1997 NCAA Division I softball season

1997 NCAA Division I softball season
Defending ChampionsArizona
Tournament
Women's College World Series
ChampionsArizona (5th title)
Runners-upUCLA (15th WCWS Appearance)
Winning CoachMike Candrea (5th title)
WCWS MOPNancy Evans (Arizona)
Seasons
← 1996
1998 →

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
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
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
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
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 28
8 UMass 1
1 Arizona 214
5 UCLA 0
4 Fresno State 0
5 UCLA 28
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 105
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

Pitching

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

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.