years, this historic organization is seeing its largest, and arguably, its most significant change yet.
The 12 schools that make up the conference are: UCLA, USC, Arizona State, Arizona, Oregon, Oregon State, Colorado, Utah, UC Berkeley, Stanford, Washington, and Washington State. Starting fall of 2024 season, UCLA, USC, Oregon, and Washington will move to the Big-10 Conference.
Arizona State, Arizona, Colorado, and Utah will move to the Big-12 Conference. Lastly, Cal, Stanford, Washington State, and Oregon State will be moving to the Mountain West Conference. All the memories that were made in this conference will be wiped away in June of 2024.
“My favorite memory coaching ASU softball would be the series win over Washington last season who was ranked 10th in the nation,” Head coach for Arizona State softball Megan Bartlett said. “It was a well fought battle and a great moment to be a Sun Devil.”
For ASU athletics, the move to the Big-12 will be nearly uncharted territory. They will be playing most of their competition in the Midwest region which will bring more intensity and competition among the different sports in the fall, winter, and spring.
The Sun Devils sports and softball team will continue to face their Pac-12 rivals in Arizona, Utah, and Colorado. The new schools they will be facing are BYU, Texas Tech, Baylor, TCU, Houston, Oklahoma State, Kansas, Kansas State, Iowa State, Cincinnati, West Virginia, and Central Florida.
It’s no question most of these schools have always been in this conference which gives them the advantage against the new schools from the Pac-12 joining the Big-12 Conference.
“Facing new teams is sort of a breath of fresh air,” said Shannon Cunningham, a sophomore ASU softball player. “Especially in the Big-12 Conference since our team hasn’t faced any of those teams yet and don’t really know exactly how each of those teams play.”
The Arizona State Sun Devils softball starting lineup announcement at pre-game before the game against Seton Hall begins.
The Sun Devils softball team has been struggling these past couple seasons, so a change of scenery as far as facing different softball teams might not be the worst idea.
“When a new coach and staff comes on board within the last couple years, there will be a lot of growing pains and that’s just a part of the game,” Cunningham said. “Next season in the Big-12 after two years under head coach Bartlett, I think that’s when we’ll really start to get going and reach our full potential as a team.”
The Pac-12 softball standings for each team as there are only nine teams because not all of the 12 schools have a softball team.
The Sun Devils athletics and softball team will be ready for the upcoming challenges of next season as they will be traveling on the road a lot more than most schools knowing they are on the west coast and will be flying more to the midwest and south region of the country.
“Longer flights will be an adjustment but we are fortunate to be a part of the Big-12 next year,” Assistant coach Hailey Decker said. “There are so many athletes and programs that would love to represent this established conference, but we are lucky to make that transition.”
The Arizona State softball team have played teams they haven't played on a regular basis and have had some success in those games.
This is a slideshow with a voice over of the Arizona State softball game when they played against Seton Hall in a softball tournament.
The Sun Devils softball team hasn’t been great in recent years as they have found their way towards the bottom of the Pac-12 conference. The team has a team batting average of .311 and a team ERA of 3.96.
The team is losing 10 seniors or graduate students next year which means they will have to find those new players either in the transfer portal or incoming freshman committing to play at Arizona State. The transfer portal has been an issue as it was made up during COVID where players in all sports could go to another school and play that same year they transferred.
These are batting averages of the top hitters on the Arizona State softball team this season in 2024.
Before COVID, if a player wanted to transfer to another school, they would have to sit out for a whole year which made athletes transferring to new schools less common. The best athletes leaving their former schools to the transfer portal has not only hurt softball, but for all sports because athletes are moving onto a better school to stack that team up so they can try and increase their chance at winning a championship.
“Although the transfer portal has changed, we ultimately want athletes who want to be a part of the Sun Devil family through thick and thin,” Decker said. “We have benefited from the transfer portal adding some competitive athletes who believe in head coach Bartlett’s vision and we will continue to juggle the portal to the best of our abilities.”
This is a photo of the Arizona State softball infield talking over a game plan during the game against Seton Hall.
The Sun Devils will be a young team next season with five juniors and one senior. They will need a boost next spring from their young core of players if they want to make an impact in the first softball season in the Big-12 Conference next year.
“The transition to the Big-12 will be an exciting and challenging one next season,” Bartlett said. “We have a young team but we are talented as we have depth on the mound and excited for our offensive weapons to have another year of experience under their belt.”
The Sun Devils softball team got their eye on the prize as they are looking forward to playing in a new conference next year in a new environment with new teams to battle against.
Side Bar Story
The Big-12 Conference has a lot of talented schools in all sports that vary from football, basketball, baseball, softball, track, and more. These schools include: BYU, Texas Tech, Baylor, TCU, Houston, Oklahoma State, Kansas, Kansas State, Iowa State, Cincinnati, West Virginia, and Central Florida.
This season the Big-12 Conference for softball has been very competitive, however Oklahoma and Texas who are the top two teams right now are both set to move to a new conference next fall to make way for Arizona State, Arizona, Colorado, and Utah who are the four Pac-12 teams moving to this Big-12 conference.
Oklahoma State, Kansas, and Texas Tech are the three teams to keep an eye on for next season. Oklahoma State has a record of 26 wins and 5 losses.
Kansas has tallied 22 wins, 8 losses, and 1 tie. Texas Tech has logged 21 wins and 8 losses. The Sun Devils this season have a record of 17 wins and 14 losses which is the second worst record in a very good Pac-12 Conference.
This is a softball with the Pac-12 Conference logo on it with it being the last season associated with the Pac-12.
“ The Arizona State softball team needs to do everything they can to make ASU a competitive landing spot for the top recruits,” ASU state press sports writer Jack Barron said. “ASU was once one of the best college softball programs in the country, but has slipped from greatness.”
A great end to the season this year could help the Sun Devils softball team next season. Almost every team in the Big-12 Conference has more wins than losses except for Iowa State.
The competition won’t get any easier for the Sun Devils as they are set to debut their season in the Big-12 Conference for the first time starting next February of 2025.
“The team needs to find different ways to score more runs and has to be diligent on the base paths,” ASU State Press sports writer Vincent Deangelis said. “The team should focus more on changing up the hitting strategy because they have been inconsistent all season.”
This is a game action shot of Yannira Acuna the batter for Arizona State waiting for the pitch.
The Big-12 Conference is one of the fairly new big conferences as it has only been around since 1994 which makes this year its 30th year anniversary. With the Big-12 Conference increasing to 16 different schools next school year, the schedule for each school will definitely be shaken up.
Arizona State could play in fewer preseason games and really have a true focus on the conference play where each team plays each other at least once.
This is Arizona State softball pitcher Meika Lauppe about ready to go into the game as the new pitcher.
Arizona State softball’s pitching is going to have to be on point to be the focus in turning the softball program around. The Big-12 Conference will be one of the biggest conferences in college which will make the competition more entertaining for the fans all over the country.