“Carly! Carly!” shouted the group, several of whom were dressed in crop tops, rainbow jeans and sparkly skirts. For many of them, Washington’s 8-5 victory was just the opening act.

The real show began soon after the game, when the infield was transformed into a dance floor, a black podium replaced second base, and the subject of the group’s phone calls — Carly Rae Jepsen — walked onto the field dressed in a sparkly yellow dress and sky-blue tights.

Jepsen’s postgame performance, the latest in the Nationals’ summer concert series, drew the diehard fan base to one of Washington’s best-attended games of the year. A crowd of 38,402 filled Nationals Park on a pristine summer night, more than 13,000 higher than the team’s average Friday night attendance.

The singer-songwriter and a Major League Baseball team made for an unlikely combination. Country, rock, reggaeton and hip-hop typically dominate clubhouses and stadiums. Jepsen is a Canadian pop star whose lighthearted hits, including her 2012 viral breakthrough “Call Me Maybe,” have cultivated a fervent fan base that skews predominantly young, female and LGBTQ.

“She is a genius, an icon and a visionary,” said Katherine McCauley, a 30-year-old Washington, D.C., resident who watched from Section 227.

McCauley and other fans praised the unadulterated joy in Jepsen’s performances. The feeling was evident during a lively hour-long show that featured 15 upbeat numbers, fireworks shooting from the stage and Jepsen singing with a seemingly ever-present smile. The audience responded. Some waved their phone flashlights, others their arms and, in one case, a red Nationals foam finger.

The Nationals’ first summer concert of the season, on June 7, featured rapper Flo Rida and drew a crowd of 39,235. Its success prompted Washington to increase the number of field passes for Jepsen’s show. The passes, which went on sale June 12, sold out just over two weeks later, the team said.

“We look at a number of factors when choosing (artists),” Jonathan Stahl, vice president of events at Nationals, said in an email. “We want to make sure the overall lineup has something for everyone and that we don’t focus too much on one particular genre.”

Additional concerts featuring singer-songwriter Teddy Swims and country band Lady A are planned for later this season. And the success of the first two shows could lead to more. Stahl said fans should “look forward to … an exciting addition” to the lineup.

Maddy Berner, a 32-year-old D.C. resident who attended Friday with five friends, grew up with minimal interest in sports. She had been to a few Nationals games before Friday.

“They were long; they were heavy; they were hot; there was little shade; there wasn’t much going on,” she said. “… None of it appealed to me.”

But Jepsen gave her a reason to return to Nationals Park.

“I really saw it as a concert,” she said. “I didn’t even think about going to the game.”

Some even traveled to see Jepsen. Aaron Herschlag, 29, drove from New York to attend his fourth baseball game and 19th Jepsen concert. Renee Jiang, a 21-year-old software engineer who discovered Jepsen’s music during the pandemic, spent nearly $300 — and endured significant travel delays due to Friday’s massive IT outage — to fly in from Boston.

Jiang had never been to a baseball game. She had never even seen one on TV.

“When I heard this was happening, I thought, ‘Oh, maybe this is finally a chance for me to actually experience what (baseball) is like,'” Jiang said. “I feel like I’ve probably been missing this for a while.”

While some attendees came primarily for Jepsen, others saw Friday as a perfect match for their interests.

Drew Rivera loves the Nationals and Jepsen. The D.C. native has been a fan of the team since they moved to the city and attended their 2019 World Series parade.

He became a fan of Jepsen after hearing her music at a college house party, making Friday a perfect night, especially since it was the day after his 28th birthday.

Eloise Arcurio, a 10-year-old girl from Bethesda, was another girl who came to enjoy her dual interests.

Arcurio follows the Nationals casually. She likes to come on Sunday afternoons, when kids are allowed to run the bases after the game, and she collects ice helmets. Her first concert was when she saw Jepsen at a festival last year. She now loves live music and the pop star.

“I couldn’t stop talking, holding my hand up like it was a microphone,” she said.

“She’s excited and excited that we can do both things,” her father Josh added.

Friday also brought together friends and family members whose diverse interests melded into a shared experience. Page Forrest, 29, bought tickets for her and her boyfriend on Feb. 26, the day the Nationals announced Jepsen’s performance.

“My boyfriend is a baseball guy turning Carly convert and then you have me, a Carly fan turning baseball girl,” she wrote in a Reddit post under the username Yikes_Brigade. “I have never bought tickets to anything so quickly.”

Several Nationals players, including starting pitcher Jake Irvin, outfielder Jesse Winker and relievers Jacob Barnes and Jordan Weems, lingered after the team’s victory and watched the concert just outside their dugout.

They all watched as Jepsen sang many of her biggest hits including “Psychedelic Switch,” “Kollage,” “Run Away With Me” and of course “Call Me Maybe,” which drew the loudest cheers from the crowd.

Before singing the mega-hit, Jepsen joked that she had forgotten the lyrics. She turned the microphone to the assembled crowd and invited them to sing the familiar lyrics.

Some members of her band wore white Nationals shirts, and Jepsen also wore one during the evening’s final song, “Cut To The Feeling,” which she sang while brandishing her customary inflatable sword.

A few hours later, the infield was back to normal and Nationals Park was dark and empty. But the memories remained. Jepsen said at one point during the show that this was a night she would never forget. The fans chanting her name as they left the stadium seemed to agree.