2008 NCAA Division I softball tournament

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.

2008 NCAA Division I
softball tournament

Teams	64
Finals site	ASA Hall of Fame Stadium Oklahoma City
Champions	Arizona State (1st NCAA (3rd overall) title)
Runner-up	Texas A&M (7th WCWS Appearance)
Winning coach	Clint Myers (1st title)
MOP	Katie Burkhart (Arizona State)
← 2007  NCAA Division I softball tournament 2009 →

National seeds

Bold indicates WCWS participant.

1. Florida
2. UCLA
3. Alabama
4. Michigan
5. Texas A&M
6. Arizona State
7. Arizona
8. Houston
9. LSU
10. Oklahoma
11. Northwestern
12. Stanford
13. Tennessee
14. Long Beach State
15. Georgia
16. Fresno State

Regionals and super regionals

Bold indicates winner. * indicates host.

Gainesville Super Regional

	First round					Second round					Regional finals						Super regionals
	1	Florida	7
		Georgia Tech	2
						1	Florida	3
							UCF	0
		UCF	3
		South Florida	2
											1	Florida	0	10
	Gainesville, FL Regional
												UCF	1	0
		Georgia Tech	9
		South Florida	2
							Georgia Tech	1
							UCF	7
																	1	Florida	4	4	—
																		California	2	2	—
	16	Fresno State	11
		Sacramento State	0
						16	Fresno State	0
							California	3
		San Diego State	1
		California	4
												California	2	7
	Fresno, CA Regional
											16	Fresno State	3	6
		Sacramento State	1
		San Diego State	7
							San Diego State	0
						16	Fresno State	2

Houston Super Regional

	First round					Second round					Regional finals						Super regionals
	9	LSU	8
		Mississippi Valley State	0
						9	LSU	4
							Louisiana−Lafayette	9
		East Carolina	1
		Louisiana–Lafayette	2
												Louisiana−Lafayette	6	—
	Baton Rouge, LA Regional
											9	LSU	3	—
		Mississippi Valley State	2
		East Carolina	4
							East Carolina	1
						9	LSU	9
																		Louisiana−Lafayette	6	3	4
																	8	Houston	4	6	0
	8	Houston	9
		Delaware State	0
						8	Houston	2
							Washington	0
		Washington	2
		Texas	1
											8	Houston	2	—
	Houston, TX Regional
												Washington	1	—
		Delaware State	2
		Texas	3
							Texas	3
							Washington	5

College Station Super Regional

	First round					Second round					Regional finals						Super regionals
	5	Texas A&M	2
		Stephen F. Austin	0
						5	Texas A&M	4
							Louisiana Tech	0
		Louisiana Tech	1
		Auburn	0
											5	Texas A&M	6	—
	College Station, TX Regional
												Louisiana Tech	0	—
		Stephen F. Austin	0
		Auburn	2
							Auburn	1
							Louisiana Tech	2
																	5	Texas A&M	6	9	—
																	12	Stanford	1	4	—
	12	Stanford	4
		Lehigh	0
						12	Stanford	3
							UMass	0
		UMass	6
		Princeton	0
											12	Stanford	1	6
	Amherst, MA Regional
												UMass	2	0
		Lehigh	7
		Princeton	4
							Lehigh	1
							UMass	3

Ann Arbor Super Regional

	First round					Second round					Regional finals						Super regionals
	13	Tennessee	3
		Winthrop	0
						13	Tennessee	0
							Virginia Tech	4
		Louisville	0
		Virginia Tech	1
												Virginia Tech	1	4
	Knoxville, TN Regional
											13	Tennessee	7	2
		Winthrop	1
		Louisville	4
						13	Tennessee	8
							Louisville	1
																		Virginia Tech	0	1	6
																	4	Michigan	1	0	1
	4	Michigan	13
		Wright State	5
						4	Michigan	8
							Notre Dame	0
		Notre Dame	9
		Kent State	1
											4	Michigan	5	—
	Ann Arbor, MI Regional
												Kent State	0	—
		Wright State	2
		Kent State	3
							Notre Dame	5
							Kent State	7

