2017 NCAA Division I softball tournament

2017 NCAA Division I
softball tournament
Teams64
Finals site
ChampionsOklahoma (4th title)
Runner-upFlorida (8th WCWS Appearance)
Winning coachPatty Gasso (4th title)
MOPShay Knighten (Oklahoma)

The 2017 NCAA Division I softball tournament was held from May 18 through June 7, 2017, as the final part of the 2017 NCAA Division I softball season. The 64 participating NCAA Division I college softball teams were selected out of an eligible 293 teams on May 14, 2017. Thirty-two teams were awarded automatic bids as champions of their conferences, and the remaining 32 were selected at-large by the NCAA Division I softball selection committee. The tournament culminated with eight teams playing in the 2017 Women's College World Series at ASA Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City. Oklahoma would repeat as National Champions, defeating Florida in 2 games and 17 innings in the first game. Oklahoma became the lowest seeded team to ever win the National Championship, winning as the 10 seed.[1]

Automatic bids

The Big West, Mountain West, Pac-12, and West Coast Conference bids were awarded to the regular-season champion. All other conferences have the automatic bid go to the conference tournament winner.

Conference School Best finish Reference
America East Albany Regionals
(2005, 2006, 2007, 2011, 2014)
American Tulsa Regionals
(2006, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2014)		 [2]
ACC Florida State WCWS
(1987, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 2002, 2004, 2014, 2016)		 [3]
A-10 Fordham Regionals
(2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016)
ASUN USC Upstate Regionals
(2013, 2014, 2015, 2016)		 [4]
Big 12 Oklahoma 1st
(2000, 2013, 2016)		 [5]
Big East DePaul WCWS
(1999, 2000, 2005, 2007)		 [6]
Big Sky Montana 1st Appearance [7]
Big South Longwood Regionals
(2013, 2015, 2016)		 [8]
Big Ten Minnesota WCWS
1976, 1978		 [9]
Big West Cal State Fullerton 1st
(1986) 		[10]
Colonial James Madison Super Regionals
(2016)		 [11]
Conference USA Louisiana Tech WCWS
(1983, 1985, 1986)		 [12]
Horizon League UIC WCWS
(1994)		 [13]
Ivy League Princeton WCWS
(1995, 1996)		 [14]
MAC Kent State WCWS
(1990)		 [15]
MAAC Fairfield Regionals
(2015)
MEAC Florida A&M Regionals
(1995, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2005, 2006, 2009, 2014, 2015, 2016)
MVC Southern Illinois WCWS
(1970, 1977, 1978, 1991)		 [16]
Mountain West San Jose State Regionals
(2013)		 [17]
Northeastern Saint Francis (PA) 1st Appearance [18]
OVC Jacksonville State Super Regionals
(2009)		 [19]
Pac-12 Arizona 1st
(1991, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 2001, 2006, 2007)		 [20]
Patriot League Lehigh Regionals
(1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2001, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2015)
SEC Ole Miss Regionals
(2016)		 [21]
SoCon East Tennessee State 1st Appearance [22]
Southland McNeese State Regionals
(1994, 2005, 2010, 2016)		 [23]
SWAC Texas Southern Regionals
(2014, 2015)		 [24]
Summit League North Dakota State Super Regionals
(2009)		 [25]
Sun Belt Louisiana–Lafayette WCWS
(1993, 1995, 1996, 2003, 2008, 2014)		 [26]
WAC New Mexico State Regionals
(2011, 2015)		 [27]
WCC BYU Super Regionals
(2010)		 [28]

National seeds

16 National Seeds were announced on the Selection Show Sunday, May 14 at 10 p.m. EDT on ESPN2. The 16 national seeds host the Regionals. Teams in italics advanced to Super Regionals. Teams in bold advance to Women's College World Series.

Regionals and Super Regionals

The Regionals took place May 18–21. One regional, Salt Lake City, took place May 18–20 because of BYU's no-Sunday-play policy; all other regionals occurred May 19–21. The Super Regionals took place from May 25–28.

