2018 NCAA Division I softball season

The 2018 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 2018. The season progressed through the regular season, many conference tournaments and championship series, and concluded with the 2018 NCAA Division I softball tournament and 2018 Women's College World Series. The Women's College World Series, consisting of the eight remaining teams in the NCAA Tournament and held annually in Oklahoma City at ASA Hall of Fame Stadium, ended on June 4, 2018.

2018 NCAA Division I softball season
Defending Champions	Oklahoma
Tournament
Women's College World Series
Champions	Florida State (1st title)
Runners-up	Washington (13th WCWS Appearance)
Winning Coach	Lonni Alameda (1st title)
WCWS MOP	Jessie Warren (Florida State)
Seasons

Conference standings

2018 American Athletic Conference softball standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT South Florida  ‍†‍‍y 14 – 7   .667 39 – 23   .629 Houston  ‍‍‍y 13 – 8   .619 37 – 22   .627 UCF  ‍‍‍ 12 – 9   .571 34 – 22   .607 Wichita State  ‍‍‍y 12 – 9   .571 32 – 23   .582 Memphis  ‍‍‍ 10 – 11   .476 37 – 21   .638 Tulsa ‍‍‡‍y 10 – 11   .476 34 – 25   .576 East Carolina  ‍‍‍ 8 – 13   .381 23 – 32   .418 UConn  ‍‍‍ 5 – 16   .238 20 – 35   .364 † – Conference champion ‡ – Tournament champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament As of May 31, 2018[1] Rankings from USA Today/NFCA Coaches	2018 Atlantic Coast Conference softball standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   T   PCT W   L   T   PCT Atlantic No. 1 Florida State  x‍‍‡‍y 21 – 3 – 0   .875 58 – 12 – 0   .829 Notre Dame  ‍‍‍y 13 – 10 – 0   .565 34 – 23 – 0   .596 Boston College  ‍‍‍ 13 – 10 – 0   .565 30 – 23 – 0   .566 Louisville  ‍‍‍ 10 – 12 – 0   .455 33 – 20 – 0   .623 Syracuse  ‍‍‍ 9 – 12 – 0   .429 30 – 20 – 0   .600 NC State  ‍‍‍ 5 – 18 – 0   .217 23 – 31 – 0   .426 Coastal Pittsburgh  x‍‍‍ 16 – 6 – 0   .727 33 – 18 – 1   .644 North Carolina  ‍‍‍ 15 – 8 – 0   .652 30 – 26 – 0   .536 Georgia Tech  ‍‍‍ 13 – 11 – 0   .542 28 – 26 – 0   .519 Duke  ‍‍‍ 13 – 11 – 0   .542 29 – 27 – 0   .518 Virginia Tech  ‍‍‍ 7 – 16 – 0   .304 23 – 30 – 0   .434 Virginia  ‍‍‍ 3 – 21 – 0   .125 12 – 41 – 0   .226 x – Division champion † – Conference champion ‡ – Tournament champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament As of June 13, 2018[2] Rankings from NFCA/USA Today[3]	2018 Big 12 Conference softball standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT No. 4 Oklahoma ‍†‍‡‍y 18 – 0   1.000 57 – 5   .919 No. 19 Baylor ‍‍‍y 12 – 6   .667 38 – 18   .679 Oklahoma State ‍‍‍y 12 – 6   .667 39 – 22   .639 No. 25 Texas ‍‍‍y 10 – 8   .556 33 – 26   .559 Texas Tech ‍‍‍ 5 – 13   .278 31 – 28   .525 Iowa State ‍‍‍ 4 – 14   .222 23 – 33   .411 Kansas ‍‍‍ 2 – 16   .111 27 – 25   .519 † – Conference champion ‡ – Tournament champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament Rankings from NFCA [4]
2018 Big Ten Conference softball standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT No. 17 Michigan ‍†‍‍y 18 – 3   .857 43 – 11   .796 No. 25 Minnesota ‍‍‡‍y 17 – 4   .810 36 – 15   .706 Indiana  ‍‍‍ 17 – 6   .739 25 – 29   .463 Ohio State ‍‍‍y 14 – 8   .636 34 – 13   .723 Northwestern ‍‍‍y 14 – 8   .636 36 – 16   .692 Illinois ‍‍‍ 13 – 8   .619 36 – 17   .679 Wisconsin ‍‍‍y 11 – 9   .550 27 – 20   .574 Michigan State  ‍‍‍ 10 – 12   .455 24 – 25   .490 Nebraska ‍‍‍ 9 – 13   .409 31 – 22   .585 Purdue  ‍‍‍ 7 – 15   .318 16 – 39   .291 Maryland  ‍‍‍ 7 – 16   .304 