2023 NCAA Division I softball tournament

2023 NCAA Division I
softball tournament
Teams	64
Finals site	USA Softball Hall of Fame Stadium; Oklahoma City;
Champions	Oklahoma (7th title)
Runner-up	Florida State (12th WCWS Appearance)
Winning coach	Patty Gasso (7th title)
MOP	Jordy Bahl (Oklahoma)
	← 2022; NCAA Division I softball tournament; 2024 →;

The 2023 NCAA Division I softball tournament was held from May 19 through June 8, 2023, as the final part of the 2023 NCAA Division I softball season. The tournament culminated with the 2023 Women's College World Series at USA Softball Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City.^[1]

Charlotte, Eastern Illinois, George Mason, North Carolina Central, Northern Colorado, Northern Kentucky, and Omaha made their NCAA Division I softball tournament debuts.^[2] Arizona failed to make the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1986, while Michigan failed to make the tournament for the first time since 1994.^[3]^[4]

Format

A total of 64 teams will enter the tournament, with 32 of them receiving an automatic bid by either winning their conference's tournament or by finishing in first place in their conference. The remaining 32 bids will be at-large, with selections extended by the NCAA Selection Committee.^[5]

Bids

The Big West and West Coast Conference bids were awarded to the regular-season champion. All other conferences had their automatic bid go to the conference tournament winner.^[6]

Automatic

Conference	School	Best finish	Last NCAA appearance
America East	UMBC	Regionals (2002, 2019, 2021, 2022)	2022
American	UCF	Super Regional (2022)	2022
ASUN	Central Arkansas	Regionals (2015)	2015
ACC	Florida State	National Champion (2018)	2022
Atlantic 10	George Mason	First appearance	First appearance
Big 12	Oklahoma	National Champion (2000, 2013, 2016, 2017, 2021, 2022)	2022
Big East	Seton Hall	Regionals (2005)	2005
Big Sky	Northern Colorado	First appearance^[a]	First appearance^[a]
Big South	Campbell	Regionals (1995, 2008, 2009, 2021, 2022)	2022
Big Ten	Northwestern	WCWS (1984, 1985, 1986, 2006, 2007, 2022)	2022
Big West	Long Beach State	WCWS (1986, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993)	2021
CAA	Hofstra	Super Regionals (2012)	2018
Conference USA	Middle Tennessee	Regionals (2000)	2018
Horizon	Northern Kentucky	First appearance	First appearance
Ivy League	Harvard	Regionals (1998, 2000, 2007, 2011, 2012, 2018, 2019)	2019
MAAC	Marist	Regionals (2006, 2013, 2016)	2016
MAC	Miami (OH)	Regionals (2005, 2009, 2012, 2016, 2021, 2022)	2022
MEAC	North Carolina Central	First appearance	First appearance
Missouri Valley	Southern Illinois	WCWS (1970, 1977, 1978)	2021
Mountain West	San Diego State	Regionals (2001, 2003, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2022)	2022
NEC	LIU	Regionals (2008, 2012, 2016)	2016
Ohio Valley	Eastern Illinois	First appearance^[b]	First appearance^[b]
Pac-12	Utah	WCWS (1985, 1991, 1994)	2017
Patriot	Boston University	Regionals (1996, 2002, 2003, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2019)	2021
SEC	Tennessee	WCWS Runner-Up (2007, 2013)	2022
Southern	UNC Greensboro	Regionals (1997, 2018, 2021)	2021
Southland	McNeese	Regionals (1994, 2005, 2010, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2021, 2022)	2022
SWAC	Prairie View A&M	Regionals (2018, 2022)	2022
Summit	Omaha	First appearance^[c]	First appearance^[c]
Sun Belt	Louisiana	Third Place (1993)	2022
WAC	Grand Canyon	Regionals (2022)	2022
West Coast	Loyola Marymount	Regionals (2005, 2007)	2022

^ ^a ^b Northern Colorado appeared in the AIAW Women's College World Series 11 times from 1969—1979 prior to the NCAA sponsoring women's athletics. Its best finish was runner-up (3 times: in 1974, 1976, and 1978).
^ ^a ^b Eastern Illinois appeared in the AIAW Women's College World Series twice (1971, 1974) prior to the NCAA sponsoring women's athletics. Its best finish was 5th place in 1974.
^ ^a ^b Omaha appeared in the AIAW Women's College World Series 10 times (1969—1973, 1975—1979) prior to the NCAA sponsoring women's athletics. Its best finish was a National Championship in 1975.

