The 2022 NCAA Division I softball season, part 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 The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

(NCAA) at the Division I level, began in February 2022. The season progressed through the regular season, many conference tournaments and championship series, and concluded with the

2022 NCAA Division I softball tournament The 2022 NCAA Division I softball tournament was held from May 20 through June 9, 2022, as the final part of the 2022 NCAA Division I softball season. The tournament culminated with the 2022 Women's College World Series at USA Softball Hall of ...

and

2022 Women's College World Series The 2022 NCAA Division I softball tournament was held from May 20 through June 9, 2022, as the final part of the 2022 NCAA Division I softball season. The tournament culminated with the 2022 Women's College World Series at USA Softball Hall of F ...

. The Women's College World Series, consisting of the eight remaining teams in the NCAA Tournament and held annually in

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Oklahoma, most populous city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat ...

, at

ASA Hall of Fame Stadium Devon Park, originally known as the Don E. Porter ASA Hall of Fame Stadium from 1987 to 2017 and USA Softball Hall of Fame Stadium, until 2024, is softball-specific ballpark located inside the USA Softball Hall of Fame Complex in Oklahoma City, ...

, ended in June 2022.

Realignment

The following conference moves for the 2022 season were announced: * Five schools left the

Southland Conference The Southland Conference (SLC) is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the South Central United States (specifically Texas and Louisiana). It participates in the NCAA's Division I for all sports; for football, it participates in ...

. Abilene Christian, Lamar,

Sam Houston Samuel Houston (, ; March 2, 1793 – July 26, 1863) was an American general and statesman who played a prominent role in the Texas Revolution. He served as the first and third president of the Republic of Texas and was one of the first two indi ...

, and Stephen F. Austin moved to the WAC, and

Central Arkansas Central Arkansas, also known as the Little Rock metro, designated by the United States Office of Management and Budget as the Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway Metropolitan Statistical Area, is the most populous metro area in the U.S. state ...

left for the ASUN. * The

Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC ) is a List of NCAA conferences, collegiate athletic conference whose full members are historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and the Mid-A ...

lost three members. Bethune–Cookman and

Florida A&M Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU), commonly known as Florida A&M, is a Public university, public Historically black colleges and universities, historically black land-grant university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. ...

joined the

Southwestern Athletic Conference The Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, which is made up of historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in the Southern United St ...

, and North Carolina A&T joined 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), ...

. * The

Ohio Valley Conference The Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the Midwestern and Southeastern United States. It participates in Division I of the NCAA; the conference's football programs compete in partnership with ...

lost

Eastern Kentucky Eastern or Easterns may refer to: Transportation Airlines *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai * Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways *Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 192 ...

and Jacksonville State to the ASUN. * The

Summit League The Summit League, or The Summit, is an NCAA Division I intercollegiate athletic conference with its membership mostly located in the Midwestern United States, from Minnesota in the east, to the Dakotas, Nebraska and Colorado to the West, and Mis ...

gained St. Thomas from

NCAA Division III NCAA Division III (D-III) is the lowest division of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States. D-III consists of athletic programs at colleges and universities that do not offer athletic scholarships to student- ...

Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference The Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC ) is an List of NCAA conferences, intercollegiate athletic conference that competes in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division III, Division III. All 13 of the mem ...

after the reception of a waiver for a direct transition to D-I.

Season outlook

Conference standings

Awards

USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year The USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year is an award given by USA Softball to the best college softball College softball is softball as played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education, predominantly in the United St ...

Jocelyn Alo Jocelyn Aloha Pumehana Alo (born September 23, 1998) is an American professional softball player for the Oklahoma City Spark of the Association of Fastpitch Professionals (AFP). She played college softball for the Oklahoma Sooners softball, Okla ...

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

NFCA National Player of the Year The NFCA National Player of the Year is an award given by Schutt Sports to the best college softball College softball is softball as played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education, predominantly in the United States. ...

* Softball America Player of the Year:

NFCA National Pitcher of the Year The NFCA National Player of the Year is an award given by Schutt Sports to the best college softball College softball is softball as played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education, predominantly in the United States. ...

Georgina Corrick Georgina Louise Corrick (born September 29, 1998) is a British born, American raised professional softball player for the Talons of the Athletes Unlimited Softball League (AUSL). She previously played softball for the Toda Medics of the Japan D ...

South Florida South Florida, sometimes colloquially shortened to SoFlo, is the Regions of the United States#Florida, southernmost region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is one of Florida's three most commonly referred to directional regions; the two others are ...

* Softball America Pitcher of the Year:

NFCA National Freshman of the Year The NFCA National Freshman of the Year is an award given by Schutt Sports to the best college softball College softball is softball as played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education, predominantly in the United States. ...

Jordy Bahl Jordyn Bahl (born July 24, 2002) is an American college softball pitcher for Nebraska. As a freshman at Oklahoma she was named NFCA National Freshman of the Year in 2022. As a junior in 2025 she was named NFCA National Player of the Year. High ...

* Softball America Freshman of the Year:

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 ...

: Jordyn Rudd, Northwestern *

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 position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front ...

: Mia Davidson,

Mississippi State Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university in Mississippi State, Mississippi, United States. It is classified among "R ...

NFCA Golden Shoe Award The NFCA Golden Shoe Award is an award given by New Balance to the best college softball College softball is softball as played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education, predominantly in the United States. College softb ...

: Alexis Johns,

All-America Teams

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

Coaching changes

This table lists programs that changed head coaches at any point from the first day of the 2022 season until the day before the first day of the 2023 season.

References

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