2018 NCAA Division I softball tournament

The 2018 NCAA Division I softball tournament was held from May 18 through June 6, 2018 as the final part of the 2018 NCAA Division I softball season. Thirty-two teams were awarded automatic bids as champions of their conferences, and the remaining 32 were selected at-large by the NCAA Division I softball selection committee. The tournament culminated with eight teams playing in the 2018 Women's College World Series at ASA Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City. This was the first year since the 2010 Women's College World Series that neither the Florida Gators nor the Oklahoma Sooners made the Championship Series. The Florida State Seminoles played in their first Women's College World Series Championship Series and became the first ACC team to make the Championship Series. The Washington Huskies made their fourth appearance in the Championship Series.

2018 NCAA Division I
softball tournament

Teams	64
Finals site	ASA Hall of Fame Stadium Oklahoma City
Champions	Florida State (1st title)
Runner-up	Washington (13 WCWS Appearance)
Winning coach	Lonni Alameda (1st title)
MOP	Jessie Warren (Florida State)
Television	ESPN ESPN2 ESPN3
← 2017  NCAA Division I softball tournament 2019 →

Automatic bids

The Big West, Mountain West, Pac-12, and West Coast Conference bids were awarded to the regular-season champion. All other conferences have the automatic bid go to the conference tournament winner.

Conference	School	Best finish	Reference
America East	Albany	Regionals (2005, 2006, 2007, 2011, 2014, 2017)
American	Tulsa	Regionals (2006, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017)
ACC	Florida State	WCWS (1987, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 2002, 2004, 2014, 2016)
A-10	Fordham	Regionals (2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017)
ASUN	Kennesaw State	1st Appearance
Big 12	Oklahoma	1st (2000, 2013, 2016, 2017)
Big East	DePaul	WCWS (1999, 2000, 2005, 2007)
Big Sky	Sacramento State	Regionals (1993, 1995, 2008)
Big South	Liberty	Regionals (2002, 2011)
Big Ten	Minnesota	WCWS (1976, 1978)
Big West	Cal State Fullerton	1st (1986)
Colonial	Hofstra	Super Regionals (2012)
Conference USA	Middle Tennessee	Regionals (2000)
Horizon League	UIC	WCWS (1994)
Ivy League	Harvard	Regionals (2007, 2011, 2012)
MAC	Ohio	Regionals (2014)
MAAC	Monmouth	1st Appearance
MEAC	Bethune–Cookman	Super Regionals (2005)
MVC	Drake	Regionals (2008)
Mountain West	Boise State	1st Appearance
Northeastern	Saint Francis (PA)	Regionals (2017)
OVC	Jacksonville State	Super Regionals (2009)
Pac-12	Oregon	3rd (2014, 2017)
Patriot League	Boston University	Regionals (1996, 2002, 2003, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016)
SEC	Florida	1st (2014, 2015)
SoCon	UNCG	Regionals (1997)
Southland	McNeese State	Regionals (1994, 2005, 2010, 2016, 2017)
SWAC	Prairie View A&M	1st Appearance
Summit League	North Dakota State	Super Regionals (2009)
Sun Belt	Texas State	Regionals (1999, 2001, 2003, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2016, 2017)
WAC	New Mexico State	Regionals (2011, 2015, 2017)
WCC	BYU	Super Regionals (2010)

National seeds

16 National Seeds were announced on the Selection Show Sunday, May 13 at 10 p.m. EDT on ESPN2.^[1] The 16 national seeds host the Regionals. Teams in italics advanced to Super Regionals. Teams in bold advance to Women's College World Series.

1. Oregon (47–7) 2. Florida (50–8) 3. UCLA (50–4) 4. Oklahoma (50–3) 5. Washington (44–8) 6. Florida State (47–10) 7. Georgia (43–11) 8. Arizona State (43–11)

9. South Carolina (45–14) 10. Tennessee (45–12) 11. LSU (41–14) 12. Alabama (33–18) 13. Arkansas (39–15) 14. Arizona (40–14) 15. Texas A&M (40–16) 16. Kentucky (31–19)

Regionals and Super Regionals

The Regionals took place May 17–20, 2018. One regional- Eugene, Oregon, took place May 17–19, 2018, because of BYU's no-Sunday-play policy; all other regionals occurred May 18–20, 2018. The Super Regionals took place from May 24–27, 2018.

