1997 NCAA Division I softball season

1997 NCAA Division I softball season
Defending Champions	Arizona
Tournament
Women's College World Series
Champions	Arizona (5th title)
Runners-up	UCLA (15th WCWS Appearance)
Winning Coach	Mike Candrea (5th title)
WCWS MOP	Nancy Evans (Arizona)
Seasons

The 1997 NCAA Division I softball season, a play of college softball in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division I level, began in February 1997. The season progressed through the regular season, many conference tournaments and championship series, and concluded with the 1997 NCAA Division I softball tournament and 1997 Women's College World Series. The Women's College World Series, consisting of the eight remaining teams in the NCAA Tournament and held in held in Oklahoma City at ASA Hall of Fame Stadium, ended on May 26, 1997.

Conference standings

1997 Big 12 Conference softball standings v t e Conf Overall Team W   L   T   PCT W   L   T   PCT No. 12 Missouri ‍†‍‡‍^y 15 – 3 – 0   .833 47 – 16 – 0   .746 No. 18 Oklahoma ‍‍‍^y 14 – 4 – 0   .778 55 – 19 – 0   .743 No. 17 Kansas ‍‍‍^y 11 – 6 – 0   .647 38 – 23 – 0   .623 No. 25 Nebraska ‍‍‍^y 10 – 6 – 0   .625 28 – 22 – 0   .560 No. 10 Oklahoma State ‍‍‍^y 10 – 7 – 0   .588 40 – 22 – 0   .645 Texas A&M ‍‍‍ 7 – 9 – 0   .438 37 – 29 – 0   .561 Texas ‍‍‍ 6 – 10 – 0   .375 30 – 24 – 0   .556 Baylor ‍‍‍ 4 – 8 – 0   .333 38 – 22 – 0   .633 Texas Tech ‍‍‍ 1 – 13 – 0   .071 34 – 29 – 1   .539 Iowa State ‍‍‍ 1 – 13 – 0   .071 17 – 24 – 0   .415 † – Conference champion ‡ – Tournament champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament Rankings from NFCA/USA Today[1]	1997 Big Ten Conference softball standings v t e Conf Overall Team W   L   T   PCT W   L   T   PCT No. 5 Iowa  ‍†‍‍^y 22 – 0 – 0   1.000 52 – 9 – 0   .852 No. 6 Michigan ‍‍‡‍^y 18 – 4 – 0   .818 51 – 14 – 0   .785 No. 24 Michigan State  ‍‍‍^y 14 – 9 – 0   .609 47 – 22 – 0   .681 Purdue  ‍‍‍ 14 – 10 – 0   .583 41 – 25 – 0   .621 Indiana ‍‍‍ 11 – 11 – 0   .500 27 – 21 – 0   .563 Minnesota ‍‍‍ 10 – 13 – 0   .435 37 – 19 – 0   .661 Wisconsin  ‍‍‍ 10 – 13 – 0   .435 32 – 25 – 0   .561 Northwestern  ‍‍‍ 9 – 14 – 0   .391 19 – 31 – 0   .380 Ohio State  ‍‍‍ 4 – 18 – 0   .182 20 – 31 – 0   .392 Penn State  ‍‍‍ 2 – 22 – 0   .083 23 – 32 – 0   .418 † – Conference champion ‡ – Tournament champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] As of June 1997[12] Rankings from NFCA/USA Today	1997 Pacific-10 Conference softball standings v t e Conf Overall Team W   L   T   PCT W   L   T   PCT No. 1 Arizona  ‍†‍‍^y 26 – 1 – 0   .963 61 – 5 – 0   .924 No. 2 UCLA  ‍‍‍^y 21 – 7 – 0   .750 49 – 14 – 0   .778 No. 4 Washington  ‍‍‍^y 16 – 11 – 0   .593 50 – 19 – 0   .725 No. 11 California  ‍‍‍^y 13 – 14 – 0   .481 36 – 26 – 0   .581 Stanford  ‍‍‍ 10 – 18 – 0   .357 31 – 27 – 0   .534 No. 23 Arizona State  ‍‍‍^y 9 – 19 – 0   .321 32 – 25 – 0   .561 Oregon  ‍‍‍ 9 – 19 – 0   .321 24 – 35 – 0   .407 Oregon State  ‍‍‍ 6 – 21 – 0   .222 29 – 34 – 1   .461 † – Conference champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament As of May 31, 1997[13] Rankings from NFCA/USA Today
1997 Southland Conference softball standings v t e Conf Overall Team W   L   T   PCT W   L   T   PCT Northeast Louisiana  ‍†‍‍ 20 – 3 – 0   .870 47 – 12 – 1   .792 Nicholls State  ‍‍‍^y 16 – 7 – 0   .696 48 – 23 – 0   .676 McNeese State  ‍‍‍ 13 – 10 – 0   .565 32 – 27 – 0   .542 Northwestern Louisiana  ‍‍‍ 12 – 10 – 0   .545 26 – 29 – 0   .473 Texas–Arlington  ‍‍‍ 10 – 11 – 0   .476 18 – 30 – 0   .375 Texas–San Antonio  ‍‍‍ 11 – 13 – 0   .458 21 – 30 – 0   .412 Sam Houston State  ‍‍‍ 9 – 15 – 0   .375 14 – 32 – 0   .304 Southwest Texas State  ‍‍‍ 8 – 15 – 0   .348 12 – 37 – 0   .245 Stephen F. Austin  ‍‍‍ 4 – 17 – 0   .190 14 – 36 – 0   .280 † – Conference champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament As of May 20, 1997[14] Rankings from Coaches' Poll

