1981 Women's College World Series

The 1981 AIAW Women's College World Series was held in Norman, Oklahoma on May 21–24. Sixteen Division I college softball teams met in the next-to-last AIAW fastpitch softball tournament of that organization's history. After playing their way through the regular season and regional tournaments, the 16 advancing teams met for the AIAW Division I college softball championship.^[1]

Defending champion Utah State won its second national championship by defeating Cal State Fullerton, 4-3, in the "if necessary" game to become the first repeat winner since Arizona State in 1973.^[1]

Teams

The double-elimination tournament included these teams:

• California
• Cal State Fullerton
• Creighton
• Illinois State
• Michigan State
• Missouri
• New Mexico
• New Mexico State
• Oklahoma
• Oklahoma State
• Rutgers
• South Carolina
• Texas A&M
• UCLA
• Utah State
• Western Michigan

Bracket

	Upper round 1				Upper round 2				Upper round 3				Upper final												Final
	UCLA	3
	South Carolina	0
					UCLA	0
					Utah State	1
	Utah State	2
	Texas A&M	1
									Utah State	4
									Missouri	2
	Missouri	3^(12)
	Rutgers	0
					Missouri	5
					Oklahoma State	1
	Michigan State	1
	Oklahoma State	5
													Utah State	2
													Cal State–Fullerton	0
	Western Michigan	2
	Creighton	0
					Western Michigan	0
					Cal State–Fullerton	2^(15)
	Cal State–Fullerton	7^(8)
	New Mexico State	6
									Cal State–Fullerton	1^(10)
									California	0
	California	3
	Illinois State	0
					California	4																			Utah State	1	4
					Oklahoma	1																			Cal State–Fullerton	6	3
	Oklahoma	1
	New Mexico	0
	Lower round 1				Lower round 2				Lower round 3				Lower round 4				Lower round 5				Lower final
					Western Michigan	0
													Missouri	0
	South Carolina	0			Texas A&M	1^(11)
									Texas A&M	3			Texas A&M	1
	Texas A&M	4
									Michigan State	2											Cal State–Fullerton	5
					Oklahoma	1
																	Texas A&M	0			UCLA	4
	Rutgers	2			Michigan State	8
																	UCLA	1
	Michigan State	6
					UCLA	2
													California	0
	Creighton	4^(8)			Creighton	1
									UCLA	5			UCLA	2^(9)
	New Mexico State	2
									Oklahoma State	0
					Oklahoma State	5
	Illinois State	0			New Mexico	2
	New Mexico	1

Source:^{[2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9]}

Ranking

Place	School	WCWS Record
1st	Utah State	5-1
2nd	Cal State–Fullerton	5-2
3rd	UCLA	5-2
4th	Texas A&M	4-2
5th	California	2-2
	Missouri	2-2
7th	Michigan State	2-2
	Oklahoma State	2-2
9th	Creighton	1-2
	New Mexico	1-2
	Oklahoma	1-2
	Western Michigan	1-2
13th	Illinois State	0-2
	New Mexico State	0-2
	Rutgers	0-2
	South Carolina	0-2

See also

See also: AIAW Champions § Fastpitch Softball, and 1981 AIAW slow-pitch softball tournament

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. "Softball". Des Moines Register. Des Moines, Iowa. May 22, 1981. p. 4B. Retrieved March 5, 2017.
3. "MSU softballers suffer 5–1 loss". Lansing State Journal. Lansing, Michigan. May 22, 1981. p. C-3. Retrieved March 5, 2017.
4. "MSU women stay alive". Lansing State Journal. Lansing, Michigan. May 23, 1981. p. B-1. Retrieved March 5, 2017.
5. "College softball". Lansing State Journal. Lansing, Michigan. May 23, 1981. p. B-3. Retrieved March 5, 2017.
6. "Softball". Arizona Republic. Phoenix, Arizona. May 23, 1981. p. G10. Retrieved March 5, 2017.
7. "Softball". Des Moines Register. Des Moines, Iowa. May 24, 1981. p. 6D. Retrieved March 5, 2017.
8. "Softball". Arizona Republic. Phoenix, Arizona. May 24, 1981. p. F10. Retrieved March 5, 2017.
9. "Utah State wins softball crown". News-Press. Fort Myers, Florida. May 25, 1981. p. 3C. Retrieved March 5, 2017.