Eugene Super Regional

	Round 1					Round 2					Regional Finals						Super Regionals
	1	Oregon	4
		Albany	0
						1	Oregon	5
							Drake	0
		BYU	2
		Drake	3
											1	Oregon	3	—
	Eugene Regional
												Drake	0	—
		BYU	16(5)
		Albany	0
							Drake	3
							BYU	0
																	1	Oregon	6	6	11(5)
																	16	Kentucky	9	1	1
	16	Kentucky	10(5)
		UIC	1
						16	Kentucky	10
							Notre Dame	0
		Notre Dame	4
		Michigan	1
											16	Kentucky	8(6)	—
	Lexington Regional
												Notre Dame	0	—
		UIC	0
		Michigan	6
							Notre Dame	2
							Michigan	1

Tempe Super Regional

	Round 1					Round 2					Regional Finals						Super Regionals
	8	Arizona State	2
		New Mexico State	0
						8	Arizona State	7
							Ole Miss	1
		Long Beach State	1
		Ole Miss	9
											8	Arizona State	9	—
	Tempe Regional
												Ole Miss	0	—
		New Mexico State	0
		Long Beach State	9
							Ole Miss	1
							Long Beach State	0
																	8	Arizona State	5	5	—
																	9	South Carolina	2	2	—
	9	South Carolina	3
		UNC Greensboro	0
						9	South Carolina	1
							Liberty	3
		Liberty	2(10)
		Hofstra	0
												Liberty	0	0
	Columbia Regional
											9	South Carolina	2	5
		UNC Greensboro	0
		Hofstra	6
						9	South Carolina	5
							Hofstra	4

Seattle Super Regional

	Round 1					Round 2					Regional Finals						Super Regionals
	5	Washington	8(5)
		Boise State	0
						5	Washington	2
							Texas	1
		Texas	2
		Minnesota	1
											5	Washington	5	—
	Seattle Regional
												Minnesota	2	—
		Boise State	3
		Minnesota	11
							Texas	0
							Minnesota	3
																	5	Washington	3(9)	6	—
																	12	Alabama	2	0	—
	12	Alabama	8(6)
		Middle Tennessee	0
						12	Alabama	9
							Wisconsin	1
		Oregon State	3
		Wisconsin	9(8)
											12	Alabama	6	—
	Tuscaloosa Regional
												Oregon State	0	—
		Middle Tennessee	0
		Oregon State	4
							Wisconsin	1
							Oregon State	5

Norman Super Regional

	Round 1					Round 2					Regional Finals						Super Regionals
	4	Oklahoma	9(5)
		Boston University	0
						4	Oklahoma	8
							Tulsa	0
		Tulsa	9(5)
		Missouri	1
											4	Oklahoma	7	—
	Norman Regional
												Missouri	0	—
		Boston University	8
		Missouri	10
							Tulsa	5
							Missouri	6
																	4	Oklahoma	7	9	—
																	13	Arkansas	2	0	—
	13	Arkansas	2
		DePaul	0
						13	Arkansas	5
							Wichita State	0
		Wichita State	8
		Oklahoma State	2
											13	Arkansas	6	—
	Fayetteville Regional
												Wichita State	4	—
		DePaul	0
		Oklahoma State	6
							Wichita State	5
							Oklahoma State	4

Los Angeles Super Regional

	Round 1					Round 2					Regional Finals						Super Regionals
	3	UCLA	3
		Sacramento State	0
						3	UCLA	2
							Cal State Fullerton	3(9)
		Cal State Fullerton	2
		Texas State	1
												Cal State Fullerton	0	4
	Los Angeles Regional
											3	UCLA	3	6
		Sacramento State	4
		Texas State	8
						3	UCLA	14(5)
							Texas State	1
																	3	UCLA	7	3	—
																	14	Arizona	1	2	—
	14	Arizona	1
		Saint Francis (PA)	0
						14	Arizona	6
							North Dakota State	0
		Mississippi State	4
		North Dakota State	5
											14	Arizona	4	—
	Tucson Regional
												Mississippi State	3	—
		Saint Francis (PA)	5
		Mississippi State	11
							North Dakota State	0
							Mississippi State	12

Tallahassee Super Regional

	Round 1					Round 2					Regional Finals						Super Regionals
	6	Florida State	8(5)
		Jacksonville State	0
						6	Florida State	2(8)
							Auburn	1
		Auburn	5
		Kennesaw State	2
											6	Florida State	10	—
	Tallahassee Regional
												Jacksonville State	0	—
		Jacksonville State	5(10)
		Kennesaw State	3
							Auburn	2
							Jacksonville State	3
																	6	Florida State	5	8(11)	3
																	11	LSU	6	5	1
	11	LSU	9(5)
		Fordham	0
						11	LSU	1
							Houston	0
		Houston	1
		Louisiana	0
											11	LSU	4	3
	Baton Rouge Regional
												Louisiana	5	1
		Fordham	3
		Louisiana	15(5)
							Houston	2
							Louisiana	7