At-large

Team	Conference
Alabama	SEC
Arkansas	SEC
Auburn	SEC
Baylor	Big 12
California	Pac-12
Cal State Fullerton	Big West
Charlotte	Conference USA
Clemson	ACC
Duke	ACC
Florida	SEC
Georgia	SEC
Indiana	Big Ten
Kentucky	SEC
Liberty	ASUN
Louisville	ACC
LSU	SEC
Minnesota	Big Ten
Missouri	SEC
Nebraska	Big Ten
Notre Dame	ACC
Oklahoma State	Big 12
Ole Miss	SEC
Oregon	Pac-12
South Carolina	SEC
Stanford	Pac-12
Texas	Big 12
Texas A&M	SEC
Texas State	Sun Belt
UCLA	Pac-12
Virginia Tech	ACC
Washington	Pac-12
Wichita State	American

By conference

Conference	Total	Schools
SEC	12	Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, LSU, Missouri, Ole Miss, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas A&M
ACC	6	Clemson, Duke, Florida State, Louisville, Notre Dame, Virginia Tech
Pac-12	6	California, Oregon, Stanford, UCLA, Utah, Washington
Big 12	4	Baylor, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas
Big Ten	4	Indiana, Minnesota, Nebraska, Northwestern
American	2	UCF, Wichita State
ASUN	2	Central Arkansas, Liberty
Big West	2	Cal State Fullerton, Long Beach State
Conference USA	2	Charlotte, Middle Tennessee
Sun Belt	2	Louisiana, Texas State
America East	1	UMBC
Atlantic 10	1	George Mason
Big East	1	Seton Hall
Big Sky	1	Northern Colorado
Big South	1	Campbell
CAA	1	Hofstra
Horizon	1	Northern Kentucky
Ivy League	1	Harvard
MAAC	1	Marist
Mid-American	1	Miami (OH)
MEAC	1	North Carolina Central
Missouri Valley	1	Southern Illinois
Mountain West	1	San Diego State
Northeast	1	LIU
Ohio Valley	1	Eastern Illinois
Patriot	1	Boston University
SoCon	1	UNC Greensboro
Southland	1	McNeese
Southwestern	1	Prairie View A&M
Summit	1	Omaha
WAC	1	Grand Canyon
West Coast	1	Loyola Marymount

National seeds

Sixteen national seeds were announced on the Selection Show, on Sunday, May 14 at 7 p.m. EDT on ESPN2. Teams in italics advanced to Super Regionals. Teams in bold advanced to the Women's College World Series.^[7]^[8]

1. Oklahoma
2. UCLA
3. Florida State
4. Tennessee
5. Alabama
6. Oklahoma State
7. Washington
8. Duke

9. Stanford
10. LSU
11. Arkansas
12. Northwestern
13. Texas
14. Georgia
15. Utah
16. Clemson

Regionals and Super Regionals

The Regionals took place May 19–21. The Super Regionals will take place May 25–28.