Tuscaloosa Super Regional

	First round					Second round					Regional finals						Super regionals
	3	Alabama	8
		Chattanooga	0
						3	Alabama	10
							Jacksonville State	1
		Jacksonville State	4
		Florida State	3
											3	Alabama	4	—
	Tuscaloosa, AL Regional
												Jacksonville State	1	—
		Chattanooga	3
		Florida State	5
							Jacksonville State	10
							Florida State	1
																	3	Alabama	6	7	—
																		Missouri	1	1	—
	14	Long Beach State	2
		Creighton	1
						14	Long Beach State	3
							Missouri	5
		Missouri	3
		Iowa	2
												Missouri	5	—
	Iowa City, IA Regional
												Iowa	4	—
		Creighton	1
		Iowa	2
							Iowa	5
						14	Long Beach State	2

Tempe Super Regional

	First round					Second round					Regional finals						Super regionals
	11	Northwestern	6
		Western Illinois	0
						11	Northwestern	6
							DePaul	0
		Drake	1
		DePaul	3
											11	Northwestern	2	3
	Evanston, IL Regional
												DePaul	3	2
		Drake	1
		Western Illinois	3
							Western Illinois	0
							DePaul	6
																	11	Northwestern	1	0	—
																	6	Arizona State	3	9	—
	6	Arizona State	2
		Stony Brook	0
						6	Arizona State	10
							Hawaii	0
		Mississippi State	7
		Hawaii	9
											6	Arizona State	8	—
	Tempe, AZ Regional
												Hawaii	0	—
		Stony Brook	3
		Mississippi State	8
							Mississippi State	4
							Hawaii	7

Tucson Super Regional

	First round					Second round					Regional finals						Super regionals
	7	Arizona	11
		Canisius	0
						7	Arizona	10
							Hofstra	0
		Long Island	0
		Hofstra	1
											7	Arizona	5	—
	Hempstead, NY Regional
												Hofstra	0	—
		Canisus	3
		Long Island	2
							Canisus	1
							Hofstra	5
																	7	Arizona	3	0	5
																	10	Oklahoma	1	2	2
	10	Oklahoma	6
		Oregon	0
						10	Oklahoma	6
							Arkansas	5
		Arkansas	7
		Tulsa	5
											10	Oklahoma	11	—
	Norman, OK Regional
												Oregon	0	—
		Oregon	1
		Tulsa	0
							Oregon	3
							Arkansas	0

Los Angeles Super Regional

	First round					Second round					Regional finals						Super regionals
	15	Georgia	9
		Campbell	0
						15	Georgia	9
							BYU	3
		BYU	3
		North Carolina	0
											15	Georgia	4	—
	Chapel Hill, NC Regional
												BYU	0	—
		Campbell	7
		North Carolina	6
							BYU	1
							Campbell	0
																	15	Georgia	1	0	—
																	2	UCLA	6	6	—
	2	UCLA	8
		Cal State Fullerton	3
						2	UCLA	6
							Nevada	4
		Nevada	4
		Purdue	1
											2	UCLA	4	—
	Los Angeles Regional
												Nevada	3	—
		Cal State Fullerton	3
		Purdue	4
							Purdue	1
							Nevada	2

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)
Alabama	SEC	56–5 (25–3)	Patrick Murphy	5 (last: 2006)	5th (2000, 2005)	2–8
Arizona	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
Virginia Tech	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

	First round					Second round					Semifinals						Finals
	1	Florida	2
		Louisiana–Lafayette	3
							Louisiana–Lafayette	1
						5	Texas A&M	2
	5	Texas A&M	1
		Virginia Tech	0
											5	Texas A&M	1	1
											1	Florida	6	0
	1	Florida	2
		Virginia Tech	0
						1	Florida	2
						2	UCLA	0
																	5	Texas A&M	0	0	—
																	6	Arizona State	3	11	—
	3	Alabama	1
	6	Arizona State	3
						6	Arizona State	4
						2	UCLA	0
	2	UCLA	1
	7	Arizona	0
											6	Arizona State	3	—
											3	Alabama	1	—
	3	Alabama	5
	7	Arizona	1
						3	Alabama	3
							Louisiana–Lafayette	1