Athens Super Regional

	Round 1					Round 2					Regional Finals						Super Regionals
	7	Georgia	6
		Harvard	2
						7	Georgia	12
							Northwestern	0
		Northwestern	3(8)
		California	2
											7	Georgia	9	—
	Athens Regional
												Northwestern	7	—
		Harvard	1
		California	10
							Northwestern	4
							California	3
																	7	Georgia	4	2(8)	—
																	10	Tennessee	3	1	—
	10	Tennessee	9(5)
		Monmouth	0
						10	Tennessee	12
							James Madison	3
		James Madison	2
		Ohio	1
											10	Tennessee	5	—
	Knoxville Regional
												Ohio	1	—
		Monmouth	0
		Ohio	4
							James Madison	3
							Ohio	7

Gainesville Super Regional

	Round 1					Round 2					Regional Finals						Super Regionals
	2	Florida	8(6)
		Bethune–Cookman	0
						2	Florida	10(6)
							Ohio State	2
		South Florida	1
		Ohio State	3
											2	Florida	4	—
	Gainesville Regional
												Ohio State	0	—
		Bethune–Cookman	0
		South Florida	3
							Ohio State	3
							South Florida	2
																	2	Florida	5	4	5
																	15	Texas A&M	4	5	3
	15	Texas A&M	9(5)
		Prairie View A&M	0
						15	Texas A&M	10(6)
							McNeese State	1
		Baylor	10
		McNeese State	11
											15	Texas A&M	10	—
	College Station Regional
												Baylor	4	—
		Prairie View A&M	0
		Baylor	9(5)
							McNeese State	0
							Baylor	6

Women's College World Series

The Women's College World Series was held May 31 through June 6, 2018, in Oklahoma City.

Participants

School	Conference	Record (conference)	Head coach	WCWS appearances† (including 2018 WCWS)	WCWS best finish†*	WCWS W–L record† (excluding 2018 WCWS)
Arizona State	Pac-12	48–11 (16–8)	Trisha Ford	12 (last: 2013)	1st (2008, 2011)	17–16
Florida	SEC	55–9 (20–4)	Tim Walton	9 (last: 2017)	1st (2014, 2015)	25–14
Florida State	ACC	52–11 (21–3)	Lonni Alameda	10 (last: 2016)	3rd (2002, 2016)	8–17
Georgia	SEC	48–11 (16–8)	Lu Harris-Champer	4 (last: 2016)	3rd (2009, 2010)	5–6
Oklahoma	Big 12	55–3 (18–0)	Patty Gasso	12 (last: 2017)	1st (2000, 2013, 2016, 2017)	27-15
Oregon	Pac-12	52–8 (21–3)	Mike White	6 (last: 2017)	3rd (2014, 2017)	6–10
UCLA	Pac-12	55–5 (20–4)	Kelly Inouye-Perez	28 (last: 2017)	1st (1982, 1984, 1985, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1995*, 1999, 2003, 2004, 2010)	96–34
Washington	Pac-12	49–8 (15–8)	Heather Tarr	13 (last: 2017)	1st (2009)	21–19

† = From NCAA Division I Softball Championship Results

Bracket

	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

All-tournament Team

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

Position	Player	School
P	Rachel Garcia	UCLA
	Paige Parker	Oklahoma
	Gabbie Plain	Washington
C	Taylor Pack	UCLA
	Anna Shelnutt	Florida State
2B	Sydney Sherrill	Florida State
3B &	Jessie Warren (MOP)	Florida State
SS	Sis Bates	Washington
OF	Bubba Nickles	UCLA
	Trysten Melhart	Washington
U	Jocelyn Alo	Oklahoma
	Meghan King	Florida State
	Elizabeth Mason	Florida State

Championship Game

^[2]

School	Top Batter	Stats.
Florida State Seminoles	Elizabeth Mason (DP)	2-3 3RBIs HR K
Washington Huskies	Noelle Hee (DP)	1-2 RBI

School	Pitcher	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	AB	BF
Florida State Seminoles	Meghan King (W)	7.0	5	3	1	0	4	25	28
Washington Huskies	Taran Alvelo (L)	3.1	7	7	6	1	4	16	18
Washington Huskies	Gabbie Plain	2.2	2	1	1	2	1	10	11

