1997 NCAA Division I softball tournament

1997 NCAA Division I
softball tournament
Teams	32
Finals site	ASA Hall of Fame Stadium; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma;
Champions	Arizona (5th title)
Runner-up	UCLA (15th WCWS Appearance)
Winning coach	Mike Candrea (5th title)
MOP	Nancy Evans (Arizona)
	← 1996 ; NCAA Division I softball tournament; 1998 →;

The 1997 NCAA Division I softball tournament was the sixteenth annual tournament to determine the national champion of NCAA women's collegiate softball. Held during May 1997, thirty-two Division I college softball teams contested the championship. The tournament featured eight regionals of four teams, each in a double elimination format. The 1997 Women's College World Series was held in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma from May 22 through May 26 and marked the conclusion of the 1997 NCAA Division I softball season. The event returned to Oklahoma City after a one-year hiatus, and it has remained there ever since. Arizona won their fifth NCAA championship by defeating UCLA 10–2 in the final game. Arizona pitcher Nancy Evans was named Women's College World Series Most Outstanding Player.^[1]^[2]

Qualifying

Regionals

Regional No. 1 - held at Tucson, Arizona

First Round

Semi-Finals

Finals

Nebraska

10⁶

Arizona State

1

Nebraska

0

Arizona

2

Arizona

11⁶

Rider

2

Arizona

5

—

Nebraska

1

—

Lower round 1

Lower final

Nebraska

2

Arizona State

12⁶

Arizona State

1

Rider

0

Arizona qualifies for WCWS.

Regional No. 2 - held at Columbia, South Carolina


First Round		Semi-Finals		Finals



Kansas	3

South Florida	2
		Kansas	0

		South Carolina	1
South Carolina	5

UNC Greensboro	0
				South Carolina	1	—

				Kansas	0	—
Lower round 1		Lower final



		Kansas	3

South Florida	2⁹	South Florida	1

UNC Greensboro	0

South Carolina qualifies for WCWS.

Regional No. 3 - held at Iowa City, Iowa


First Round		Semi-Finals		Finals



Utah	3

Missouri	1
		Utah	1

		Iowa	3
Iowa	2

DePaul	1
				Iowa	6	—

				DePaul	2	—
Lower round 1		Lower final



		Utah	0

Missouri	0	DePaul	2

DePaul	1

Iowa qualifies for WCWS.

Regional No. 4 - held at Fresno, California

First Round

Semi-Finals

Finals

Long Beach State

3

Cal State Northridge

0

Long Beach State

2

Fresno State

5¹⁰

Fresno State

7

California

0

Fresno State

9

—

California

3

—

Lower round 1

Lower final

Long Beach State

1

Cal State Northridge

2

California

3

California

3⁹

Fresno State qualifies for WCWS.

Regional No. 5 - held at Lafayette, Louisiana


First Round		Semi-Finals		Finals



Southwestern Louisiana	2

Northeast Louisiana	1
		Southwestern Louisiana	4

		UCLA	1
UCLA	3

Nicholls State	0
				Southwestern Louisiana	0	0

				UCLA	9⁵	3
Lower round 1		Lower final



		UCLA	3

Northeast Louisiana	1	Northeast Louisiana	0

Nicholls State	0

UCLA qualifies for WCWS

Regional No. 6 - held at Ann Arbor, Michigan


First Round		Semi-Finals		Finals



Central Michigan	1

Michigan State	0
		Central Michigan	0

		Michigan	3
Michigan	1

Cleveland State	0
				Michigan	1	4

				Central Michigan	3⁸	0
Lower round 1		Lower final



		Central Michigan	6

Michigan State	6	Michigan State	4

Cleveland State	0

Michigan qualifies for WCWS.

Regional No. 7 - held at Norman, Oklahoma


First Round		Semi-Finals		Finals



Oklahoma State	2

Oklahoma	0
		Oklahoma State	2

		Washington	5
Washington	8⁵

Southwest Missouri State	0
				Washington	10	—

				Oklahoma State	9	—
Lower round 1		Lower final



		Oklahoma State	5

Oklahoma	7	Oklahoma	3

Southwest Missouri State	2

Washington qualifies for WCWS.

Regional No. 8 - held at Amherst, Massachusetts

First Round

Semi-Finals

Finals

UMass

2

Boston College

0

UMass

0

Colorado State

2

Colorado State

10⁵

Brown

0

Colorado State

1

2

UMass

3

3⁸

Lower round 1

Lower final

UMass

4

Boston College

6

Boston College

1

Brown

2

UMass qualifies for WCWS.

