The 2019 NCAA Division I Softball season, play of

college softball College softball is softball as played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education, predominantly in the United States. College softball is normally played by women at the Intercollegiate level, whereas college baseball is nor ...

in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division I level, began February 7, 2019. The season will progress through the regular season, many conference tournaments and championship series, and will conclude with the

2019 NCAA Division I softball tournament The 2019 NCAA Division I softball tournament was held from May 31 to June 4, 2019, as the final part of the 2019 NCAA Division I softball season. Thirty-two teams were awarded automatic bids as champions of their conferences, and the remaining 3 ...

and

2019 Women's College World Series The 2019 NCAA Division I softball tournament was held from May 31 to June 4, 2019, as the final part of the 2019 NCAA Division I softball season. Thirty-two teams were awarded automatic bids as champions of their conferences, and the remaining 32 ...

. The Women's College World Series, consisting of the eight remaining teams in the NCAA Tournament will be held annually in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma at ASA Hall of Fame Stadium, will end in June 2019.

Realignment and format changes

* Liberty, after 27 seasons in the

Big South Conference The Big South Conference is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I. Originally a non-football conference, the Big South began sponsoring football in 2002 as part of the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). Th ...

, joined the Atlantic Sun Conference (ASUN) on July 1, 2018. * USC Upstate, after 11 years in the ASUN, moved to the Big South.

Ballpark Changes

*The 2019 season will be the last for the Virginia team at The Park. The team will move to the new University of Virginia Softball Stadium in 2020.

Season outlook

Conference standings

Conference winners and tournaments

Of the 31 Division I athletic conferences that sponsor baseball, 27 end their regular seasons with a single-elimination tournament or a double elimination tournament. The teams in each conference that win their regular season title are given the number one seed in each tournament. Four conferences, the Big West, Mountain West, Pac-12, and West Coast Conference do not hold a conference tournament. The winners of these tournaments, plus the Big West, Mountain West, Pac-12, and West Coast Conference regular-season champions, receive automatic invitations to the

National Invitational Softball Championship

UTA Mavericks The UT Arlington Mavericks (abbreviated UT Arlington, UTA, and Mavs) are the athletic teams that represent the University of Texas at Arlington in Arlington, Texas. The Mavericks currently compete in the NCAA Division I Western Athletic Confere ...

defeated the Iowa State Cyclones in the championship; Aileen Garcia was named MVP for the series.

Women's College World Series

Participants

† = ''From NCAA Division I Softball Championship Results''

Bracket

The 2019 Women's College World Series will begin on May 30 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

Season leaders

Batting * Batting average: ''.507 – Courtney Cashman,

UMass Lowell River Hawks The UMass Lowell River Hawks are the NCAA Division I intercollegiate athletics teams representing the University of Massachusetts Lowell in Lowell, Massachusetts, United States. Members of the America East Conference for all sports (except the me ...

'' * RBIs: ''84 – Bailey Hemphill, Alabama Crimson Tide'' * Home runs: ''29 – Jessie Harper,

Arizona Wildcats The Arizona Wildcats are the sport, athletic teams that represent the University of Arizona, located in Tucson, Arizona, Tucson. The Wildcats compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I (NCAA Divis ...

'' Pitching *

Wins WINS may refer to: *WINS (AM), an all-news radio station in New York City *WINS-FM, a radio station in New York City *World Institute for Nuclear Security *Windows Internet Name Service *WINS (solution stack), a set of software subsystems *Wireles ...

: ''39-6 – Summer Ellyson, Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns'' * ERA: ''1.03 (30 ER/203.2 IP) – Brooke Yanez, UC Davis Aggies'' *

Strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is deno ...

s: ''423 –

Nicole Newman Nicole Newman (born October 1996) is an American, former collegiate All-American, right-handed batting professional softball pitcher, originally from Madison, Wisconsin. She attended La Follette High School in Madison. She later attended Dra ...

, Drake Bulldogs''

Records

NCAA Division I season perfect games: ''5 –

, Drake Bulldogs'' Freshman class single game

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is deno ...

s: ''27 – Kelly Nelson, Holy Cross Crusaders; March 6, 2019 (16

innings An innings is one of the divisions of a cricket match during which one team takes its turn to bat. Innings also means the period in which an individual player bats (acts as either striker or nonstriker). Innings, in cricket, and rounders, is bot ...

