Fresno State Athletics
trads fres wright diamond html
Margie Wright Diamond -- Home of Fresno State Softball
Getting to Margie Wright Diamond
Records reflect games played through the 2015 season's-end
With nearly two decades of national excellence that includes an NCAA Softball Championship title (1998), 12 trips to the NCAA Women's College World Series, 30 consecutive NCAA regional appearances, and 23 conference championship titles, Fresno State holds a special place in the history of collegiate softball.
The Bulldogs, who are tied for the most all-time NCAA Tournament appearances (31), boast an equally highly-regarded home in Margie Wright Diamond.
Since its debut in 1996, the venue formerly known as Bulldog Diamond, was appropriately renamed on May 3, 2014 for its pioneering former head coach.
In her 27 years at the helm, she amassed an NCAA-record 1,294-450-1 mark that included one NCAA title (1998), three NCAA runner-up finishes (1988, `89, `90), three NCAA third-place finishes (1991, `92, `97) and three NCAA fifth-place finishes (1987, `94, '99) among her 10 World College World Series trips with the program.
The 10-Time Conference Coach of the Year also racked up 17 conference titles, 26 NCAA Tournament bids (1986-2011) and 178 straight weeks in the NCAA Top 25 en route to NFCA and ASA-USA Softball Hall of Fame distinctions.
On the individual front, her Bulldog players included 53 All-Americans, 15 Olympians, 29 Conference Players/Pitchers/Freshmen of the Year and eight professional players. Away from the collegiate spectrum, she was smartly picked as a U.S. head coach for the 1998 ISF World Championship and assistant coach for the 1996 Olympic Games, and helped lead teams to gold medals in each.
The 20-year-old stadium is like no other in the collegiate ranks with a current seating capacity of 3,288, and the Bulldogs sport an impressive home field record of 487-108 (.818) from 1996-2015. Not surprisingly, the stadium was singled out in the summer of 2000 by the American Institute of Architect San Joaquin for its "excellence in design and execution."
The $3.2 million softball stadium features 1,688 permanent seat-back chairs that include 388 box seats, sunken dugouts, lights, concessions stands, restrooms, practice areas, enclosed batting cages, press box and scoreboard. Completely fenced in, Bulldog Diamond is 205 feet down the lines and 220 feet to center field.
Bulldog Softball, home to one of the country's overall largest fan following since 1987, has amassed an outstanding winning percentage of .724 (1,663-631-1) in its 38-year history while hosting 21 of the 34 NCAA regional championships since 1982.
With the NCAA officially keeping total and average attendance marks since 1991, Fresno State has led the country in average attendance in 13 of the last 25 seasons (unofficially in 18 of last 30) while being tops in the nation in total attendance in 10 of the last 25 seasons (unofficially in 15 of last 30). The reward has been an astonishing 858-198-1 (.812) overall home field record in 38 years.
Fresno State has drawn more than 600,000 (629,764) while averaging 1,684 fans per home date (374). Three times in the last 18 years the Bulldogs have broken their own NCAA total regular season attendance record.
In 1999, Fresno State drew its largest single-season attendance with 55,746 fans in 26 dates for an average of 2,144. The 1997 Bulldogs broke their own NCAA records in total and average attendance that they set the previous year as Fresno State drew 51,133 fans for an average of 2,557 (20 dates). In 1996, the `Dogs totaled 34,224 fans for an average of 2,139 (16 dates).
Fresno State owns the NCAA all-time largest regular-season softball crowd with its 5,724 total versus Arizona (March 14, 2000), and also topped the 5,000 mark twice at home versus UCLA in 1996 (5,427, February 24) and 1997 (5,167, February 8).
The Bulldogs have set the NCAA single-date regular season record five times (1993, 3,517; 1989, 3,357; 1988, 2,583; 1996, 5,427; 2000, 5,724) while averaging at least 1,000 fans per single-date in a single-season 24 of the last 27 years.
"We built something that is a testament to our commitment toward women and girls in the sport," said former head coach Margie Wright, the NCAA's all-time winningest softball coach and the first NCAA Division I softball coach to ever post 1,300 Division I wins. "The university has honored its former players while welcoming generations to come with this premier softball stadium."
