1998 NCAA Division I softball season

1998 NCAA Division I softball season
Defending Champions	Arizona
Tournament
Women's College World Series
Champions	Fresno State (1st title)
Runners-up	Arizona (11th WCWS Appearance)
Winning Coach	Margie Wright (1st title)
WCWS MOP	Amanda Scott (Fresno State)
Seasons

The 1998 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 1998. The season progressed through the regular season, many conference tournaments and championship series, and concluded with the 1998 NCAA Division I softball tournament and 1998 Women's College World Series. The Women's College World Series, consisting of the eight remaining teams in the NCAA Tournament and held in held in Oklahoma City at ASA Hall of Fame Stadium, ended on May 25, 1998.

Conference standings

1998 Big 12 Conference softball standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   T   PCT W   L   T   PCT No. 5 Nebraska ‍†‍‡‍^y 16 – 0 – 0   1.000 48 – 12 – 0   .800 No. 11 Oklahoma ‍‍‍^y 12 – 5 – 0   .706 49 – 15 – 0   .766 No. 7 Texas ‍‍‍^y 11 – 5 – 0   .688 49 – 16 – 0   .754 No. 24 Texas Tech ‍‍‍ 10 – 7 – 0   .588 45 – 19 – 0   .703 No. 4 Oklahoma State ‍‍‍^y 9 – 7 – 0   .563 42 – 19 – 0   .689 Kansas ‍‍‍ 7 – 11 – 0   .389 28 – 34 – 0   .452 Texas A&M ‍‍‍ 6 – 10 – 1   .382 32 – 25 – 2   .559 Iowa State ‍‍‍ 5 – 11 – 0   .313 16 – 27 – 0   .372 Missouri ‍‍‍ 5 – 13 – 0   .278 36 – 20 – 0   .643 Baylor ‍‍‍ 2 – 14 – 1   .147 20 – 36 – 1   .360 † – Conference champion ‡ – Tournament champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament Rankings from NFCA/USA Today[1]	1998 Big Ten Conference softball standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   T   PCT W   L   T   PCT No. 6 Michigan  ‍†‍‡‍^y 22 – 1 – 0   .957 56 – 7 – 0   .889 Northwestern  ‍‍‍ 15 – 9 – 0   .625 34 – 19 – 0   .642 No. 16 Minnesota  ‍‍‍^y 14 – 9 – 0   .609 48 – 21 – 0   .696 No. 19 Iowa  ‍‍‍^y 14 – 9 – 0   .609 38 – 20 – 0   .655 Michigan State  ‍‍‍ 11 – 13 – 0   .458 34 – 20 – 0   .630 Ohio State  ‍‍‍ 10 – 14 – 0   .417 33 – 23 – 0   .589 Penn State  ‍‍‍ 8 – 14 – 0   .364 21 – 28 – 1   .430 Purdue  ‍‍‍ 8 – 16 – 0   .333 29 – 30 – 0   .492 Wisconsin  ‍‍‍ 8 – 16 – 0   .333 19 – 31 – 1   .382 Indiana ‍‍‍ 7 – 16 – 0   .304 13 – 31 – 1   .300 † – Conference champion ‡ – Tournament champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] As of June 1998[12] Rankings from NFCA/USA Today	1998 Pacific-10 Conference softball standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT No. 2 Arizona  ‍†‍‍^y 27 – 1   .964 67 – 4   .944 No. 3 Washington  ‍‍‍^y 19 – 9   .679 52 – 15   .776 No. 12 Stanford  ‍‍‍^y 17 – 11   .607 41 – 18   .695 No. 22 California  ‍‍‍^y 12 – 14   .462 35 – 27   .565 No. 20 Oregon  ‍‍‍^y 10 – 18   .357 40 – 31   .563 No. 15 Arizona State  ‍‍‍^y 9 – 19   .321 38 – 27   .585 UCLA  ‍‍‍ 8 – 18   .308 18 – 27   .400 Oregon State  ‍‍‍ 8 – 20   .286 27 – 28   .491 † – Conference champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament As of June 30, 1998[13] Rankings from NFCA/USA Today
1998 Southland Conference softball standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   T   PCT W   L   T   PCT Northwestern Louisiana  ‍†‍‍^y 23 – 3 – 0   .885 40 – 18 – 0   .690 Nicholls State  ‍‍‍ 23 – 4 – 0   .852 43 – 16 – 0   .729 Texas–San Antonio  ‍‍‍ 17 – 8 – 0   .680 31 – 20 – 0   .608 Southeastern Louisiana  ‍‍‍ 13 – 13 – 0   .500 31 – 27 – 0   .534 Texas–Arlington  ‍‍‍ 11 – 15 – 0   .423 16 – 29 – 0   .356 Northeast Louisiana  ‍‍‍ 11 – 16 – 0   .407 23 – 37 – 0   .383 Southwest Texas State  ‍‍‍ 10 – 15 – 0   .400 15 – 40 – 0   .273 Stephen F. Austin  ‍‍‍ 10 – 16 – 0   .385 24 – 30 – 0   .444 McNeese State  ‍‍‍ 7 – 17 – 0   .292 13 – 34 – 0   .277 Sam Houston State  ‍‍‍ 4 – 22 – 0   .154 14 – 35 – 0   .286 † – Conference champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament As of May 20, 1998[14] Rankings from Coaches' Poll	1998 Western Athletic Conference softball standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   T   PCT W   L   T   PCT No. 1 Fresno State  ‍†‍‍ 28 – 2 – 0   .933 52 – 11 – 0   .825 No. 14 Hawaii  ‍‍‍ 22 – 8 – 0   .733 46 – 15 – 1   .750 Utah  ‍‍‍ 19 – 13 – 0   .594 36 – 21 – 0   .632 Colorado State  ‍‍‍ 16 – 13 – 0   .552 30 – 21 – 0   .588 San Diego State  ‍‍‍ 14 – 17 – 0   .452 24 – 35 – 0   .407 UNLV  ‍‍‍ 13 – 19 – 0   .406 21 – 30 – 0   .412 San Jose State  ‍‍‍ 11 – 21 – 0   .344 26 – 33 – 0   .441 Tulsa  ‍‍‍ 8 – 22 – 0   .267 20 – 36 – 0   .357 New Mexico  ‍‍‍ 8 – 24 – 0   .250 23 – 40 – 0   .365 † – Conference champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament Rankings from NFCA/USA Today[15][16]