Women's College World Series

Participants

School	Conference	Record	Head coach	WCWS appearances† (Including 1997 WCWS)
Arizona	Pac-10	57–4	Mike Candrea	10
Fresno State	Western Athletic	52–12	Margie Wright	10
Iowa	Big Ten	51–7	Gayle Blevins	3
UMass	Atlantic 10	37–21–1	Elaine Sortino	2
Michigan	Big Ten	55–14–1	Carol Hutchins	3
South Carolina	SEC	63–3	Joyce Compton	3
UCLA	Pac-10	45–12	Sue Enquist	15
Washington	Pac-10	48–17	Teresa Wilson	2

†: Excludes results of the pre-NCAA Women's College World Series of 1969 through 1981.

Results

Bracket

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

Game results

Date	Game	Winner	Score	Loser	Notes
May 22	Game 1	Arizona	2 – 1 ⁸	UMass
	Game 2	UCLA	2 – 0 ⁸	Fresno State
	Game 3	Iowa	3 – 2	Michigan
	Game 4	Washington	6 – 0	South Carolina
May 23	Game 5	Arizona	2 – 0 ¹⁴	UCLA
May 23	Game 6	Washington	5 – 1	Iowa
May 24	Game 7	Fresno State	2 – 1	UMass	UMass eliminated
	Game 8	Michigan	1 – 0	South Carolina	South Carolina eliminated
	Game 9	Fresno State	7 – 6	Iowa	Iowa eliminated
	Game 10	UCLA	7 – 3	Michigan	Michigan eliminated
May 25	Game 11	Fresno State	3 – 0	Arizona	Fresno State forces the If Necessary Game (Game 13)
	Game 12	UCLA	4 – 3	Washington	UCLA forces the If Necessary Game (Game 14)
	Game 13	Arizona	6 – 3	Fresno State	Fresno State eliminated
	Game 14	UCLA	1 – 0	Washington	Washington eliminated
May 26	Championship Game	Arizona	10 – 2 ⁵	UCLA	Arizona Wins 1997 WCWS

Championship Game

^[3]

School	Top Batter	Stats.
Arizona Wildcats	Nancy Evans (P)	1-3 3RBIs 2B BB
UCLA Bruins	Julie Marshall (3B)	1-2 RBI HR

School	Pitcher	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	AB	BF
Arizona Wildcats	Nancy Evans (W)	5.0	5	2	2	1	3	20	21
UCLA Bruins	Christa Williams (L)	5.0	11	10	8	5	7	25	33

All-Tournament Team

The following players were members of the All-Tournament Team.^[4]

Position	Player	Class	School
P	Jamie Graves	Freshman	Washington
	Danielle Henderson	Sophomore	Massachusetts
	Christa Williams	Freshman	UCLA
C	Stacey Nuveman	Freshman	UCLA
1B	Leah O'Brien	Senior	Arizona
1B	Alleah Poulson	Senior	UCLA
2B	Nina Lindenberg	Junior	Fresno State
2B	Sara Pickering	Senior	Washington
SS	Christy Hebert	Senior	Iowa
3B	Melissa Gentile	Freshman	Michigan
OF	Alison Johnsen	Junior	Arizona
MOP	Nancy Evans	Junior	Arizona

References

^ 2015 WCWS Records: 1990s Brackets/Rosters/Stats (PDF). NCAA. Retrieved August 5, 2017.
^ 2015 WCWS Records: WCWS All-Time Results (PDF). NCAA. Retrieved August 5, 2017.
^ "1997 Women's Division I Softball College World Series Game 15". Ncaa.org. Retrieved June 8, 2018.
^ 2015 WCWS Records: All-Time Tournament Records and Results (PDF). NCAA. p. 3. Retrieved August 5, 2017.

[1] 2015 WCWS Records: 1990s Brackets/Rosters/Stats (PDF). NCAA. Retrieved August 5, 2017.

[2] 2015 WCWS Records: WCWS All-Time Results (PDF). NCAA. Retrieved August 5, 2017.

[3] "1997 Women's Division I Softball College World Series Game 15". Ncaa.org. Retrieved June 8, 2018.

[4] 2015 WCWS Records: All-Time Tournament Records and Results (PDF). NCAA. p. 3. Retrieved August 5, 2017.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

Teams	32
Finals site	ASA Hall of Fame Stadium Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Champions	Arizona (5th title)
Runner-up	UCLA (15th WCWS Appearance)
Winning coach	Mike Candrea (5th title)
MOP	Nancy Evans (Arizona)
← 1996 NCAA Division I softball tournament 1998 →

1997 NCAA Division I softball tournament

Qualifying

Regionals

Regional No. 1 - held at Tucson, Arizona

Regional No. 2 - held at Columbia, South Carolina

Regional No. 3 - held at Iowa City, Iowa

Regional No. 4 - held at Fresno, California

Regional No. 5 - held at Lafayette, Louisiana

Regional No. 6 - held at Ann Arbor, Michigan

Regional No. 7 - held at Norman, Oklahoma

Regional No. 8 - held at Amherst, Massachusetts

Women's College World Series

Participants

Results

Bracket

Game results

Championship Game

All-Tournament Team

See also

References