With a history of demanding nothing short of excellence, Fresno State has rewarded its loyal fan-base with 13 USA Softball Olympians, one Puerto Rico Softball Olympian, one Greece Softball Olympian, one Canada Olympian, 24 draft selections, 55 All-Americans, 18 Academic All-Americans, 115 all-region and 186 all-conference picks.
Top Bulldog Diamond Crowds
Year Opponent Results Score Attendance2000 Arizona L/L 0-2, 1-3 *5,7241996 UCLA L/W 1-4, 5-4 *5,4271997 UCLA W/W 4-2, 4-3 5,1671997 Arizona W/W 5-2, 6-5 4,7071999 San Jose State W/W 4-1, 4-1 4,3162000 Portland State W/W 1-0, 10-2 3,9811997 San Jose State W/W 10-5, 2-0 3,8861999 UCLA L 1-2 3,6462001 Loyola Marymount W/W 6-3, 2-0 3,6232000 UCLA W 1-0 3,5921997 San Diego State W/L 3-0, 1-2 3,5301993 UCLA L/L 0-1, 1-2 3,5171989 UCLA W 2-0 3,3571998 San Diego State W/W 3-0, 2-1 3,1792002 San Jose State W/W 1-0, 1-0 3,0392004 UCLA L 1-2 3,0241998 UNLV W/W 9-1, 10-2 3,0231996 San Diego State W/W 2-0, 4-0 2,8262005 UCLA L 7-0 2,8252001 UCLA L 8-2 2,8251997 Long Beach State W/L 8-0, 0-3 2,7692011 Troy W 2-1 2,6212010 Pacific/Sac. St. W/W 1-0, 6-0 2,5261988 UCLA L/L 1-5, 3-5 2,5832003 UCLA L 0-5 2,5612003 San Jose State W/W 5-0, 5-2 2,4861998 UCLA W 3-2 2,4381997 UNLV W/L 6-1, 2-5 2,438* NCAA single-date regular-season attendance mark
Bulldog Diamond Attendance
Year Attendance Dates High Single Date Average2015 24,538 23 1,593 1,0672014 21,631 18 1,640 1,2022013 20,380 18 1,483 1,1322012 22,020 20 2,371 1,1012011 19,563 16 2,621 1,2232010 21,405 16 2,526 1,3382009 21,821 17 2,341 1,2842008 29,917 20 2,275 1,4962007 29,668 20 2,223 1,4832006 22,302 18 1,747 1,2392005 37,581 21 2,825 1,7892004 29,450 16 3,024 1,8402003 37,604 20 2,561 1,8802002 31,842 16 3,038 1,9902001 34,151 16 3,623 2,1342000 49,568 21 5,724 2,3601999 55,746 26 4,316 2,1441998 35,220 16 3,179 2,2011997 51,133 20 5,167 2,5571996 34,224 16 5,427 2,1391995 14,027 14 1,652 1,0021994 16,008 16 1,958 1,0011993 14,812 11 3,517 1,3471992 13,962 16 1,305 8731991 16,799 16 1,475 1,0501990 19,946 19 1,428 1,0501989 18,751 18 3,357 1,0421988 14,937 19 2,583 7861987 7,474 15 1,214 4981986 5,860 11 947 5331985 6,277 21 637 2991984 3,472 15 754 2261983 4,532 12 878 3781982 3,464 14 724 247 743,916 550 5,724 1,353
NCAA All-Time Largest Softball Crowds
Single Date, Regular Season
5,724
Fresno State vs. Arizona
Bulldog Diamond - Fresno, Calif.
March 14, 2000
All-Time Regular Season Attendance Record
55,746
Fresno State (1999)
Â
Fresno State's 5,000+ Attendance Games
5,724
Fresno State vs. Arizona
Bulldog Diamond - Fresno, Calif.
March 14, 2000
5,427
Fresno State 5, UCLA 4
Bulldog Diamond - Fresno, Calif.
Feb. 24, 1996
5,167
Fresno State 4, UCLA 2
Bulldog Diamond - Fresno, Calif.
Feb. 8, 1997