Gainesville Super Regional

Round 1 Round 2 Regional Finals Super Regionals
               
1 Florida 9(5)
Florida A&M 0
1 Florida 2
Oklahoma State 0
FIU 0
Oklahoma State 2
1 Florida 0 5
Gainesville Regional
Oklahoma State 1 0
Florida A&M 0
FIU 3
Oklahoma State 5
FIU 0
1 Florida 0 2 2
16 Alabama 3 0 1
16 Alabama 5
Albany 1
16 Alabama 1(9)
Minnesota 0
Minnesota 11(5)
Louisiana Tech 3
16 Alabama 1 —
Tuscaloosa Regional
Minnesota 0 —
Albany 1
Louisiana Tech 8
Minnesota 5(9)
Louisiana Tech 2

Knoxville Super Regional

Round 1 Round 2 Regional Finals Super Regionals
               
9 Texas A&M 14(5)
Texas Southern 0
9 Texas A&M 3
Texas State 1
Texas 1
Texas State 2(12)
9 Texas A&M 3 —
College Station Regional
Texas 1 —
Texas Southern 0
Texas 8(5)
Texas State 3
Texas 6
9 Texas A&M 1 6 5
8 Tennessee 8 5 3
8 Tennessee 5
Longwood 0
8 Tennessee 7
USC Upstate 3
Ohio State 3
USC Upstate 7
8 Tennessee 3 —
Knoxville Regional
Longwood 0 —
Longwood 3
Ohio State 1
USC Upstate 2
Longwood 4

Los Angeles Super Regional

Round 1 Round 2 Regional Finals Super Regionals
               
5 UCLA 8(5)
Lehigh 0
5 UCLA 10(6)
San Jose State 2
San Jose State 3
Cal State Fullerton 0
5 UCLA 9 —
Los Angeles Regional
Cal State Fullerton 1 —
Lehigh 8
Cal State Fullerton 10
San Jose State 0
Cal State Fullerton 1
5 UCLA 8(11) 1 —
12 Ole Miss 7 0 —
12 Ole Miss 8(5)
Southern Illinois 0
12 Ole Miss 2
Arizona State 0
Arizona State 9
North Carolina 3
12 Ole Miss 7 —
Oxford Regional
North Carolina 2 —
Southern Illinois 0
North Carolina 4
Arizona State 2
North Carolina 3

Tallahassee Super Regional

Round 1 Round 2 Regional Finals Super Regionals
               
13 LSU 2
Fairfield 1
13 LSU 2
Louisiana–Lafayette 4
McNeese State 0
Louisiana–Lafayette 6
Louisiana–Lafayette 1 1
Baton Rouge Regionals
13 LSU 6 5
Fairfield 2
McNeese State 6
13 LSU 10
McNeese State 1
13 LSU 1 1 6
4 Florida State 3 0 4
4 Florida State 3
Princeton 0
4 Florida State 7
Georgia 1
Georgia 4
Jacksonville State 2
4 Florida State 8 —
Tallahassee Regionals
Georgia 5 —
Princeton 2
Jacksonville State 10(6)
Georgia 8
Jacksonville State 2

Eugene Super Regional

Round 1 Round 2 Regional Finals Super Regionals
               
3 Oregon 13(5)
UIC 0
3 Oregon 6(8)
Wisconsin 5
Wisconsin 7
Missouri 2
3 Oregon 9 —
Eugene Regional
Wisconsin 0 —
UIC 5
Missouri 4
Wisconsin 2
UIC 0
3 Oregon 4 6 —
14 Kentucky 0 5 —
14 Kentucky 6
DePaul 0
14 Kentucky 1
Illinois 0
Illinois 3(12)
Marshall 2
14 Kentucky 4 —
Lexington Regional
Illinois 2 —
DePaul 1
Marshall 2(8)
Illinois 10(5)
Marshall 2

Seattle Super Regional

Round 1 Round 2 Regional Finals Super Regionals
               
11 Utah 10(5)
Fordham 0
11 Utah 3
BYU 2
Mississippi State 0
BYU 8(6)
11 Utah 14(6) —
Salt Lake City Regional
BYU 0 —
Mississippi State 3
Fordham 9
BYU 12(5)
Fordham 1
11 Utah 4 9 1
6 Washington 10 8 2
6 Washington 8(5)
Montana 0
6 Washington 12(5)
Michigan 4
Michigan 3
Fresno State 1
6 Washington 4 —
Seattle Regional
Michigan 2 —
Montana 0
Fresno State 7
Michigan 4
Fresno State 0