Schedule

Game	Time*	Matchup#	Television	Attendance
Thursday, May 31
1	11:00 a.m.	No. 1 Oregon vs. No. 8 Arizona State	ESPN	8,561
2	1:30 p.m.	No. 4 Oklahoma vs. No. 5 Washington
3	6:00 p.m.	No. 2 Florida vs. No. 7 Georgia	ESPN2	8,472
4	8:30 p.m.	No. 3 UCLA vs. No. 6 Florida State
Friday, June 1
5	6:00 p.m.	No. 1 Oregon vs. No. 5 Washington	ESPN	9,311
6	8:30 p.m.	No. 3 UCLA vs No. 2 Florida
Saturday, June 2
7	11:00 a.m.	No. 8 Arizona State vs. No. 4 Oklahoma	ESPN	8,728
8	1:30 p.m.	No. 6 Florida State vs. No. 7 Georgia
9	6:00 p.m.	No. 2 Florida vs. No. 4 Oklahoma		8,728
10	8:30 p.m.	No. 1 Oregon vs. No. 6 Florida State
Sunday, June 3
11	12:00 p.m.	No. 5 Washington vs. No. 4 Oklahoma	ESPN	8,932
12	2:30 p.m.	No. 3 UCLA vs. No. 6 Florida State
13*	6:00 p.m.*	No. 3 UCLA vs. No. 6 Florida State	ESPN2	6,903
14*	8:30 p.m.*	Not Necessary
Monday, June 4
Finals, G1	6:00 p.m.	No. 5 Washington vs. No. 6 Florida State	ESPN	8,152
Tuesday, June 5
Finals, G2	7:00 p.m.	No. 5 Washington vs. No. 6 Florida State	ESPN	8,123
Wednesday, June 6*
Finals, G3*	7:00 p.m.		ESPN	–
*Game times in CDT. # – Rankings denote tournament seed.* = if necessary

Record by conference

Conference	# of Bids	Record	Win %	RF	SR	WS	NS	F	NC
ACC	2	11–4	.714	2	1	1	1	1	1
Pac-12	7	33–13	.717	6	5	4	2	1	–
Big 12	4	11–8	.579	2	1	1	1	–	–
SEC	13	43–28	.606	12	9	2	–	–	–
Big Ten	5	8–10	.444	3	–	–	–	–	–
American	4	5–8	.385	1	–	–	–	–	–
Big West	2	3–4	.429	1	–	–	–	–	–
Sun Belt	2	4–4	.500	1	–	–	–	–	–
Big South	1	2–2	.500	1	–	–	–	–	–
MAC	1	2–2	.500	1	–	–	–	–	–
Missouri Valley	1	2–2	.500	1	–	–	–	–	–
Ohio Valley	1	2–2	.500	1	–	–	–	–	–
CAA	2	2–4	.333	–	–	–	–	–	–
Other	19	5–38	.116	–	–	–	–	–	–

The columns RF, SR, WS, NS, F, and NC respectively stand for the Regional Finals, Super Regionals, College World Series Teams, National Semi-Finals, Finals, and National Champion.

Media coverage

Radio

Westwood One provided nationwide radio coverage of the championship series. It was streamed online at westwoodsports.com, through TuneIn, and on SiriusXM. John Sadak made his softball radio debut and joined returning analyst Leah Amico for Westwood One.

Television

ESPN holds exclusive rights to the tournament. They aired games across ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, SEC Network, and ESPN3. For the second time in the history of the women's softball tournament ESPN covered every regional.^[3]

Broadcast assignments

Regionals[3] Eugene: Ted Enberg & Kenzie Fowler Lexington: Courtney Lyle & Jenny Dalton-Hill Columbia: Brad Muller & Dr. Megan Buning Tempe: Tiffany Greene & Amanda Scarborough Seattle: Eric Collins & Michele Smith Tuscaloosa: Melissa Lee & Leigh Dakich Fayetteville: Eric Frede & Jennie Ritter Norman: Pam Ward & Carol Bruggeman Super Regionals[4] Eugene: Mark Neely & Danielle Lawrie Tempe: Courtney Lyle & Jenny Dalton-Hill Seattle: Eric Frede & Jennie Ritter Norman: Pam Ward & Carol Bruggeman Women's College World Series[5] Adam Amin, Amanda Scarborough, & Laura Rutledge (afternoons, early Fri) Beth Mowins, Jessica Mendoza (minus Sunday), Michele Smith, & Holly Rowe (evenings minus early Fri)

Regionals[3] Los Angeles: Trey Bender & Leah Amico Tucson: Mark Neely & Danielle Lawrie Baton Rouge: Lyn Rollins & Yvette Girouard Tallahassee: Cara Capuano & Cheri Kempf Athens: Alex Loeb & Megan Willis Knoxville: Alex Perlman & Francesca Enea College Station: Tyler Denning & Amanda Freed Gainesville: Kevin Brown & Erin Miller Super Regionals[4] Los Angeles: Beth Mowins, Jessica Mendoza, Michele Smith, & Holly Rowe Tallahassee: Kevin Brown & Erin Miller Athens: Alex Loeb & Megan Willis Gainesville: Tiffany Greene & Amanda Scarborough Women's College World Series Finals[5] Beth Mowins, Jessica Mendoza, Michele Smith, & Holly Rowe (tv) Adam Amin, Amanda Scarborough, Kayla Braud, & Laura Rutledge (ESPN3 Second Screen Experience)[6]