18 – 36   .333 Iowa  ‍‍‍ 6 – 16   .273 20 – 31   .392 Penn State  ‍‍‍ 5 – 18   .217 9 – 41   .180 Rutgers  ‍‍‍ 4 – 16   .200 19 – 31   .380 † – Conference champion ‡ – Tournament champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament As of May 7, 2018[5] Rankings from NFCA	2018 Pac-12 Conference softball standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT No. 6 Oregon ‍†‍‍y 21 – 3   .875 53 – 10   .841 No. 3 UCLA ‍‍‍y 20 – 4   .833 58 – 7   .892 No. 7 Arizona State ‍‍‍y 16 – 8   .667 48 – 13   .787 No. 2 Washington ‍‍‍y 15 – 8   .652 52 – 10   .839 No. 11 Arizona ‍‍‍y 13 – 11   .542 43 – 16   .729 Oregon State ‍‍‍y 9 – 14   .391 30 – 28   .517 California ‍‍‍y 7 – 16   .304 35 – 21   .625 Stanford ‍‍‍ 3 – 21   .125 24 – 31   .436 Utah ‍‍‍ 2 – 21   .087 20 – 30   .400 † – Conference champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament As of June 30, 2018[6] Rankings from NFCA/USA Today[7]	2018 Southeastern Conference softball standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT No. 4 Florida ‍†‍‡‍y 20 – 4   .833 47 – 8   .855 No. 8 Georgia  ‍‍‍ 16 – 8   .667 43 – 10   .811 No. 12 South Carolina  ‍‍‍ 15 – 9   .625 43 – 13   .768 No. 7 Tennessee  ‍‍‍ 14 – 10   .583 44 – 11   .800 No. 11 LSU ‍‍‍ 13 – 10   .565 40 – 13   .755 No. 14 Texas A&M  ‍‍‍ 13 – 11   .542 40 – 15   .727 No. 18 Arkansas  ‍‍‍ 12 – 12   .500 37 – 14   .725 No. 13 Alabama  ‍‍‍ 12 – 12   .500 32 – 17   .653 No. 15 Auburn  ‍‍‍ 11 – 12   .478 40 – 14   .741 No. 19 Kentucky  ‍‍‍ 8 – 15   .348 31 – 18   .633 No. 25 Mississippi State  ‍‍‍ 7 – 17   .292 35 – 20   .636 Ole Miss  ‍‍‍ 7 – 17   .292 30 – 22   .577 Missouri  ‍‍‍ 6 – 17   .261 28 – 27   .509 † – Conference champion ‡ – Tournament champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament As of Mar. 25, 2018[8] Rankings from NFCA
2018 Southland Conference softball standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Nicholls ‍†‍‍ 21 – 6 – 0   .778 40 – 15 – 0   .727 McNeese State**  ‍‍‡‍y 18 – 9 – 0   .667 41 – 21 – 0   .661 Southeastern Louisiana  ‍‍‍ 18 – 9 – 0   .667 38 – 21 – 0   .644 Stephen F. Austin  ‍‍‍ 18 – 9 – 0   .667 31 – 24 – 0   .564 Central Arkansas  ‍‍‍ 16 – 11 – 0   .593 29 – 27 – 0   .518 Abilene Christian  ‍‍‍ 15 – 12 – 0   .556 23 – 26 – 0   .469 Northwestern State  ‍‍‍ 14 – 13 – 0   .519 28 – 25 – 0   .528 Sam Houston State  ‍‍‍ 13 – 14 – 0   .481 24 – 33 – 0   .421 Lamar  ‍‍‍ 11 – 16 – 0   .407 27 – 28 – 0   .491 Incarnate Word  ‍‍‍ 7 – 20 – 0   .259 15 – 34 – 0   .306 Houston Baptist  ‍‍‍ 6 – 21 – 0   .222 9 – 34 – 0   .209 Texas A&M–Corpus Christi  ‍‍‍ 5 – 22 – 0   .185 14 – 37 – 1   .279 † – Conference champion ‡ – Tournament champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament As of May 19, 2018[9] Rankings from NFCA	2018 Sun Belt Conference softball standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT No. 18 Louisiana  ‍†‍‍y 21 – 6   .778 41 – 16   .719 No. 25 Texas State  ‍‍‡‍y 18 – 5   .783 43 – 16   .729 UT Arlington  ‍‍‍ 15 – 11   .577 31 – 27   .534 Georgia State  ‍‍‍ 13 – 12   .520 30 – 25   .545 Troy  ‍‍‍ 14 – 13   .519 34 – 26   .567 South Alabama  ‍‍‍ 13 – 13   .500 29 – 27   .518 Georgia Southern  ‍‍‍ 12 – 15   .444 28 – 25   .528 Louisiana–Monroe  ‍‍‍ 10 – 17   .370 24 – 29   .453 Coastal Carolina  ‍‍‍ 9 – 17   .346 26 – 28   .481 Appalachian State  ‍‍‍ 4 – 20   .167 17 – 35   .327 † – Conference champion ‡ – Tournament champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament As of February 27, 2019[10] Rankings from NFCA

