Since taking over as the head coach of ASU softball ahead of the 2023 season, Megan Bartlett has had two goals: win games and build successful women off the field.
"(I'm proud of) the young women that we're raising in this program," Bartlett said. "We've made tremendous strides in the past couple of seasons. We've done it the right way on the back of just some really loyal, gritty, blue-collar, wonderful women who are going to go on to accomplish great things in life and be great moms and great wives. We put a high value on that here."
Through the first two years of Bartlett's tenure, the Sun Devils struggled, going 22-26 in 2023 before 20-31 in 2024. Those two years saw the Sun Devils slog to a combined 9-39 record against conference opponents.
2025 seemed to be a make-or-break year for Bartlett, and she pulled through. The Sun Devils burst onto the national scene with a 35-21 record and more impressively a 14-10 Big 12 record in one of the best conferences in college softball.
The culture shift that started in the summer of 2022, when Bartlett took over, finally bore fruit over the past two seasons as the Sun Devils find themselves ranked consistently in the top 25 and have a chance to make a deep postseason run.
"Not just where the program has come in such a short time," Bartlett said. "We're back in the national conversation, which is amazing, but I think we're putting some pretty good humans out into the world."
Though it took some time to come together, she has created a culture conducive to winning both on and off the field.
"It got to a point where it was more family with her," senior outfielder Yannixa Acuña said. "She would ask me to babysit her kids; it was just like a second mother to me. She was just always so caring."
Compared to the 19% win rate in conference play in her first two seasons, she has upped that to a 49% win rate in her most recent two seasons, with a chance to increase that in the team's final regular-season series at BYU.
That number didn't rise only due to the play on the diamond, but also the culture on the bench.
"In Houston, I hit my second career home run ever," senior utility player Sydney Saenz said. "I just remember walking into the dugout, and her just giving me a big hug and telling me good job. Obviously, you don't see that from a lot of head coaches; go give their players a hug.”
While that is unusual for most coaches, Bartlett has made that a point of emphasis in her coaching style.
"She's just the best, best coach, best woman I've ever met in my life," Saenz said. "She's so strong-minded and so strong-willed. That was something that I was looking for, and she offered that to me. She treats me like family, and I love that. I love that I can be able to have a conversation with her, not just about softball, but anything else around the field."
Edited by Alan Deutschendorf, Henry Smardo and Ellis Preston.
Reach the reporter at mseal6@asu.edu and follow @masonseal23 on X.
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Mason Seal is a reporter in the sports department. He provides intel and paints stories about many different sports for The State Press. He is in his third semester at The State Press.
