1988 NCAA Division I softball tournament

1988 NCAA Division I
softball tournament

Teams	20
Finals site	Twin Creeks Sports Complex Sunnyvale, California
Champions	UCLA (4th (5th overall) title)
Runner-up	Fresno State (4th WCWS Appearance)
Winning coach	Sharron Backus (4th (5th overall) title)

The 1988 NCAA Division I softball tournament was the seventh annual tournament to determine the national champion of NCAA women's collegiate softball. Held during May 1988, twenty Division I college softball teams contested the championship, an expansion of four teams from the previous year. The tournament featured eight regionals of either two or three teams. The regions of two teams consisted of a simple best-of-three series whereas the regions of three teams consisted of a double elimination tournament of four or five games. The 1988 Women's College World Series was held in Sunnyvale, California from May 25 through May 29 and marked the conclusion of the 1988 NCAA Division I softball season. UCLA won the championship by defeating Fresno State 3–0 in the final game.^[1][2]

The 1988 event was the first WCWS played in Sunnyvale.

Qualifying

Main article: 1988 NCAA Division I softball season

Regionals

At-large Regional Team G1 G2 G3 – Fresno State 0 3 5 – California 3^8 0 2 Fresno State qualifies for WCWS, 2–1

Central Regional First elimination round Creighton 3, Iowa State 2 Nebraska 5, Iowa State 2 Creighton 3, Nebraska 2 Second elimination round Team G1 G2 G3 – Nebraska 7 4 — – Creighton 2 1 — Nebraska qualifies for WCWS, 3–1

Mideast Regional First elimination round South Carolina 1, Minnesota 0 Arizona 5, Minnesota 0 South Carolina 1, Arizona 0 Second elimination round Team G1 G2 G3 – Arizona 1 4 — – South Carolina 0 3 — Arizona qualifies for WCWS, 3–1

Midwest Regional First elimination round Northern Illinois 4, Bowling Green 3 Illinois State 2, Bowling Green 1 (10 innings) Illinois State 1, Northern Illinois 0 Second elimination round Team G1 G2 G3 – Northern Illinois 3 2 — – Illinois State 1 0 — Northern Illinois qualifies for WCWS, 3–1

Northeast Regional Team G1 G2 G3 – Adelphi 6 0 1^10 – Oklahoma State 2 5 0 Adelphi qualifies for WCWS, 2–1

Northwest Regional Team G1 G2 G3 – UCLA 3 2 — – Cal State Fullerton 0 0 — UCLA qualifies for WCWS, 2–0

South Regional First elimination round Texas A&M 1, Florida State 0 Louisiana Tech 6, Florida State 1 Texas A&M 2, Louisiana Tech 0 Second elimination round Team G1 G2 G3 – Texas A&M 0 1 ^8 — – Louisiana Tech 4 0 — Texas A&M qualifies for WCWS, 3–1

West Regional Team G1 G2 G3 – Cal Poly Pomona 2 2 — – Long Beach State 0 1 — Cal Poly Pomona qualifies for WCWS, 2–0

Women's College World Series

Participants

• Adelphi
• Arizona
• Cal Poly Pomona
• Fresno State
• Nebraska
• Northern Illinois
• Texas A&M
• UCLA

Game results

Bracket

	Upper round 1					Upper round 2					Upper final					Semifinals					Final
	UCLA		1
	Northern Illinois		0
						UCLA		6
						Fresno State		1
	Fresno State		3
	Texas A&M		0
											UCLA		5
											Arizona		0
	Arizona		1
																UCLA		4
	Adelphi		0
						Arizona		4								Cal Poly Pomona		1
						Cal State Pomona		1
	Cal Poly Pomona		3
	Nebraska		0
																					UCLA		1	3
						Lower round 1					Lower round 2										Fresno State		2	0
											Cal Poly Pomona		1
						Northern Illinois		0			Texas A&M		0
																Arizona		0
						Texas A&M		3
																Fresno State		4
											Fresno State		1^9
						Adelphi		1			Nebraska		0
						Nebraska		5

Game log

Date	Game	Winning team	Score	Losing team	Notes
May 20	Game 1	UCLA	1–0	Northern Illinois
	Game 2	Fresno State	3–0	Texas A&M
May 21	Game 3	Arizona	1–0	Adelphi
	Game 4	Cal Poly Pomona	3–0	Nebraska
May 22	Game 5	Texas A&M	3–0	Northern Illinois	Northern Illinois eliminated
	Game 6	Nebraska	5–1	Adelphi	Adelphi eliminated
	Game 7	UCLA	6–1	Fresno State
	Game 8	Arizona	4–1	Cal Poly Pomona
May 23	Game 9	Fresno State	1–0^9	Nebraska	Nebraska eliminated
	Game 10	Cal Poly Pomona	1–0	Texas A&M	Texas A&M eliminated
	Game 11	UCLA	5–0	Arizona
	Game 12	Fresno State	4–0	Arizona	Arizona eliminated
	Game 13	UCLA	4–1	Cal Poly Pomona	Cal Poly Pomona eliminated
May 24	Game 14	Fresno State	2–1	UCLA
	Game 15	UCLA	3–0	Fresno State	UCLA wins WCWS

Championship Game

^[3]

School	Top Batter	Stats.
UCLA Bruins	Janice Parks (3B)	2-2 2RBIs 2B BB
Fresno State Bulldogs	RaeAnn Pifferini (LF)	2-4

School	Pitcher	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	AB	BF
UCLA Bruins	Lisa Longaker (W)	7.0	6	0	0	3	3	27	30
Fresno State Bulldogs	Carie Dever (L)	7.0	9	3	2	1	3	24	29

All-Tournament Team

The following players were named to the All-Tournament Team^[4]

Pos	Name	School
P	Carie Dever	Fresno St.
	Lisa Longaker	UCLA
C	Stacy Sunny	UCLA
1B	Kerry Dienelt	UCLA
2B	Missy Phillips	UCLA
3B	Julie Standering	Arizona
SS	Heidi Lievens	Arizona
OF	Shanna Flynn	UCLA
	Margie Ogrodowicz	Nebraska
	RaeAnn Pifferini	Fresno State
AL	Gena Strang	Fresno State
	Karin Richter	Fresno State

See also

• 1988 NCAA Division II softball tournament
• 1988 NCAA Division III softball tournament
• 1988 NAIA softball tournament
• 1988 NCAA Division I baseball tournament

References

1. 2014 WCWS Records: 1980s Brackets/Rosters/Stats (PDF). NCAA. Retrieved April 20, 2015.
2. 2014 WCWS Records: WCWS All-Time Results (PDF). NCAA. Retrieved April 20, 2015.
3. "1988 Women's Division I Softball College World Series Game 15". Ncaa.org. Archived from the original on June 12, 2018. Retrieved June 8, 2018.
4. 2014 WCWS Records: All-Time Tournament Records and Results (PDF). NCAA. p. 3. Retrieved April 25, 2015.