The Arizona–Arizona State baseball rivalry is a college baseball rivalry between the University of Arizona Wildcats and the Arizona State University Sun Devils. Both programs are two of the most storied and successful in college baseball history, combining for a total of 9 College World Series championships, 40 College World Series appearances, 82 NCAA tournament appearances and 27 conference regular-season championships. +Baseball ComparisonFirst Season19041959College World Series Championships45College World Series Appearances1922NCAA tournament Appearances4441Conference Championships720Conference Tournament championships20Arizona State was forced by the NCAA to vacate 44 wins from its 2007 season due to recruiting violations.
History
Early history The baseball rivalry did not develop until the 1950s after ASU created its baseball program in 1959. Beginning with Bobby Winkles' tenure, Arizona State took the lead in the series against Arizona and has never yielded that lead, appeared in the College World Series twice and had won its 1st College World Series championship - something Arizona had yet to do in 7 College World Series appearances to that point. Before the end of the decade the Sun Devils would win two more College World Series in 1967 and 1969.
The Brock–Kindall years Under the helms of Jim Brock and Jerry Kindall, the rivalry reached a new level of intensity. Longtime sports columnist Greg Hansen of the Arizona Daily Star described the rivalry between Brock and Kindall as the greatest between any Arizona-Arizona State coaching duo in any sport. During the 1970s and early 1980s, the teams reached the peak of their joint prominence: the Wildcats and Sun Devils would win College World Series titles back-to-back with each other in 1976–77 and 1980–81. Perhaps the most important game played between the two was a 1976 College World Series semi-final matchup (see below) in which Arizona defeated Arizona State 5–1 to advance to the College World Series title game against Eastern Michigan, ending Arizona State's season. The Wildcats won their first College World Series title the next game.
1990s–present In recent years the rivalry has been dominated in stretches by each team. Arizona State generally dominated the rivalry in the 1990s and 2000s, making many College World Series appearances while Arizona struggled and made only a single one - in 2004.
The 2010s were however dominated by Arizona, who have made 3 College World Series appearances since the Sun Devils' last appearance - winning once and running-up once. The Wildcats have also won 3 Pac-12 titles since the Sun Devils' last in 2010.
In 2025, Arizona and Arizona State baseball teams now compete in the Big 12 Conference after 46 years as members of the then Pac-10 and Pac-12 Conference.
Venues Aside from 6 games, each game in the series has been played either at the Wildcats' home fields in Tucson or the Sun Devils' home fields in Phoenix and Tempe. In fact, only a single regular season game has been played outside of the state of Arizona - a 1994 matchup held at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis, MN.
Arizona's home field was UA Field from 1929 to 1966, Wildcat Field (later Frank Sancet Stadium then Jerry Kindall Field at Frank Sancet Stadium) from 1967 to 2011 and Hi Corbett Field from 2012–Present. Arizona played selected home games at Hi Corbett Field from 1940 to 1975, including all games against Arizona State between 1965 and 1974.
Arizona State's home field was Goodwin Stadium from 1959 to 1963, Phoenix Municipal Stadium from 1964 to 1973 and Packard Stadium from 1974 to 2014. In 2015, the Sun Devils returned to Phoenix Municipal Stadium where they remain today. Arizona State played the 2002 season at HoHoKam Park in Mesa, AZ due to construction at Packard Stadium, however the only games played that season between the teams were held in Tucson.
Coaching record comparison +ArizonaArizona StateCoachYearsRecord v. Arizona StateCoachYearsRecord v. ArizonaFrank Sancet1950–197263–47 (.573)Bobby Winkles1959–197139–34 (.534)Jerry Kindall1973–199670–93–1 (.427)Jim Brock1972–199491–53–1 (.628)Jerry Stitt1997–200110–17 (.370)Pat Murphy1995–200947–26 (.644)Andy Lopez2002–201526–37 (.413)Tim Esmay2010–201414–11 (.560)Jay Johnson2016–202112–10 (.545)Tracy Smith2015–202112–14 (.462)Chip Hale2022–Present12–11 (.521)Willie Bloomquist2022–Present11–12 (.478)
Games played The Wildcats and Sun Devils have been members of the same conference since 1931 - the Border Conference from 1931 to 1962, Western Athletic Conference from 1962 to 1978, Pacific-10 (later Pac-12) Conference from 1978 to 2024, and Big 12 Conference from 2025 to Present. From 1963 to 2000, the teams played 6 conference games a year. Since 2001 the Wildcats and Sun Devils have played 3 conference games a season - alternating hosts each year - usually supplemented with a pair of non-conference matchups hosted by the team not hosting the conference games. Over the years the Wildcats and Sun Devils have also participated in multi-year events against each other:
From 1977 to 1978 Arizona and Arizona State jointly hosted the Best in the West Tournament in Tucson and Tempe; participating teams included Eastern Michigan, Grand Canyon, Northern Arizona, Oregon State and Pepperdine. From 2006 to 2007 Arizona and Arizona State participated in the Challenge at Chase - a yearly neutral site game held at the Arizona Diamondbacks' home Chase Field in Phoenix, AZ.
