1976 Women's College World Series

The 1976 Women's College World Series (WCWS) was held in Omaha, Nebraska on May 13–16, with nineteen college softball teams meeting in the 1976 ASA/AIAW fastpitch softball tournament. Most of the teams had won state championships. This was the last WCWS before the adoption of regional qualifying tournaments. Because college softball had not yet been separated into competitive divisions, large and small colleges competed together in one overall national championship.^[1]

Teams

The double-elimination tournament included the following teams:

• Arizona State
• Cal State–Sacramento
• East Stroudsburg State (Pennsylvania)
• Illinois State
• Indiana State
• Kansas
• Mayville State College (North Dakota)
• Michigan State
• Minnesota
• Nebraska–Omaha
• Northern Colorado
• Northern Iowa
• Northern State (South Dakota)
• Northwestern Oklahoma State
• Oregon
• South Carolina
• Tarkio College (Missouri)
• Texas–Arlington
• Utah

The Michigan State Spartans went undefeated through all five of their games to win the 1976 national championship, beating Northern Colorado, 3–0, in the final game. Carol Hutchins played shortstop for that 1976 team and would coach the rival Michigan Wolverines to the WCWS title 29 years later in 2005.

Bracket

The bracket included 19 teams with results as shown.^{[2][3][4][5][6][7][8]}

	Upper round 1				Upper round 2				Upper round 3				Upper round 4				Upper final												Final
					Minnesota	1
	Minnesota	5			Michigan State	2
									Michigan State	6^[b]
	Oregon	1
									Kansas	5
					Cal State–Sacramento	L
	Cal State–Sacramento	5			Kansas	W
													Michigan State	2^[b]
	Utah	1
													Arizona State	0
					East Stroudsburg	4
	East Stroudsburg	10			Arizona State	14
									Arizona State	2
	South Carolina	0
									Northern Iowa	0
					Northern Iowa	3
					Northern State	1
																	Michigan State	1
																	Nebraska–Omaha	0
					Nebraska–Omaha	10
					Mayville State College	0
									Nebraska–Omaha	3
									Tarkio College	1
					Tarkio College	3
					Indiana State	0
													Nebraska–Omaha	3
													Northern Colorado	2
					Illinois State	7
					Northwestern Oklahoma State	0
									Illinois State	1
																													Michigan State	3	–
									Northern Colorado	5^[c]
					Northern Colorado	1^[a]																							Northern Colorado	0	–
					Texas–Arlington	0
	Lower round 1				Lower round 2				Lower round 3				Lower round 4				Lower round 5				Lower round 6				Lower final
									East Stroudsburg	0
																	Tarkio College	4
					East Stroudsburg	4			Tarkio College	3
													Tarkio College	5			Arizona State	5
	Northern State	1			Utah	1
													Illinois State	0											Northern Colorado	3
	Utah	5							Cal State–Sacramento	3
																					Arizona State	3			Nebraska–Omaha	2
					Cal State–Sacramento	6			Illinois State	6
																					Northern Colorado	13
	Mayville State College	0			Minnesota	1
	Oregon	11							Indiana State	2
																	Northern Iowa	0
					Indiana State	14			Northern Iowa	10
													Northern Iowa	6			Northern Colorado	1
					Oregon	6
													Texas–Arlington	0
									Texas–Arlington	2
					Texas–Arlington	3			Kansas	0
	Northwestern Oklahoma State	1			South Carolina	0
	South Carolina	5

1. 12 innings
2. The Michigan State Softball Record Book lists the scores of these wins over Kansas and Arizona State as 6-4 and 4-0, respectively.
3. No-hitter. The Northern Colorado Softball Record Book lists this score as 5-0.

Ranking

Place	School	WCWS Record
1st	Michigan State	5-0
2nd	Northern Colorado	5-2
3rd	Nebraska–Omaha	3-2
4th	Arizona State	3-2
5th	Tarkio College	3-2
	Northern Iowa	3-2
7th	Illinois State	2-2
	Texas–Arlington	2-2
9th	East Stroudsburg State College	2-2
	Cal State–Sacramento	2-2
	Kansas	1-2
	Indiana State	1-2
13th	Utah	1-2
	Oregon	1-2
	South Carolina	1-2
	Minnesota	1-2
17th	Northwestern Oklahoma State	0-2
	Northern State College	0-2
	Mayville State College	0-2

See also

See also: AIAW Champions § Fastpitch Softball

References

1. Plummer III, William; Floyd, Larry C. (2013). A Series Of Their Own: History Of The Women's College World Series. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States: Turnkey Communications Inc. ISBN 978-0-9893007-0-4.
2. "UNO Wins on Linson's 1-Hitter". Omaha World Herald. Omaha, Nebraska. May 14, 1976. p. 23. Retrieved 2017-03-26.
3. "McCauley, UNO Post Two Wins". Omaha World Herald. Omaha, Nebraska. May 15, 1976. p. 17. Retrieved 2017-03-26.
4. "Rain Forces Shift in Softball Tourney". Omaha World Herald. Omaha, Nebraska. May 16, 1976. p. 1-C. Retrieved 2017-03-26.
5. "Michigan State Undefeated Champ". Omaha World Herald. Omaha, Nebraska. May 17, 1976. p. 13. Retrieved 2017-03-26.
6. "Michigan State Softball Record Book" (PDF). Lansing, Michigan: Michigan State University. 2009. p. 18. Retrieved 2017-03-26.
7. "UNC Softball Record Book" (PDF). Greeley, Colorado: University of Northern Colorado. 2016. p. 4. Retrieved 2017-03-26.
8. Oregon Softball 2015 Media Guide. Eugene, Oregon: University of Oregon. 2015. p. 42. Retrieved 2017-03-05.