Women's College World Series

The 1997 NCAA Women's College World Series took place from May 22 to May 26, 1997 in Oklahoma City.[15]

	First round					Second round					Semifinals						Finals
	1	Arizona	2^8
	8	UMass	1
						1	Arizona	2^14
						5	UCLA	0
	4	Fresno State	0
	5	UCLA	2^8
											1	Arizona	0	6
											4	Fresno State	3	3
	8	UMass	1
	4	Fresno State	2
						4	Fresno State	7
						3	Iowa	6
																	1	Arizona	10^5
																	5	UCLA	2
	3	Iowa	3
	6	Michigan	2
						3	Iowa	1
						7	Washington	5
	7	Washington	6
	2	South Carolina	0
											7	Washington	3	0
											5	UCLA	4	1
	6	Michigan	1
	2	South Carolina	0
						6	Michigan	3
						5	UCLA	7

Season leaders

Batting

• Batting average: .539 – Kim Durce, Alcorn State Braves
• RBIs: 78 – Leah Braatz, Arizona Wildcats
• Home runs: 21 – Leah Braatz, Arizona Wildcats

Pitching

• Wins: 45-10 – Sarah Dawson, Louisiana–Monroe Warhawks
• ERA: 0.37 (13 ER/242.2 IP) – Trinity Johnson, South Carolina Gamecocks
• Strikeouts: 399 – Trinity Johnson, South Carolina Gamecocks

Records

NCAA Division I season hits: 132 – Alison McCutcheon, Arizona Wildcats[16]

Freshman single game stolen bases: 6 – Kathy Ching, Yale Bulldogs; April 6, 1997

Sophomore single game stolen bases: 7 – Lisa Guillory, Nicholls State Colonels; February 20, 1997

Freshman class stolen bases: 64 – Kathy Ching, Yale Bulldogs

Senior class doubles: 27 – Sara Pickering, Washington Huskies

Senior class shutouts: 31 – Sarah Dawson, Louisiana–Monroe Warhawks

Senior class innings pitched: 400.2 – Sarah Dawson, Louisiana–Monroe Warhawks

Team batting average: .439 – Alcorn State Braves

Awards

• Honda Sports Award Softball:

Trinity Johnson, South Carolina Gamecocks[17][18]

YEAR	W	L	GP	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	ERA	WHIP
1997	34	4	43	33	32	24	4	242.1	82	25	13	23	399	0.37	0.43

All America Teams

The following players were members of the All-American Teams.[19]

First Team

Position	Player	Class	School
P	Sarah Dawson	SR.	ULM Warhawks
	Nancy Evans	JR.	Arizona Wildcats
	Trinity Johnson	SR.	South Carolina Gamecocks
C	Leah Braatz	JR.	Arizona Wildcats
1B	Leah O'Brien	JR.	Arizona Wildcats
2B	Sara Pickering	SR.	Washington Huskies
3B	Leticia Pineda	JR.	Arizona Wildcats
SS	Laura Williams	SR.	Georgia Tech Yellowjackets
OF	Alison McCutcheon	SR.	Arizona Wildcats
	Laura Berg	JR.	Fresno State Bulldogs
	Sandy Rhea	JR.	Utah Utes
DP	Lisa Dacquisto	SR.	Arizona State Sun Devils
UT	Debbie Bilbao	JR.	Iowa Hawkeyes
AT-L	Traci Conrad	SO.	Michigan Wolverines
	Sarah Fredstrom	JR.	Colorado State Rams
	Stacey Nuveman	FR.	UCLA Bruins
	Amanda Scott	FR.	Fresno State Bulldogs
	Barb Wright	SR.	Missouri Tigers

