The 2008 NCAA Division I softball tournament was held from May 15 through June 4, 2008. 64 NCAA Division I college softball teams met after having played their way through a regular season, and for some, a conference tournament, to play in the NCAA Tournament. The tournament culminated with eight teams playing in the 2008 Women's College World Series at ASA Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
National seeds Bold indicates WCWS participant.
Florida UCLA
Texas A&M Arizona State
Tennessee
Regionals and super regionals
Bold indicates winner. * indicates host.
Gainesville Super Regional
Houston Super Regional
College Station Super Regional
Ann Arbor Super Regional
Tuscaloosa Super Regional
Tempe Super Regional
Tucson Super Regional
Los Angeles Super Regional
Automatic bids
Women's College World Series
Participants School Conference Record (conference) Head coach WCWS appearances† (including 2008 WCWS) WCWS best finish† WCWS W–L record† (excluding 2008 WCWS) SEC 56–5 (25–3) Patrick Murphy 5 (last: 2006) 5th (2000, 2005) 2–8 Pac-10 41–16 (13–8) Larry Ray (acting coach) 20 (last: 2007) 1st(1991, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 2001, 2006, 2007) 57–25 Arizona State Pac-10 61–5 (18–3) Clint Myers 7 (last: 2007) 3rd (1982, 2002) 5–12 Florida SEC 67–3 (27–1) Tim Walton 1 — 0–0 Louisiana–Lafayette Sun Belt 51–12 (19–3) Michael Lotief Stefni Lotief 5 (last: 2003) 3rd (1993) 5–8 Texas A&M Big 12 54–7 (17–1) Jo Evans 7 (last: 2007) 1st (1983, 1987) 18–10 ACC 49–17 (16–5) Scot Thomas 1 — 0–0 UCLA Pac-10 48–6 (17–4) Kelly Inouye-Perez 24 (last: 2006) 1st (1982, 1984, 1985, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1999, 2003, 2004) 88–27 † Excludes results of the pre-NCAA Women's College World Series of 1969 through 1981.
Tournament notes Florida and Virginia Tech were the first teams in their respective school histories to reach the WCWS in the NCAA era.
Results
Bracket
Game results
Date Game Winner Score Loser Notes May 29, 2008 Game 1 Louisiana–Lafayette 3–2 Florida In 8th inn., ULL pitcher Ashley Brignac threw 21 straight pitches after reaching a count of 3 balls, 2 strikes before the batter was retired. Game 2 Texas A&M 1–0 A throwing error allowed Texas A&M to score an unearned run in the 6th inning. Game 3 Arizona State 3–1 ASU erased a 0-1 deficit and scored 3 runs in the 7th inning. Game 4 UCLA 1–0 Two errors in the first inning helped UCLA score their only run. May 30, 2008 Game 5 Texas A&M 2–1 Louisiana–Lafayette Louisiana–Lafayette tied the game in the bottom of the 6th inning; Texas A&M scored the winning run in the top of the 7th inning. Game 6 Arizona State 4–0 UCLA Arizona State scored 2 runs in both 3rd and 5th innings; UCLA had 4 hits and Arizona State had 3 hits. May 31, 2008 Game 7 Florida 2–0 VT eliminated in 9 innings; UF scored 2 runs in top of the 9th, VT pitcher Angela Tincher missed tying WCWS record for SO in extra-inning game by 1. Game 8 5–1 Alabama scored 4 runs in the 6th inning to knock out 2-time defending champion Arizona. Game 9 Florida 2–0 UCLA Florida scored on a pitching error and an RBI single in the first and sixth inning, respectively, to eliminate UCLA. UCLA's class became the first in school history to not win a WCWS title. Game 10 3–1 Louisiana–Lafayette Louisiana–Lafayette eliminated; Alabama scored the winning runs in the 5th inning. June 1, 2008 Game 11 Florida 6–1 Texas A&M Florida used 3 unearned runs in the 4th inning aided by a catcher's error to break a 1–1 tie and a 2-run HR extended the lead in the 7th inning. Game 12 Arizona State 3–1 ASU scored on a three-run home run. ASU advances to the National Championship series, and Alabama is eliminated. Game 13 Texas A&M 1–0 Florida Texas A&M advances to the National Championship series. Macie Morrow scored on Kelsey Spittler's triple in the top of the 9th inning. June 2, 2008 Finals game 1 Arizona State 3–0 Texas A&M Arizona State had a run in the 1st, 3rd, and 5th innings. Krista Donnenwirth hit a home run. June 3, 2008 Finals game 2 Arizona State 11–0 Texas A&M Arizona State scored 7 runs in the 7th inning to make the game an 11-run game, blanking the Aggies and taking home the national championship trophy.
Championship game
School Top Batter Stats. Arizona State Sun Devils Kaitlin Cochran (CF) 1-2 3RBIs HR 2BBs Texas A&M Aggies Megan Gibson (P) 1-2 2B BB SB
School Pitcher IP H R ER BB SO AB BF Arizona State Sun Devils Katie Burkhart (W) 7.0 4 0 0 1 13 25 26 Texas A&M Aggies Megan Gibson (L) 7.0 10 11 10 3 5 31 35
Final standings
Place School WCWS record 1st Arizona State 5–02nd Texas A&M 3–3 3rd Florida 3–2 Alabama 2–2 5thUCLA 1–2 Louisiana–Lafayette 1–2 7th Arizona 0–2 Virginia Tech 0–2
All Tournament Team The following players were members of the All-Tournament Team:
Francesca Enea, Florida Charlotte Morgan, Alabama Stacey Nelson, Florida Holly Tankersley, La.-Lafayette Angela Tincher, Virginia Tech Megan Gibson, Texas A&M Jami Lobpries, Texas A&M Kaitlin Cochran, Arizona State Krista Donnenwirth, Arizona State Lesley Rogers, Arizona State Jackie Vasquez, Arizona State Katie Burkhart, Arizona State (Most Outstanding Player)
WCWS records tied or broken 6,240 Session 1 (Games 1 and 2) total attendance — WCWS record 8,230 Session 3 (Games 5 and 6) total attendance — WCWS record In Game 11, Florida left fielder Francesca Enea hit two home runs to allow her team to defeat Texas A&M 6–1. She tied the WCWS record for the most home runs in a game in the NCAA era that was set by UCLA's Yvonne Gutierrez in 1992 and tied by Arizona's Lindsey Collins in 1999 and UCLA's Andrea Harrison in 2010. Arizona State's 11-0 victory over Texas A&M was the largest margin of victory in an NCAA championship clinching game.Sun Devils - NCAA champs!
Post-series notes At the conclusion of their run in the series, Florida compiled a 70–5 overall record, becoming the first NCAA team to record 70 wins.Gators' NCAA run ends The 2008 WCWS marked the first time that Arizona did not return to the championship game/series while defending one of their eight national championships.
See also NCAA Division I Softball Championship
References
External links Official NCAA bracket Schedule/results at ESPN NCAA Softball