1986 NCAA Division I softball season

1986 NCAA Division I softball season
Defending Champions	UCLA
Tournament
Women's College World Series
Champions	Cal State Fullerton (1st title)
Runners-up	Texas A&M (3rd WCWS Appearance)
Winning Coach	Judi Garman (1st title)
Seasons

The 1986 NCAA Division I softball season, play of college softball in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division I level, began in February 1986. The season progressed through the regular season, many conference tournaments and championship series, and concluded with the 1986 NCAA Division I softball tournament and 1986 Women's College World Series. The Women's College World Series, consisting of the eight remaining teams in the NCAA Tournament and held in Omaha, Nebraska at Seymour Smith Park, ended on May 25, 1986.

Conference standings

1986 Big Ten Conference softball standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   T   PCT W   L   T   PCT Indiana ‍†‍‍^y 15 – 9 – 0   .625 45 – 18 – 0   .714 Northwestern ‍†‍‍^y 15 – 9 – 0   .625 33 – 17 – 0   .660 Minnesota ‍†‍‍ 15 – 9 – 0   .625 28 – 23 – 0   .549 Michigan State  ‍‍‍ 14 – 10 – 0   .583 29 – 20 – 0   .592 Michigan ‍‍‍ 12 – 12 – 0   .500 32 – 17 – 0   .653 Iowa ‍‍‍ 10 – 14 – 0   .417 26 – 19 – 0   .578 Ohio State ‍‍‍ 3 – 21 – 0   .125 12 – 33 – 1   .272 † – Conference champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] Rankings from Coaches' Poll

1986 Pacific Coast Athletic Association softball standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   T   PCT W   L   T   PCT Cal State Fullerton  ‍†‍‍^y 22 – 5 – 1   .804 57 – 9 – 1   .858 Long Beach State  ‍‍‍^y 18 – 9 – 0   .667 39 – 18 – 0   .684 Cal Poly Pomona  ‍‍‍^y 18 – 9 – 1   .661 36 – 19 – 1   .652 Pacific  ‍‍‍^y 17 – 10 – 0   .630 34 – 18 – 1   .651 UC Santa Barbara  ‍‍‍ 11 – 17 – 0   .393 20 – 30 – 0   .400 UNLV  ‍‍‍ 10 – 17 – 0   .370 18 – 32 – 0   .360 San Diego State  ‍‍‍ 6 – 21 – 0   .222 22 – 36 – 0   .379 Hawaii  ‍‍‍ 7 – 21 – 0   .250 9 – 27 – 0   .250 † – Conference champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament

1986 Southland Conference softball standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Southwestern Louisiana  ‍†‍‍ 10 – 2   .833 30 – 19   .612 Texas–Arlington  ‍‍‍ 10 – 2   .833 25 – 25   .500 Lamar  ‍‍‍ 8 – 4   .667 16 – 19   .457 McNeese State  ‍‍‍ 6 – 6   .500 19 – 24   .442 North Texas  ‍‍‍ 5 – 7   .417 9 – 25   .265 Northeast Louisiana  ‍‍‡‍ 3 – 9   .250 17 – 32   .347 Arkansas State  ‍‍‍ 0 – 12   .000 3 – 28   .097 † – Conference champion ‡ – Tournament champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament As of May 20, 1986[10] Rankings from Coaches' Poll

Women's College World Series

The 1986 NCAA Women's College World Series took place May 21–25, 1986 in Omaha, Nebraska.^[11]

Upper round 1

Upper round 2

Upper final

Semifinals

Final

Northwestern

0

California

2

California

0

Cal State Fullerton

3

Cal State Fullerton

1^9

Long Beach State

0

Cal State Fullerton

3

Texas A&M

0

Texas A&M

1^10

Cal State Fullerton

3^8

Creighton

0

Texas A&M

6

Indiana

1

Indiana

0

Indiana

1^10

Louisiana Tech

0

Cal State Fullerton

3

Lower round 1

Lower round 2

Texas A&M

0

Indiana

2^10

Northwestern

0

Long Beach State

0

Texas A&M

1^10

Long Beach State

1^10

California

0

California

1^8

Creighton

4^13

Creighton

0

Louisiana Tech

3

Season leaders

Batting

• Batting average: .453 – Jackie Nietopski, Niagara Purple Eagles
• RBIs: 41 – Debbi Oraczewski, Towson Tigers, Jeanne Weinsheim, San Diego Toreros & Melanie Marshall, Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles
• Home runs: 10 – Debbi Oraczewski, Towson Tigers