Norman Super Regional

Round 1			Round 2			Regional Finals				Super Regionals

1	Oklahoma	11⁽⁵⁾

	Hofstra	0
			1	Oklahoma	11⁽⁶⁾

				Missouri	0
	California	1

	Missouri	5⁽⁸⁾
						1	Oklahoma	16⁽⁵⁾	—
Norman Regional – Marita Hynes Field
							California	3	—
	Hofstra	0

	California	7
				Missouri	5

				California	7



										1	Oklahoma	9	8⁽⁹⁾	—

										16	Clemson	2	7	—
16	Clemson	17⁽⁵⁾

	UNC Greensboro	2
			16	Clemson	7

				Auburn	0
	Auburn	12⁽⁵⁾

	Cal State Fullerton	2
						16	Clemson	2	5
Clemson Regional – McWhorter Stadium
							Auburn	5	1
	UNC Greensboro	0

	Cal State Fullerton	5
				Auburn	5

				Cal State Fullerton	0

Durham Super Regional

Round 1			Round 2			Regional Finals				Super Regionals

8	Duke	2

	George Mason	1
			8	Duke	5

				Charlotte	0
	Charlotte	7

	Campbell	2
						8	Duke	4	—
Durham Regional – Duke Softball Stadium
							Charlotte	2	—
	George Mason	1

	Campbell	7
				Charlotte	6

				Campbell	4



										8	Duke	1	2	—

										9	Stanford	3	7	—
9	Stanford	1

	Long Beach State	0
			9	Stanford	8⁽⁶⁾

				Florida	0
	Florida	3

	Loyola Marymount	2
						9	Stanford	11	—
Stanford Regional – Boyd & Jill Smith Family Stadium
							Florida	2	—
	Long Beach State	1

	Loyola Marymount	2
				Florida	10

				Loyola Marymount	6

Tuscaloosa Super Regional

Round 1			Round 2			Regional Finals				Super Regionals

5	Alabama	5

	LIU	0
			5	Alabama	12

				Middle Tennessee	5
	Central Arkansas	0

	Middle Tennessee	8⁽⁵⁾
						5	Alabama	1	1
Tuscaloosa Regional – Rhoads Stadium
							Middle Tennessee	4	0
	LIU	0

	Central Arkansas	15⁽⁵⁾
				Middle Tennessee	3

				Central Arkansas	0



										5	Alabama	1	2	3

										12	Northwestern	3	1	2
12	Northwestern	2

	Eastern Illinois	0
			12	Northwestern	10

				Kentucky	8
	Kentucky	9⁽⁶⁾

	Miami (OH)	1
						12	Northwestern	5	—
Evanston Regional – Sharon J. Drysdale Field
							Miami (OH)	4	—
	Eastern Illinois	0

	Miami (OH)	4
				Kentucky	0

				Miami (OH)	9⁽⁵⁾

Knoxville Super Regional

Round 1			Round 2			Regional Finals				Super Regionals

4	Tennessee	12⁽⁵⁾

	Northern Kentucky	0
			4	Tennessee	9⁽⁵⁾

				Indiana	1
	Indiana	4

	Louisville	3
						4	Tennessee	7	—
Knoxville Regional – Sherri Parker Lee Stadium
							Indiana	3	—
	Northern Kentucky	1

	Louisville	9⁽⁵⁾
				Indiana	4

				Louisville	2



										4	Tennessee	5	9	—

										13	Texas	2	0	—
13	Texas	8⁽⁵⁾

	Seton Hall	0
			13	Texas	2

				Texas A&M	1
	Texas A&M	2⁽⁸⁾

	Texas State	1
						13	Texas	11	—
Austin Regional – Red and Charline McCombs Field
							Texas A&M	5	—
	Seton Hall	3

	Texas State	4
				Texas A&M	4

				Texas State	2

Tallahassee Super Regional

Round 1			Round 2			Regional Finals				Super Regionals

3	Florida State	9⁽⁵⁾

	Marist	0
			3	Florida State	5

				UCF	1
	South Carolina	1

	UCF	6
						3	Florida State	0	1
Tallahassee Regional – JoAnne Graf Field
							South Carolina	4	0
	Marist	1

	South Carolina	2
				UCF	1

				South Carolina	10



										3	Florida State	8	4	—

										14	Georgia	1	2	—
14	Georgia	12⁽⁵⁾

	North Carolina Central	0
			14	Georgia	8

				Virginia Tech	3
	Virginia Tech	6

	Boston University	1
						14	Georgia	12⁽⁶⁾	—
Athens Regional – Jack Turner Stadium
							Virginia Tech	3	—
	North Carolina Central	0