)'' Team consecutive

wins WINS may refer to: *WINS (AM), an all-news radio station in New York City *WINS-FM, a radio station in New York City *World Institute for Nuclear Security *Windows Internet Name Service *WINS (solution stack), a set of software subsystems *Wireles ...

streak: ''41 – Oklahoma Sooners; February 24-May 19, 2019''

Awards

* USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year: Rachel Garcia, UCLA *Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year

Honda Sports Award The Honda Sports Award is an annual award in the United States, given to the best collegiate female athlete in each of twelve sports. There are four nominees for each sport, and the twelve winners of the Honda Sports Award are automatically in th ...

Softball: Rachel Garcia, UCLA *

Softball: Rachel Garcia, UCLA * NFCA National Pitcher of the Year: Rachel Garcia, ULA *espnW Softball Player of the Year: Rachel Garcia, UCLA *

Softball America Player of the Year The Softball America Player of the Year is an award given by Wilson Sporting Goods to the best college softball College softball is softball as played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education, predominantly in the Unite ...

: Rachel Garcia, UCLA * NFCA National Player of the Year:

Abbey Cheek Abbey Cheek (born March 18, 1997) is an American softball player for thUSSSA Florida Prideof thWomen's Professional Fastpitch League(WPF) and an Assistant softball coach at Bethune-Cookman University. Early life Cheek attended Chapman High Schoo ...

, Kentucky *

Softball America Pitcher of the Year The Softball America Pitcher of the Year is an award given by Wilson Sporting Goods to the best college softball College softball is softball as played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education, predominantly in the United ...

: Giselle Juarez,

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

NFCA National Freshman of the Year The NFCA National Freshman of the Year is an award given by Schutt Sports Schutt Sports (trade name of Kranos Corporation) was a United States company that manufactured protective gear for several sports, focusing on American football, baseball ...

Danielle Williams Danielle Gracia Williams (born 14th September 1992) is a Jamaican track and field athlete specialising in the sprint hurdles. She is best known for winning the gold medal at the 2015 World Championships. In addition, she won two medals at Summe ...

, Northwestern *

Softball America Freshman of the Year The Softball America Freshman of the Year is an award given by Wilson Sporting Goods to the best college softball College softball is softball as played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education, predominantly in the Unite ...

, Northwestern *

Softball America Defensive Player of the Year The Softball America Player of the Year is an award given by Wilson Sporting Goods to the best defensive college softball College softball is softball as played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education, predominantly in ...

Sis Bates Nicole "Sis" Bates is a former American college softball player for the Washington Huskies softball, Washington Huskies and a member of the United States women's national softball team. She currently is a member of Athletes Unlimited Professional ...

, Washington * Softball America Freshman Pitcher of the Year: Shealyn O'Leary, Texas *

NFCA Catcher of the Year The NFCA Catcher of the Year is an award given by Diamond Sports to the best college softball catcher Catcher is a Baseball positions, position in baseball and softball. When a Batter (baseball), batter takes their at bat, turn to hit, the ca ...

: Dejah Mulipola, Arizona * NFCA Golden Shoe Award: Jaquelyn Ramon, Southeastern Louisiana * Senior CLASS Award: Katie Reed, Kentucky

Coaches

*NFCA National Coaching Staff of the Year: UCLA *NFCA West Regional Coaching Staff of the Year: UCLA *NFCA Central Regional Coaching Staff of the Year:

*NFCA Great Lakes Regional Coaching Staff of the Year: Minnesota *NFCA Mid-Atlantic Regional Coaching Staff of the Year: Virginia Tech *NFCA Mideast Regional Coaching Staff of the Year: Louisiana Tech &

Southeast Missouri State Southeast Missouri State University (SEMO) is a public university in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. In addition to the main campus, the university has four regional campuses offering full degree programs and a secondary campus housing the Holland Col ...

*NFCA Midwest Regional Coaching Staff of the Year: Oklahoma State *NFCA Northeast Regional Coaching Staff of the Year: James Madison *NFCA Pacific Regional Coaching Staff of the Year: Washington *NFCA South Regional Coaching Staff of the Year: Alabama *NFCA Southeast Regional Coaching Staff of the Year: Florida

Assistants

*NFCA Assistant Coach of the Year: Sara Michalowski-Marino, Missouri

Other Awards

*Turface Athletics/NFCA Field of the Year: Jane Sanders Stadium, Oregon *Donna Newberry "Perseverance" Award: Bari Mance *Humanitarian Award: Joelle Della Volpe, St. Mary's High School (NJ) *Distinguished Service Award:

All America Teams

The following players were members of the All-American Teams. First Team Second Team Third Team

Final rankings

Coaching changes

This table lists programs that changed head coaches at any point from the first day of the 2019 season until the day before the first day of the 2020 season.

References

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