Pitching

• Wins: 35-9 – Stacey Johnson, Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters
• ERA: 0.18 (4 ER/153.1 IP) – Connie Clark, Cal State Fullerton Titans
• Strikeouts: 370 – Amy Unterbrink, Indiana Hoosiers

Records

NCAA Division I season WHIP: 0.36 (58 H+13 BB/195.0 IP) – Virginia Augusta, North Carolina Tar Heels^[12]

NCAA Division I single game triples: 3 – Lynna Hallick, Northwestern Wildcats; April 18, 1986

Junior class perfect games: 3 – Virginia Augusta, North Carolina Tar Heels

Team single game triples: 7 – UMass Minutewomen; March 17, 1986

Awards

• Honda Sports Award Softball:

Susan LeFebvre, Cal State Fullerton Titans^[13][14]

YEAR	W	L	GP	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	ERA	WHIP
1986	31	6	39	36	34	25	0	284.2	106	18	11	59	208	0.27	0.58

All America Teams

The following players were members of the first All-American Teams.^[15]

First Team

Position	Player	Class	School
P	Stacey Johnson	SR.	Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters
	Amy Unterbrink	SR.	Indiana Hoosiers
	Susan LeFebvre	SR.	Cal State Fullerton Titans
C	Alicia Seegert	JR.	Michigan Wolverines
1B	Kathy Dyer	SR.	New Mexico Lobos
2B	Alison Stowell	SO.	Cal Poly Pomona Broncos
3B	Cindy Cooper	SR.	Texas A&M Aggies
SS	Leslie Kanter	SR.	USF Bulls
OF	Kathy Escarcega	JR.	Arizona State Sun Devils
	Chenita Rogers	JR.	Cal State Fullerton Titans
	Karleen Moore	SR.	Indiana Hoosiers
UT	Tracy Bunge	SR.	Kansas Jayhawks

Second Team

Position	Player	Class	School
P	Lori Sippel	SO.	Nebraska Cornhuskers
	Melanie Parrent	SO.	Fresno State Bulldogs
	Rhonda Wheatley	JR.	Cal Poly Pomona Broncos
C	Kelly Downs	JR.	Kansas Jayhawks
1B	Gena Strang	SO.	Fresno State Bulldogs
2B	Lori Richins	JR.	Nebraska Cornhuskers
3B	Mary Hammen	SO.	Oklahoma State Cowgirls
SS	Kelly Smith	JR.	Utah State Aggies
OF	Sheila Connelly	JR.	Kansas Jayhawks
	Kris Schmidt	SO.	Missouri Tigers
	Sally Mahar	SR.	UMass Minutewomen
UT	Barb Drake	JR.	Minnesota Golden Gophers

References

1. "Big Ten Softball Standings" (PDF). BigTen.org. Big Ten Conference. Retrieved July 5, 2020.
2. 1986 Indiana Season
3. 1986 Iowa Season
4. 1986 Michigan Season
5. 1986 Michigan State Season
6. 1986 Minnesota Season
7. 1986 Northwestern Season
8. 1986 Ohio State Season
9. 2020 Softball Record Book (PDF). Big West Conference. p. 2. Retrieved October 14, 2021.
10. "Southland Softball" (PDF). Southland Conference. p. 13. Retrieved February 16, 2024.
11. "1986 Women's College World Series". Ncaa.org. Retrieved July 31, 2020.
12. "Division I Softball Records" (PDF). Ncaa.org. Retrieved August 1, 2020.
13. "PAST HONDA SPORTS AWARD WINNERS FOR SOFTBALL". Collegiatewomensportsawards.com. Retrieved August 1, 2020.
14. "FINAL 1986 Women's Softball Statistics Report" (PDF). Ncaa.org. Retrieved August 1, 2020.
15. "1986 NSCA Division I All-America Teams". Nfca.org. Retrieved August 1, 2020.