	Boston University	8⁽⁶⁾
				Virginia Tech	9⁽⁵⁾

				Boston University	0

Stillwater Super Regional

Round 1			Round 2			Regional Finals				Super Regionals

6	Oklahoma State	9⁽⁶⁾

	UMBC	0
			6	Oklahoma State	6

				Wichita State	0
	Wichita State	6

	Nebraska	5
						6	Oklahoma State	5	—
Stillwater Regional – Cowgirl Stadium
							Nebraska	2	—
	UMBC	2

	Nebraska	3
				Wichita State	8

				Nebraska	9⁽⁹⁾



										6	Oklahoma State	8	9	—

											Oregon	1	0	—
11	Arkansas	11⁽⁵⁾

	Harvard	0
			11	Arkansas	4

				Oregon	10
	Oregon	5

	Notre Dame	4
							Oregon	14⁽⁵⁾	—
Fayetteville Regional – Bogle Park
						11	Arkansas	4	—
	Harvard	2

	Notre Dame	5
			11	Arkansas	5

				Notre Dame	0

Seattle Super Regional

Round 1			Round 2			Regional Finals				Super Regionals

7	Washington	10⁽⁶⁾

	Northern Colorado	2
			7	Washington	3

				McNeese	1
	Minnesota	4

	McNeese	5⁽¹³⁾
						7	Washington	0	7
Seattle Regional – Husky Softball Stadium
							McNeese	1	6
	Northern Colorado	0

	Minnesota	4
				McNeese	1

				Minnesota	0



										7	Washington	8⁽⁵⁾	2	—

											Louisiana	0	0	—
10	LSU	12⁽⁵⁾

	Prairie View A&M	2
			10	LSU	4

				Louisiana	0
	Louisiana	5

	Omaha	0
						10	LSU	4	8
Baton Rouge Regional – Tiger Park
							Louisiana	7	9
	Prairie View A&M	0

	Omaha	3
				Louisiana	9⁽⁵⁾

				Omaha	0

Salt Lake City Super Regional

Round 1			Round 2			Regional Finals				Super Regionals

2	UCLA	2

	Grand Canyon	3
				Grand Canyon	0

				San Diego State	6
	Liberty	0

	San Diego State	7
							San Diego State	6	—
Los Angeles Regional – Easton Stadium
							Liberty	3	—
2	UCLA	1

	Liberty	2
				Grand Canyon	1

				Liberty	5



											San Diego State	4	1	2

										15	Utah	3	10⁽⁵⁾	7
15	Utah	11

	Southern Illinois	9
			15	Utah	7

				Ole Miss	1
	Baylor	0

	Ole Miss	3
						15	Utah	4	—
Salt Lake City Regional – Dumke Family Softball Stadium
							Ole Miss	1	—
	Southern Illinois	9

	Baylor	13⁽⁹⁾
				Ole Miss	9

				Baylor	2

Women's College World Series

The Women's College World Series will be held June 1 through June 9 in Oklahoma City.

Participants

School	Conference	Record (conference)	Head coach	WCWS appearances† (including 2023 WCWS)	WCWS best finish†*	WCWS W–L record† (excluding 2023 WCWS)
Alabama	SEC	44–20 (14–10)	Patrick Murphy	14 (last: 2021)	1st (2012)	22–25
Florida State	ACC	55–8 (22–2)	Lonni Alameda	12 (last: 2021)	1st (2018)	18–20
Oklahoma	Big 12	56–1 (18–0)	Patty Gasso	16 (last: 2022)	1st (2000, 2013, 2016, 2017, 2021, 2022)	43–23
Oklahoma State	Big 12	46–14 (10–8)	Kenny Gajewski	11 (last: 2022)	3rd (1989, 1990, 1993, 1994, 2022)	15–20
Stanford	Pac-12	44–13 (14–10)	Jessica Allister	3 (last: 2004)	4th (2001, 2004)	4–4
Tennessee	SEC	49–8 (19–5)	Karen Weekly	8 (last: 2015)	2nd (2007, 2013)	15–14
Washington	Pac-12	43–13 (16–8)	Heather Tarr	15 (last: 2019)	1st (2009)	26–23
Utah	Pac-12	42–14 (15–9)	Amy Hogue	4 (last: 1994)	5th (1994)	1–6