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.^[1]^[2]
	Game 2	Texas A&M	1–0	Virginia Tech	A throwing error allowed Texas A&M to score an unearned run in the 6th inning.^[3]^[4]
	Game 3	Arizona State	3–1	Alabama	ASU erased a 0-1 deficit and scored 3 runs in the 7th inning.^[5]^[6]
	Game 4	UCLA	1–0	Arizona	Two errors in the first inning helped UCLA score their only run.^[7]^[8]
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.^[9]^[10]
	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.^[11]^[12]
May 31, 2008	Game 7	Florida	2–0	Virginia Tech	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.^[13]^[14]
	Game 8	Alabama	5–1	Arizona	Alabama scored 4 runs in the 6th inning to knock out 2-time defending champion Arizona.^[15]^[16]
	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.^[17]
	Game 10	Alabama	3–1	Louisiana–Lafayette	Louisiana–Lafayette eliminated; Alabama scored the winning runs in the 5th inning.^[18]
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.^[19]
	Game 12	Arizona State	3–1	Alabama	ASU scored on a three-run home run. ASU advances to the National Championship series, and Alabama is eliminated.^[20]^[21]
	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.^[22]^[23]
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.^[24]^[25]
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.^[26]

Championship game

^[27]

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	5–0
2nd	Texas A&M	3–3
3rd	Florida	3–2
	Alabama	2–2
5th	UCLA	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:^[28]

• 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^[29]
• 8,230 Session 3 (Games 5 and 6) total attendance — WCWS record^[30]
• 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.^[31]
• Arizona State's 11-0 victory over Texas A&M was the largest margin of victory in an NCAA championship clinching game.^[32]

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.^[33]
• 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

1. "Ragin' Cajuns stun top-seeded Florida 3-2".
2. "Gators upset on eighth-inning homer".
3. "Slip-up sinks Hokies".
4. "Errant throw allows Texas A&M to edge Hokies".^{[permanent dead link]}
5. "Women's College World Series: Late Arizona State rally bedevils Tide".
6. "ASU softball rallies to win opener".
7. "Softball: Unusual call goes against Cats".
8. "UCLA beats defending champion Arizona, 1-0".
9. "Aggies take advantage of error again".
10. "Cajuns stalled: UL drops game to Texas A&M".
11. "Bruins' strategy backfires vs. Devils".
12. "UCLA strategy thwarted".
13. . Archived from the original on June 6, 2008. Retrieved May 31, 2008.
14. "Tincher ends career without title, but with lasting legacy".
15. . Archived from the original on June 5, 2008. Retrieved June 1, 2008.
16. "'Bama bounces Arizona Wildcats from softball tournament".
17. "Arizona, UCLA out of Women's College World Series".
18. "WOMEN'S COLLEGE WORLD SERIES: Alabama advances to semifinals".
19. . Archived from the original on June 6, 2008. Retrieved June 2, 2008.
20. "Tide run ends with 3-1 loss to Arizona State".
21. "ASU softball advances to World Series final".
22. "Women's College World Series Blog: Game 5 vs. Texas A&M".
23. "Once unheralded recruit, Lobpries comes up big for Texas A&M".
24. "Texas A&M falls to Arizona State 3-0 in softball World Series opener".
25. "Freshman delivers in ASU victory".
26. . Archived from the original on June 10, 2008.
27. "National Champions!". Thesundevils.com. June 3, 2008. Retrieved June 9, 2018.
28. "Tincher named to WCWS All-Tournament Team".
29. . Archived from the original on May 31, 2008. Retrieved May 30, 2008.
30. "WCWS Notebook: Getting 'Pearl'sonal".
31. "Women's College World Series Notebook". June 2, 2008.
32. Sun Devils - NCAA champs! 2011-08-23 at the Wayback Machine
33. Gators' NCAA run ends

External links

• Schedule/results at ESPN
• NCAA Softball