Auburn Super Regional

Round 1 Round 2 Regional Finals Super Regionals
               
7 Auburn 11(5)
East Tennessee State 0
7 Auburn 4(9)
California 3
Notre Dame 2
California 6
7 Auburn 8 —
Auburn Regional
California 2 —
East Tennessee State 6
Notre Dame 7(8)
California 5
Notre Dame 3
7 Auburn 0 2 —
10 Oklahoma 4 5 —
10 Oklahoma 2
North Dakota State 3(9)
North Dakota State 1
Tulsa 2
Arkansas 4
Tulsa 5
Tulsa 4 0
Norman Regional
10 Oklahoma 6(10) 3
10 Oklahoma 5
Arkansas 3
North Dakota State 2
10 Oklahoma 10(6)

Tucson Super Regional

Round 1 Round 2 Regional Finals Super Regionals
               
15 Baylor 1
Kent State 0
15 Baylor 4
James Madison 2
Oregon State 2
James Madison 3
15 Baylor 1 —
Waco Regional
James Madison 0 —
Kent State 2
Oregon State 1
James Madison 4
Kent State 0
15 Baylor 2 6 6
2 Arizona 3 4 5
2 Arizona 11(5)
New Mexico State 0
2 Arizona 5
South Carolina 0
Saint Francis (PA) 2
South Carolina 12(5)
2 Arizona 9 —
Tucson Regional
South Carolina 0 —
New Mexico State 4
Saint Francis (PA) 8
South Carolina 3
Saint Francis (PA) 1

Women's College World Series

The Women's College World Series will be held June 1 through June 7, 2017, in Oklahoma City.

Participants

School Conference Record (conference) Head coach WCWS appearances†
(including 2017 WCWS) 		WCWS best finish†* WCWS W–L record†
(excluding 2017 WCWS)
UCLA Pac-12 47–13 (16–8) Kelly Inouye-Perez 27
(last: 2016)		 1st
(1982, 1984, 1985, 1988, 1989, 1990
1992, 1995*, 1999, 2003, 2004, 2010)		 95–32
Oklahoma Big 12 56–9 (17–1) Patty Gasso 11
(last: 2016)		 1st
(2000, 2013, 2016)		 22–15
Florida SEC 55–8 (20–3) Tim Walton 8
(last: 2015)		 1st
(2014, 2015)		 22–12
Oregon Pac-12 52-6 (17-6) Mike White 5
(last: 2015)		 3rd
(2014)		 4-8
LSU SEC 47–20 (12–12) Beth Torina 6
(last: 2016)		 3rd
(2001, 2004, 2015, 2016)		 8–10
Texas A&M SEC 47–11 (16–7) Jo Evans 8
(last: 2008)		 1st
(1983, 1987)		 19–13
Baylor Big 12 48–13 (13–5) Glenn Moore 4
(last: 2014)		 3rd
(2011, 2014)		 5–6
Washington Pac-12 48–12 (16–8) Heather Tarr 12
(last: 2013)		 1st
(2009)		 19–17

† = From NCAA Division I Softball Championship Results

Bracket

First round Second round Semifinals Finals
               
1 Florida 8(5)
9 Texas A&M 0
1 Florida 7
13 LSU 0
13 LSU 2
5 UCLA 1
1 Florida 5 —
6 Washington 2 —
9 Texas A&M 2
5 UCLA 8
6 Washington 1
5 UCLA 0
1 Florida 5 4 —
10 Oklahoma 7(17) 5 —
3 Oregon 1
6 Washington 3
6 Washington 1
10 Oklahoma 3
15 Baylor 3
10 Oklahoma 6
10 Oklahoma 4 —
3 Oregon 2 —
3 Oregon 7
15 Baylor 4
13 LSU 1
3 Oregon 4