Bracket

First round			Second round			Semifinals				Finals

1	Oklahoma	2

9	Stanford	0
			1	Oklahoma	9⁽⁵⁾

			4	Tennessee	0
4	Tennessee	10

5	Alabama	5
						1	Oklahoma	4⁽⁹⁾	—

						9	Stanford	2	—
9	Stanford	2

5	Alabama	0
			7	Washington	0

			9	Stanford	1



										1	Oklahoma	5	3	—

										3	Florida State	0	1	—
3	Florida State	8⁽⁶⁾

6	Oklahoma State	0
			3	Florida State	3

			7	Washington	1
7	Washington	4

15	Utah	1
						3	Florida State	5	—

						4	Tennessee	1	—
6	Oklahoma State	8⁽⁵⁾

15	Utah	0
			4	Tennessee	3

			6	Oklahoma State	1

Game times are based on the local time (CDT) in Oklahoma City

Game results

Date^[9]	Game	Winning team	Score	Losing team	Winning pitcher	Losing pitcher	Save	Notes
June 1	Game 1	Tennessee	10–5	Alabama	Ashley Rogers (19–1)	Jaala Torrence (9–3)	Payton Gottshall (3)	Boxscore
	Game 2	Oklahoma	2–0	Stanford	Jordy Bahl (19–1)	NiJaree Canady (16–2)	–	Boxscore
	Game 3	Florida State	8–0 ⁽⁶⁾	Oklahoma State	Kathryn Sandercock (27–3)	Kelly Maxwell (16–6)	–	Boxscore
June 2	Game 4	Washington	4–1	Utah	Lindsay Lopez (14–3)	Mariah Lopez (23–7)	–	Boxscore
	Game 5	Stanford	2–0	Alabama	Alana Vawter (21–8)	Montana Fouts (25–11)	NiJaree Canady (4)	Alabama eliminated Boxscore
	Game 6	Oklahoma State	8–0 ⁽⁵⁾	Utah	Lexi Kilfoyl (16–5)	Sydney Sandez (13–6)	–	Utah eliminated Boxscore
June 3	Game 7	Oklahoma	9–0 ⁽⁵⁾	Tennessee	Jordy Bahl (20–1)	Karlyn Pickens (9–7)	–	Boxscore
June 3	Game 8	Florida State	3–1	Washington	Kathryn Sandercock (28–3)	Ruby Meylan (18–6)	–	Boxscore
June 4	Game 9	Stanford	1–0	Washington	NiJaree Canady (17–2)	Ruby Meylan (18–7)	–	Washington eliminated Boxscore
June 4	Game 10	Tennessee	3–1	Oklahoma State	Ashley Rogers (20–1)	Kelly Maxwell (16–7)	–	Oklahoma State eliminated Boxscore
June 5	Game 11	Oklahoma	4–2 ⁽⁹⁾	Stanford	Jordy Bahl (21–1)	NiJaree Canady (17–3)	–	Stanford eliminated Boxscore
June 5	Game 12	Florida State	5–1	Tennessee	Makenna Reid (13–0)	Payton Gottshall (16–2)	Kathryn Sandercock (10)	Tennessee eliminated Boxscore
Finals
June 7	Game 1	Oklahoma	5–0	Florida State	Jordy Bahl (22–1)	Mack Leonard (2–2)	–	Oklahoma 1–0
June 8	Game 2	Oklahoma	3–1	Florida State	Alex Storako (19–0)	Kathryn Sandercock (28–4)	Jordy Bahl (4)	Oklahoma wins WCWS