Women's College World Series

The 1998 NCAA Women's College World Series took place from May 21 to May 25, 1998 in Oklahoma City.^[17]

	Round of 16					Quarterfinals					Semifinals						Finals
		Arizona	1
		Oklahoma State	0
							Arizona	8^5
							Washington	0
		Washington	1
		UMass	0
												Arizona	5	—
												Oklahoma State	0	—
		Oklahoma State	6
		UMass	0
							Michigan	1
							Oklahoma State	3
																		Arizona	0
																		Fresno State	1
		Michigan	7
		Texas	2
							Michigan	0
							Fresno State	8^5
		Nebraska	1
		Fresno State	6
												Fresno State	1	6
												Washington	3	1
		Texas	1
		Nebraska	2
							Washington	3
							Nebraska	1

Season leaders

Batting

• Batting average: .519 – Tanisha Kemp, Morgan State Bears
• RBIs: 100 – Leah Braatz, Arizona Wildcats
• Home runs: 25 – Kelly Kretschman, Alabama Crimson Tide & Leah Braatz, Arizona Wildcats

Pitching

• Wins: 40-9 – Jenny Voss, Nebraska Cornhuskers
• ERA: 0.42 (8 ER/132.0 IP) – Liza Brown, DePaul Blue Demons
• Strikeouts: 430 – Danielle Henderson, UMass Minutewomen

Records

Freshman class runs: 94 – Kelly Kretschman, Alabama Crimson Tide^[18]

Senior class runs: 97 – Alison McCutcheon, Arizona Wildcats

Senior class hits: 117 – Alison McCutcheon, Arizona Wildcats

Team stolen bases: 368 – Alabama State Hornets

Awards

• Honda Sports Award Softball:

Nancy Evans, Arizona Wildcats^[19][20]

YEAR	W	L	GP	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	ERA	WHIP
1998	36	2	42	37	36	20	3	241.2	160	40	34	39	255	0.98	0.82

YEAR	G	AB	R	H	BA	RBI	HR	3B	2B	TB	SLG	BB	SO	SB	SBA
1998	69	191	38	70	.366	44	7	1	15	108	.565%	30	8	1	1

All America Teams

The following players were members of the All-American Teams.^[21]