Game results

Game Time* Matchup# Television Attendance
Thursday, June 1
1 11:00 a.m. (9) Texas A&M vs. (1) Florida ESPN 8,428
2 1:30 p.m. (5) UCLA vs. (13) LSU
3 6:00 p.m. (6) Washington vs. (3) Oregon ESPN2 8,874
4 8:30 p.m. (10) Oklahoma vs. (15) Baylor
Friday, June 2
5 6:00 p.m. (1) Florida vs. (13) LSU ESPN 9,658
6 8:30 p.m. (6) Washington vs. (10) Oklahoma
Saturday, June 3
7 11:00 a.m. (9) Texas A&M vs. (5) UCLA ESPN 8,696
8 1:30 p.m. (3) Oregon vs. (15) Baylor
9 6:00 p.m. (5) UCLA vs. (6) Washington 9,076
10 8:30 p.m. (3) Oregon vs. (13) LSU
Sunday, June 4
11 12:00 p.m. (1) Florida vs. (6) Washington ESPN 9,419
12 2:30 p.m. (10) Oklahoma vs. (3) Oregon
Monday, June 5
Finals, G1 6:00 p.m. (1) Florida vs. (10) Oklahoma ESPN 8,337
Tuesday, June 6
Finals, G2 7:00 p.m. (1) Florida vs. (10) Oklahoma ESPN 8,507
*Game times in CDT. (#) – Rankings denote tournament seed.

Finals

Game 1

June 5, 2017 – 6:00 p.m. (CDT) at ASA Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 R H E
Oklahoma 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 3 7 10 2
Florida 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 1 5 12 0
WP: Paige Lowary (16–3)   LP: Kelly Barnhill (26–4)
Home runs:
OKLA: Nicole Mendes, Falepolima Aviu, Shay Knighten
FLA: None
Attendance: 8,337
Boxscore

Game 2

June 6, 2017 – 7:00 p.m. (CDT) at ASA Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Florida 0 3 1 0 0 0 0 4 6 1
Oklahoma 1 4 0 0 0 0 x 5 8 1
WP: Mariah Lopez (18–1)   LP: Aleshia Ocasio (8–1)   Sv: Paige Lowary (11)
Home runs:
FLA: Sophia Reynoso, Chelsea Herndon
OKLA: Nicole Mendes
Attendance: 8,507
Boxscore

All-tournament Team

The following players were members of the Women's College World Series All-Tournament Team.

Position Player School
P Kelly Barnhill Florida
Delanie Gourley Florida
Paige Lowary Oklahoma
Paige Parker Oklahoma
IF Shay Knighten (MOP) Oklahoma
Ali Aguilar Washington
Mia Camuso Oregon
Alexis Mack Oregon
OF Amanda Lorenz Florida
Justine McLean Florida
U Nicole Mendes Oklahoma
Aleshia Ocasio Florida

Record by conference

Conference # of Bids Record Win % RF SR WS NS F NC
Big 12 4 23–10 .697 4 2 2 1 1 1
SEC 13 39–27 .591 10 8 3 1 1 –
Pac-12 8 30–15 .667 6 5 3 2 – –
ACC 3 7–6 .538 2 1 – – – –
Big Ten 5 8–10 .444 4 – – – – –
American 1 2–2 .500 1 – – – – –
Sun Belt 2 3–4 .429 1 – – – – –
Big South 1 2–2 .500 1 – – – – –
Big West 1 2–2 .500 1 – – – – –
CAA 1 2–2 .500 1 – – – – –
WCC 1 2–2 .500 1 – – – – –
C-USA 3 3–6 .333 – – – – – –
MWC 2 2–4 .333 – – – – – –
Other 19 8–38 .174 – – – – – –

The columns RF, SR, WS, NS, F, and NC respectively stand for the Regional Finals, Super Regionals, College World Series Teams, National Semi-Finals, Finals, and National Champion.

Media coverage

Radio

Westwood One provided nationwide radio coverage of the championship series. It was streamed online at westwoodsports.com, through TuneIn, and on SiriusXM. Kevin Kugler and Leah Amico provided the call for Westwood One.

Television

ESPN holds exclusive rights to the tournament. They aired games across ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, SEC Network, ESPN3 and Longhorn Network. For the first time in the history of the women's softball tournament ESPN covered every regional.[29]