National Invitational Softball Championship

Main article: National Invitational Softball Championship

Loyola Marymount Lions defeated the UC Riverside Highlanders in the championship; Hannah Bandimere was named MVP for the series.

Women's College World Series

The 2018 Women's College World Series began on June 1–4 in Oklahoma City.^[11]

	First round					Second round					Semifinals						Finals
	1	Oregon	11
	8	Arizona State	6
						1	Oregon	2
						5	Washington	6
	4	Oklahoma	0
	5	Washington	2
											5	Washington	3	—
											4	Oklahoma	0	—
	8	Arizona State	0
	4	Oklahoma	2
						2	Florida	0
						4	Oklahoma	2
																	5	Washington	0	3	—
																	6	Florida State	1	8	—
	3	UCLA	7
	6	Florida State	4
						3	UCLA	6
						2	Florida	5
	2	Florida	11(5)
	7	Georgia	3
											3	UCLA	1	6
											6	Florida State	3	12
	6	Florida State	7
	7	Georgia	2
						1	Oregon	1
						6	Florida State	4

Season leaders

Batting

• Batting average: .483 – Holly Speers, Kent State Golden Flashes
• RBIs: 76 – Brook Miko, Towson Tigers
• Home runs: 30 – Jocelyn Alo, Oklahoma Sooners

Pitching

• Wins: 33-6 – Meghan Beaubien, Michigan Wolverines
• ERA: 0.48 (7 ER/102.1 IP) – Brittany Gray, Georgia Bulldogs
• Strikeouts: 353 – Lindsey Bert, Furman Paladins

Records

NCAA Division I single game combined strikeouts: 46 – Brianna Jones, Southern Illinois Salukis (20) & Morgan Florey, Evansville Purple Aces (26); April 28, 2018 (16 innings)^[12]

Senior class single game walks: 6 – Ivie Drake, Georgia State Panthers; April 18, 2018

Senior class 7 inning single game strikeouts: 21 – Alexis Osorio, Alabama Crimson Tide; March 10, 2018

Freshman class doubles: 29 – Sydney Sherrill, Florida State Seminoles

Freshman class saves: 15 – Taylor Bauman, Florida Gulf Coast Eagles

Team walks: 360 – Florida Gators

Awards

• USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year:

Rachel Garcia, UCLA Bruins^[13]

• Honda Sports Award Softball:

Rachel Garcia, UCLA Bruins^[14]

• NFCA National Player of the Year:

Rachel Garcia, UCLA Bruins^[15]

• espnW National Player of The Year:

Rachel Garcia, UCLA Bruins^[16]

YEAR	G	AB	R	H	BA	RBI	HR	3B	2B	TB	SLG	BB	SO	SB	SBA
2018	61	174	29	59	.339	54	11	0	6	98	.563%	23	26	0	0

YEAR	W	L	GP	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	ERA	WHIP
2018	29	4	39	27	21	9	2	208.0	104	48	39	48	315	1.31	0.73