Notable games
May 14, 1966 (Hi Corbett Field - Tucson, AZ): Arizona and Arizona State faced off with the WAC South championship at stake. Arizona won 6–1 to claim the championship. The Wildcats would go on to appear in the College World Series. May 21, 1967 (Phoenix Municipal Stadium - Phoenix, AZ): In another game with the WAC South championship at stake, future MLB pitcher Gary Gentry pitched all 15 innings for Arizona State as the Sun Devils clinched the championship in a 3–2 victory. ASU would go on to win its 2nd College World Series title. April 18, 1975 (Wildcat Field - Tucson, AZ): In the first night game in Wildcat Field history, Arizona State defeated Arizona 9–1. Arizona State pitcher Floyd Bannister struck out 17 and took a no-hit bid into the 8th inning. June 17, 1976 (Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium - Omaha, NE): In perhaps the most important game played in the rivalry's history, Arizona and Arizona State played each other in a College World Series elimination game to decide which team would play Eastern Michigan in the national title game. This was the second of only two postseason games played between the two all-time, the first having been 5 days earlier in which Arizona State had won 7–6 in controversial fashion (Arizona catcher Ron Hassey was called out at 3rd in a close play in the 10th inning that stemmed off an Arizona comeback attempt). Arizona pitcher Steve Powers faced off against Arizona State starting pitcher Don Hanna, who had a 15–0 record to that point. Powers pitched the entire game and allowed only 1 run as Arizona won 5–1 to advance to their 4th College World Series title game, ending Arizona State's season. Sun Devils coach Jim Brock described the loss as being so painful that "[i]t was like a death in the family." Arizona would go on to win their first national championship the next day, with Powers being named College World Series MVP. February 27, 1982 (Packard Stadium - Tempe, AZ): The only tie in series history, 4-4. March 6, 1994 (Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome - Minneapolis, MN): The only regular season matchup ever played outside of the state of Arizona as part of the Metrodome Classic. Arizona State won 12–4. The Sun Devils advanced on the College World Series for the 2nd straight season. March 4, 2000 (Packard Stadium - Tempe, AZ): Arizona State defeats Arizona 32–3 in the largest victory in series history. May 27, 2012 (Hi Corbett Field - Tucson, AZ): Having squandered an early 7–1 lead, Arizona defeated Arizona State 8–7 on a 2-out walk-off single from Wildcats left fielder Johnny Field to clinch their first Pac-12 Conference championship (shared with UCLA) since 1992. The Wildcats would go on to win their first College World Series title since 1986, and 4th overall.
Scores of games (1959–2026)
Achievements by season (1959–Present)
Season Conference Regular seasonChampions Conference TournamentChampions Arizona's performance inin the NCAA tournament Arizona State's performancein the NCAA tournamentBorder Conference 1959 Incomplete Records -- Did not qualify 1960 Incomplete Records -- Did not qualify 1961 Incomplete Records -- Did not qualify 1962 Incomplete Records -- Did not qualifyWestern Athletic Conference - South Division 1963 Arizona Arizona Did not qualify 1964 Arizona State Arizona State Did not qualify 1965 Arizona State Arizona State Did not qualify 1966 Arizona Arizona Did not qualify 1967 Arizona State Arizona State Did not qualify 1968 Arizona BYU Did not qualify Did not qualify 1969 Arizona State Arizona State Did not qualify 1970 Arizona Arizona Did not qualify 1971 Arizona State BYU Did not qualify Did not qualify 1972 Arizona State Arizona State Did not qualify 1973 Arizona State Arizona State Did not qualify 1974 Arizona Arizona Did not qualify 1975 Arizona State Arizona State 1976 Arizona State Arizona State 1977 Arizona State Arizona State Did not qualify 1978 Arizona State Arizona State Pacific-10 Conference - South Division 1979 UCLA -- Did not qualify 1980 Arizona/California (co-champs) -- Did not qualify 1981 Arizona State -- Did not qualify 1982 Arizona State -- Did not qualify 1983 Stanford -- Did not qualify 1984 Arizona State -- Did not qualify 1985 Stanford -- Did not qualify 1986 UCLA -- Did not qualify 1987 Stanford -- 1988 Arizona State -- Did not qualify 1989 Arizona -- 1990 Stanford -- Did not qualify 1991 USC -- Did not qualify Did not qualify 1992 Arizona -- 1993 Arizona State -- 1994 Stanford -- Did not qualify 1995 USC -- Did not qualify Did not qualify 1996 USC -- Did not qualify Did not qualify 1997 Stanford -- Did not qualify 1998 Stanford -- Did not qualify Pacific-10 Conference 1999 Stanford -- Did not qualify 2000 Arizona State/Stanford/UCLA (co-champs) -- Did not qualify 2001 USC -- Did not qualify 2002 Oregon -- Did not qualify 2003 Stanford -- 2004 Stanford -- 2005 Oregon State -- 2006 Oregon State -- Did not qualify 2007 Arizona State -- 2008 Arizona State -- 2009 Arizona State -- Did not qualify 2010 Arizona State -- 2011 UCLA -- Pac-12 Conference 2012 Arizona/UCLA (co-champs) -- Did not qualify 2013 Oregon State -- Did not qualify 2014 Oregon State -- Did not qualify 2015 UCLA -- Did not qualify 2016 Utah -- 2017 Oregon State -- Did not qualify 2018 Stanford -- Did not qualify Did not qualify 2019 UCLA -- Did not qualify 2020 No Champion -- Tournament Cancelled due to COVID-19 2021 Arizona -- 2022 Stanford Stanford Did not qualify 2023 Stanford Oregon Did not qualify2024ArizonaArizona Did not qualifyBig 12 Conference2025West VirginiaArizona 2026KansasKansasDid not qualify References