Broadcast assignments

References

  1. ^ "Oklahoma wins softball championship after sweeping Florida". NCAA.com. NCAA & TURNER SPORTS INTERACTIVE, INC. Retrieved May 14, 2019.
  2. ^ "Tulsa repeats as AAC Tournament champions, heads back to NCAA Tournament". Tulsa World. May 13, 2017. Retrieved May 13, 2017.
  3. ^ "FSU softball captures fourth straight ACC crown". Tallahassee Democrat. May 13, 2017. Retrieved May 13, 2017.
  4. ^ "USC Upstate wins third straight ASUN softball title". Spartanburg Herald-Journal. May 13, 2017. Retrieved May 13, 2017.
  5. ^ "OU blanks OSU to win Big 12 Tournament championship". Tulsa World. May 13, 2017. Retrieved May 13, 2017.
  6. ^ "DePaul Powers Past St. John's To Win BIG EAST Softball Championship". Big East. May 13, 2017. Retrieved May 13, 2017.
  7. ^ "Griz softball wins first Big Sky Championship in program history". NBC Montana. May 13, 2017. Retrieved May 13, 2017.
  8. ^ "THREE-PEAT! Longwood Wins Big South Championship" (Press release). Longwood Lancers. May 14, 2017. Retrieved May 14, 2017.
  9. ^ "Gophers win second straight Big Ten softball tournament title". Twin Cities Pioneer Press. May 13, 2017. Retrieved May 13, 2017.
  10. ^ "Cal State Fullerton softball clinches Big West title". Orange County Register. May 5, 2017. Retrieved May 5, 2017.
  11. ^ "JMU Softball Wins CAA Championship, Beats Hofstra 9–0". WVIR-TV. May 13, 2017. Archived from the original on May 17, 2017. Retrieved May 13, 2017.
  12. ^ "Tech softball wins C-USA title, spot in NCAA regionals". Shreveport Times. May 13, 2017. Retrieved May 13, 2017.
  13. ^ "Flames Crowned 2017 Horizon League Champions". UIC athletics. May 13, 2017. Retrieved May 13, 2017.
  14. ^ "Princeton Wins Back-to-Back Ivy Titles, Sweeps Harvard in ILCS". Ivy League. May 6, 2017. Archived from the original on June 23, 2017. Retrieved May 6, 2017.
  15. ^ "Underdog Kent State wins three games in a row to take title". Akron Beacon Journal. May 13, 2017. Retrieved May 13, 2017.
  16. ^ "Southern trips UNI for MVC tourney title". Pantagraph. May 13, 2017. Retrieved May 13, 2017.
  17. ^ "Softball - 2017 Mountain West Champions!". SJSUSpartans.com. San Jose State University. May 12, 2017. Archived from the original on May 17, 2017. Retrieved May 20, 2019.
  18. ^ "Flash Firsts: Saint Francis U Captures NEC Softball Title, Sets New NEC Wins Mark". NEC. May 13, 2017. Retrieved May 13, 2017.
  19. ^ "JSU rallies to claim 2nd straight OVC tournament title". Gadsden Times. May 13, 2017. Retrieved May 13, 2017.
  20. ^ "Arizona Wildcats softball clinches 11th Pac-12 title with win over UCLA". Arizona Daily Star. May 7, 2017. Retrieved May 7, 2017.
  21. ^ "Ole Miss beats LSU for first SEC softball title". Knoxville News Sentinel. May 13, 2017. Retrieved May 13, 2017.
  22. ^ "ETSU softball wins first SoCon Championship". WJHL-TV. May 13, 2017. Archived from the original on May 16, 2017. Retrieved May 13, 2017.
  23. ^ "Cowgirls back in NCAA tourney: Repeat as SLC champs, will learn destination tonight". American Press. May 14, 2017. Retrieved May 14, 2017.[permanent dead link‍]
  24. ^ "Lady Tigers win SWAC softball championship". TSU Sports. May 13, 2017. Retrieved May 13, 2017.
  25. ^ "Bison Softball Wins Summit League Title". KVRR. May 13, 2017. Retrieved May 13, 2017.
  26. ^ "UL-Lafayette wins second straight Sun Belt Conference softball tournament title". The Acadiana Advocate. May 13, 2017. Retrieved May 13, 2017.
  27. ^ "New Mexico State wins WAC Tournament softball title". Las Cruces Sun-News. May 13, 2017. Retrieved May 13, 2017.
  28. ^ "Cougars clinch fourth-straight WCC title". Deseret News. May 6, 2017. Archived from the original on May 7, 2017. Retrieved May 6, 2017.
  29. ^ a b c "ESPN Covers Every Game from All 16 NCAA Division I Softball Championship Regionals For the First Time". ESPN Media Zone. Retrieved May 15, 2017.
  30. ^ a b "NCAA Division I Softball Championship: ESPN Televises All Eight Super Regionals". ESPN Media Zone. Retrieved May 23, 2017.
  31. ^ a b "ESPN Presents the Women's College World Series from Oklahoma City". ESPN Media Zone. Retrieved May 23, 2017.