• NFCA National Freshman of the Year:

Jocelyn Alo, Oklahoma Sooners^[17]

YEAR	G	AB	R	H	BA	RBI	HR	3B	2B	TB	SLG	BB	SO	SB	SBA
2018	62	174	64	73	.445	72	30	0	7	170	.977%	49	19	4	5

• NFCA Catcher of the Year:

Gwen Svekis, Oregon^[18]

• NFCA Golden Shoe Award:

Cortni Emanuel, Georgia^[19]

All America Teams

The following players were members of the All-American Teams.^[20]

First Team

Position	Player	Class	School
P	Kelly Barnhill	JR.	Florida Gators
	Megan Kleist	JR.	Oregon Ducks
	Giselle Juarez	SO.	Arizona State Sun Devils
C	Gwen Svekis	SR.	Oregon Ducks
1B	Alyssa Palomino	SO.	Arizona Wildcats
2B	Aubrey Leach	JR.	Tennessee Lady Vols
3B	Sydney Romero	JR.	Oklahoma Sooners
SS	Sis Bates	SO.	Washington Huskies
OF	Aaliyah Jordan	FR.	UCLA Bruins
	Jessie Scroggins	SR.	Baylor Bears
	Amanda Lorenz	JR.	Florida Gators
UT	Rachel Garcia	SO.	UCLA Bruins
	Jocelyn Alo	FR.	Oklahoma Sooners
AT-L	Holly Speers	JR.	Kent State Golden Flashes
	Paige Parker	SR.	Oklahoma Sooners
	Vanessa Shippy	SR.	Oklahoma State Cowgirls
	Meghan Beaubien	FR.	Michigan Wolverines
	Ivie Drake	SR.	Georgia State Panthers

Second Team

Position	Player	Class	School
P	Miranda Elish	SO.	Oregon Ducks
	Kylee Hanson	SR.	FSU Seminoles
	Brittany Gray	SR.	Georgia Bulldogs
C	Kendyl Lindaman	SO.	Minnesota Golden Gophers
1B	Victoria Vidales	SR.	Texas A&M Aggies
2B	Kylee Perez	SR.	UCLA Bruins
3B	Nicole DeWitt	SR.	Florida Gators
SS	Lili Piper	JR.	Ohio State Buckeyes
OF	Kaylee Tow	FR.	Alabama Crimson Tide
	Cortni Emanuel	SR.	Georgia Bulldogs
	Annie Murphy	SR.	Boston College Eagles
UT	Savannah Heebner	JR.	Houston Cougars
	Taylor Rowland	SO.	Long Beach State 49ers
AT-L	Allie Walljasper	SR.	LSU Tigers
	Rachel Lewis	FR.	Northwestern Wildcats
	Jessie Warren	SR.	FSU Seminoles
	Janae Jefferson	FR.	Texas Longhorns
	Taran Alvelo	JR.	Washington Huskies

Third Team

Position	Player	Class	School
P	Carly Hoover	SR.	LSU Tigers
	Nicole Newman	JR.	Drake Bulldogs
	Randi Rupp	SR.	Texas State Bobcats
C	Libby Sugg	JR.	BYU Cougars
1B	Jessica Hartwell	JR.	Texas Tech Red Raiders
2B	Sydney Sherrill	FR.	FSU Seminoles
3B	Jena Cozza	SR.	UMass Minutewomen
SS	Alyssa DiCarlo	JR.	Georgia Bulldogs
OF	Kara Shutt	SR.	Elon Phoenix
	Kate Gordon	SO.	James Madison Dukes
	Paige Murphy	SR.	Eastern Kentucky Colonels
UT	Odicci Alexander	SO.	James Madison Dukes
	Maddie Roth	JR.	Kennesaw State Owls
AT-L	Meghan Gregg	SR.	Tennessee Lady Vols
	Faith Canfield	JR.	Michigan Wolverines
	Gabbie Plain	FR.	Washington Huskies
	Katie Prebble	FR.	Gardner-Webb Runnin' Bulldogs
	Jenna Lilley	SR.	Oregon Ducks