Second Team

Position	Player	Class	School
P	B'Ann Burns	SR.	UCLA Bruins
	Nikki Johnson	SR.	Colorado State Rams
	Desarie Knipfer	JR.	Cal Poly Mustangs
C	Jennifer Parker	SR.	CSUN Matadors
1B	Alleah Poulson	SR.	UCLA Bruins
2B	Jennifer Buford	JR.	Colorado State Rams
3B	Monica Armendarez	JR.	Indiana Hoosiers
SS	Jennifer Lizama	FR.	Nebraska Cornhuskers
OF	Shelley Brown	SR.	Washington Huskies
	Robyn Yorke	JR.	Fresno State Bulldogs
	Lea Twigg	SR.	Iowa Hawkeyes
DP	Dana Degen	FR.	Hawaii Rainbow Wahine
UT	Tina Plew	SR.	South Carolina Gamecocks
AT-L	Kelly Holmes	SR.	Michigan Wolverines
	Kari Knopf	SR.	Iowa Hawkeyes
	Nina Lindenberg	JR.	Fresno State Bulldogs
	Jill Most	SR.	Oklahoma Sooners
	Becky Newbry	SO.	Washington Huskies

Third Team

Position	Player	Class	School
P	Susie Bugliarello	SR.	Sacramento State Hornets
	Jamie Schuttek	SR.	Southern Illinois Salukis
	Christa Williams	FR.	UCLA Bruins
C	Brandi Macias	SR.	Iowa Hawkeyes
1B	Jamie Foutch	SO.	Oklahoma State Cowgirls
2B	Tammy Pytel	JR.	Northern Illinois Huskies
3B	Stephanie Bonillas	JR.	New Mexico State Aggies
SS	Christie Ambrosi	SO.	UCLA Bruins
OF	Myssi Calkins	SR.	FSU Seminoles
	Erin Hickey	SR.	DePaul Blue Demons
	Priscilla Welch	SR.	Illinois State Redbirds
DP	Tiffany Clark	FR.	ULL Rajin' Cajuns
UT	Tarrah Beyster	FR.	Oregon State Beavers
AT-L	Stephanie DeFeo	SR.	ULL Rajin' Cajuns
	Kristy Fuentes	SR.	FSU Seminoles
	Christy Hebert	SR.	Iowa Hawkeyes
	Danielle Henderson	SO.	UMass Minutewomen
	Kim Rondina	SR.	UNLV Rebels

References

1. "2019-2020 Big 12 Conference Record Book" (PDF). Big 12 Conference. pp. 196–197. Retrieved June 6, 2020.
2. 1997 IND Season
3. 1997 IA Season
4. 1997 MICH Season
5. 1997 MSU Season
6. 1997 MINN Season
7. 1997 NOR Season
8. 1997 OSU Season
9. 1997 PSU Season
10. 1997 PUR Season
11. 1997 WIS Season
12. "Big Ten Softball Standings" (PDF). BigTen.org. Big Ten Conference. Retrieved July 5, 2020.
13. 2018 Softball Media Guide. Pac-12 Conference. p. 52. Retrieved February 2, 2020.
14. "Southland Softball" (PDF). Southland Conference. p. 14. Retrieved February 20, 2024.
15. "1997 Women's College World Series". Ncaa.org. Retrieved July 19, 2020.
16. "Division I Softball Records" (PDF). Ncaa.org. Retrieved July 18, 2020.
17. "PAST HONDA SPORTS AWARD WINNERS FOR SOFTBALL". Collegiatewomensportsawards.com. Retrieved July 18, 2020.
18. "Final 1994 Women's Softball Statistics Report" (PDF). Ncaa.org. Retrieved July 29, 2020.
19. "1997 NSCA Division I All-America Teams". Nfca.org. Retrieved July 26, 2020.