Finals

Game 1

June 7, 2023 – 7:00 p.m. (CDT) at USA Softball Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
Florida State	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	1
Oklahoma	0	0	0	3	1	1	x	5	9	2
WP: Jordy Bahl (22–1) LP: Mack Leonard (2–2) Attendance: 12,142 Boxscore

Game 2

June 8, 2023 – 6:30 p.m. CDT at USA Softball Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
Oklahoma	0	0	0	0	2	1	0	3	8	1
Florida State	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	3	0
WP: Alex Storako (19–0) LP: Kathryn Sandercock (28–4) Sv: Jordy Bahl (4) Home runs: OKLA: Cydney Sanders, Grace Lyons FSU: Mack Leonard Attendance: 12,195 Boxscore

All-tournament Team

The following players were members of the Women's College World Series All-Tournament Team.

Position	Player	School
P	Jordy Bahl (MOP)	Oklahoma
	NiJaree Canady	Stanford
	Kathryn Sandercock	Florida State
2B	Tiare Jennings	Oklahoma
3B	Zaida Puni	Tennessee
OF	Rylie Boone	Oklahoma
	Taylor Gindlesperger	Stanford
	Kiki Milloy	Tennessee
	Kaley Mudge	Florida State
C	Michaela Edenfield	Florida State
C	Kinzie Hansen	Oklahoma
U	Jayda Coleman	Oklahoma

Record by conference

Conference	# of Bids	Record	Win %	RF	SR	WS	NS	F	NC
Big 12	4	20–6	.769	3	3	2	1	1	1
ACC	6	18–14	.563	4	3	1	1	1	–
Pac-12	6	23–14	.622	5	4	3	1	–	–
SEC	12	33–26	.559	10	3	2	1	–	–
Mountain West	1	4–2	.667	1	1	–	–	–	–
Big Ten	4	9–8	.529	3	1	–	–	–	–
Sun Belt	2	5–5	.500	1	1	–	–	–	–
Conference USA	2	5–4	.556	2	–	–	–	–	–
Southland	1	3–2	.600	1	–	–	–	–	–
MAC	1	2–2	.500	1	–	–	–	–	–
ASUN	2	3–4	.429	1	–	–	–	–	–
American	2	2–4	.333	–	–	–	–	–	–
Big South	1	1–2	.333	–	–	–	–	–	–
Patriot	1	1–2	.333	–	–	–	–	–	–
Summit	1	1–2	.333	–	–	–	–	–	–
WAC	1	1–2	.333	–	–	–	–	–	–
West Coast	1	1–2	.333	–	–	–	–	–	–
Big West	2	1–4	.200	–	–	–	–	–	–
America East	1	0–2	.000	–	–	–	–	–	–
Atlantic 10	1	0–2	.000	–	–	–	–	–	–
Big East	1	0–2	.000	–	–	–	–	–	–
Big Sky	1	0–2	.000	–	–	–	–	–	–
CAA	1	0–2	.000	–	–	–	–	–	–
Horizon	1	0–2	.000	–	–	–	–	–	–
Ivy League	1	0–2	.000	–	–	–	–	–	–
MAAC	1	0–2	.000	–	–	–	–	–	–
MEAC	1	0–2	.000	–	–	–	–	–	–
Missouri Valley	1	0–2	.000	–	–	–	–	–	–
NEC	1	0–2	.000	–	–	–	–	–	–
Ohio Valley	1	0–2	.000	–	–	–	–	–	–
SoCon	1	0–2	.000	–	–	–	–	–	–
SWAC	1	0–2	.000	–	–	–	–	–	–

Media coverage

Radio

For the third consecutive year Westwood One provided nationwide radio coverage of every game in the Women's College World Series. Ryan Radtke and Leah Amico returned as two of the broadcasters. Chris Plank and Destinee Martinez worked select games, while Radtke and Amico called the Championship Series while Taylor Davis worked as a field reporter.^[10]

Television

ESPN held exclusive rights to the tournament. The network aired games across ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN+, SEC Network, Longhorn Network, and ACC Network. For just the sixth time in the history of the women's softball tournament, ESPN covered every regional.^[11]