First Team

Position	Player	Class	School
P	Jenny Voss	SO.	Nebraska Cornhuskers
	Nancy Evans	SR.	Arizona Wildcats
	Christa Williams	SO.	Texas Longhorns
C	Leah Braatz	SR.	Arizona Wildcats
1B	Traci Conrad	JR.	Michigan Wolverines
2B	Nina Lindenberg	SR.	Fresno State Bulldogs
3B	Toni Mascarenas	FR.	Arizona Wildcats
SS	Ali Viola	SR.	Nebraska Cornhuskers
OF	Alison McCutcheon	SR.	Arizona Wildcats
	Laura Berg	SR.	Fresno State Bulldogs
	Lauren Bauer	FR.	Arizona Wildcats
DP	Brandy Arthur	SR.	North Carolina Tar Heels
UT	Sara Griffin	SR.	Michigan Wolverines
AT-L	Shannon Beeler	JR.	Minnesota Golden Gophers
	Nikki Cockrell	JR.	Texas Longhorns
	Jamie Foutch	JR.	Oklahoma State Cowgirls
	Amanda Scott	SO.	Fresno State Bulldogs
	Leticia Pineda	SR.	Arizona Wildcats

Second Team

Position	Player	Class	School
P	Jennifer Spediacci	SO.	Washington Huskies
	Danielle Henderson	JR.	UMass Minutewomen
	Jamie Graves	SO.	Washington Huskies
C	Melissa Gentile	SR.	Michigan Wolverines
1B	Kim Gutridge	SR.	UMass Minutewomen
2B	Yvette Healy	JR.	DePaul Blue Demons
3B	Isonette Polonius	JR.	East Carolina Pirates
SS	Kelly Kretschman	FR.	Alabama Crimson Tide
OF	Sandy Butler	FR.	Texas Tech Red Raiders
	Tia Morenz	SR.	Hawaii Rainbow Wahine
	Kellyn Tate	SR.	Michigan Wolverines
DP	Christie McCoy	SR.	Nebraska Cornhuskers
UT	Tarrah Beyster	SO.	Oregon State Beavers
AT-L	Debbie Bilbao	SR.	Iowa Hawkeyes
	Sandy Rhea	SR.	Utah Utes
	Becky Witt	FR.	Fresno State Bulldogs
	Jodi Reeves	SO.	Texas Longhorns
	Monica Triner	JR.	USF Bulls

Third Team

Position	Player	Class	School
P	Becky Blevins	JR.	Stanford Cardinal
	Lana Moran	SO.	Oklahoma Sooners
	Chelsey Sakizzie	SR.	Florida Gators
C	Julie Crandall	SR.	UNLV Rebels
1B	Chelo Lopez	SR.	CSUN Matadors
2B	Jodi Otten	SR.	LSU Tigers
3B	Heather Stella	JR.	Illinois State Redbirds
SS	Rosie Leutzinger	SO.	Washington Huskies
OF	Michele Acosta	JR.	Stanford Cardinal
	Wendy Harrison	SO.	Missouri Tigers
	Jody Dean	JR.	UNI Panthers
DP	Marcy Crouch	JR.	Stanford Cardinal
UT	Samantha Iuli	SO.	UIC Flames
AT-L	Monica Armendarez	SR.	Indiana Hoosiers
	Liza Brown	JR.	DePaul Blue Demons
	Eve Gaw	SR.	Washington Huskies
	Desarie Knipfer	SR.	Cal Poly Mustangs
	Steph Midthun	JR.	Minnesota Golden Gophers

References

1. "2019-2020 Big 12 Conference Record Book" (PDF). Big 12 Conference. pp. 196–197. Retrieved June 6, 2020.
2. 1998 IND Season
3. 1998 IA Season
4. 1998 MICH Season
5. 1998 MSU Season
6. 1998 MINN Season
7. 1998 NOR Season
8. 1998 OSU Season
9. 1998 PSU Season
10. 1998 PUR Season
11. 1998 WIS Season
12. "Big Ten Softball Standings" (PDF). BigTen.org. Big Ten Conference. Retrieved July 5, 2020.
13. 2020 Softball Media Guide. Pac-12 Conference. p. 52. Retrieved July 3, 2022.
14. "Southland Softball" (PDF). Southland Conference. p. 14. Retrieved February 20, 2024.
15. "Week 13". NFCA. Retrieved October 20, 2021.
16. 2021 Western Athletic Conference Record Book (PDF). Western Athletic Conference. p. 32. Retrieved October 20, 2021.
17. "1998 Women's College World Series". Ncaa.org. Retrieved August 2, 2020.
18. "Division I Softball Records" (PDF). Ncaa.org. Retrieved July 18, 2020.
19. "PAST HONDA SPORTS AWARD WINNERS FOR SOFTBALL". Collegiatewomensportsawards.com. Retrieved August 2, 2020.
20. "Final 1998 Women's Softball Statistics Report" (PDF). Ncaa.org. Retrieved August 2, 2020.
21. "1998 NSCA Division I All-America Teams". Nfca.org. Retrieved August 2, 2020.