The Big Swing: Softball sets sights on NCAA attendance record in showdown against Cal

No. 17 Stanford softball (29-8, 9-6 ACC) will host rivals Cal (27-14, 6-9 ACC) for a three-game series this week, with Saturday’s showdown – The Big Swing – set to be the main event. This year, however, the Cardinal aren’t just swinging for the fences. They’re also swinging for the stands as they look to break the NCAA softball attendance record.

As of Monday morning, 9,381 tickets for Big Swing have been sold, which already surpasses the regular season attendance record of 9,259 that was set in the Oklahoma-Oklahoma State game last week. Stanford is now aiming for the overall record of 12,566 from opening day of the 2024 Women’s College World Series.

Saturday’s Big Swing will feature a first pitch thrown by Stanford Football General Manager Andrew Luck, alongside performances by the Leland Stanford Junior University Marching Band (LSJUMB) and in-stadium activities designed to attract attendees. The Cardinal are making the most of their temporary move to Stanford Stadium, which offers a significant capacity upgrade from the old 1,500-seat Boyd & Jill Smith Family Stadium. So far this season, the team has only lost two of 17 total games in their new home.

Stanford has won the rivalry series for the past two years, delivering an especially dominant performance last year with a three-game sweep over Cal. Stanford enters this year’s rivalry riding the momentum of a record-breaking series against Boise State, where they shattered both their single-game total bases and single-season home run records. 

While the Cardinal have outperformed Cal so far in its inaugural season in the ACC, the early April upset by No. 20 Clemson over Stanford casts uncertainty over the outcome of this weekend’s conference duel.

Stanford softball will open its series against Cal on Thursday, culminating with the Big Swing on Saturday at 1 p.m. at Stanford Stadium.

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