2008 Women's College World Series

The 2008 Women's College World Series was held May 29 through June 4, 2008 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Eight NCAA Division I college softball teams met after having advanced through a 64-team bracket to play at ASA Hall of Fame Stadium. The official host for the event was the University of Oklahoma.

Participants

SchoolConferenceRecord (Conference)Head CoachWCWS Appearances†
(including 2008 WCWS) 		WCWS Best Finish†WCWS W-L Record†
(excluding 2008 WCWS)
AlabamaSEC56-5 (25-3)Patrick Murphy5
(last: 2006)		5th
(2000, 2005)		2-8
ArizonaPac-1041-16 (13-8)Larry Ray (acting coach)20
(last: 2007)		1st
(1991, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 2001, 2006, 2007) 		57-25
Arizona St.Pac-1061-5 (18-3)Clint Myers7
(last: 2007)		3rd
(1982, 2002)		5-12
FloridaSEC67-3 (27-1)Tim Walton1-0-0
Louisiana-LafayetteSun Belt51-12 (19-3)Michael Lotief
Stefni Lotief		5
(last: 2003)		3rd
(1993)		5-8
Texas A&MBig 1254-7 (17-1)Jo Evans7
(last: 2007)		1st
(1983, 1987)		18-10
Virginia TechACC49-17 (16-5)Scot Thomas1-0-0
UCLAPac-1048-6 (17-4)Kelly Inouye-Perez24
(last: 2006)		1st
(1982, 1984, 1985, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1999, 2003, 2004)		88-27

† Excludes results of the pre-NCAA Women's College World Series of 1969 through 1981.

Tournament Notes

  • Florida and Virginia Tech were the first teams in their respective school histories to reach the WCWS in the NCAA era.

Bracket

2008 Women's College World Series bracket

  First round Second round Semifinals Finals
                                           
#1 Florida 2  
Louisiana-Lafayette 3  
  Louisiana-Lafayette 1  
  #5 Texas A&M 2  
#5 Texas A&M 1
Virginia Tech 0  
  #5 Texas A&M 1 1  
  #1 Florida 6 0  
#1 Florida 2  
Virginia Tech 0  
  #1 Florida 2
  #2 UCLA 0  
  #5 Texas A&M 0 0
  #6 Arizona State 3 11
#3 Alabama 1  
#6 Arizona State 3  
  #6 Arizona State 4
  #2 UCLA 0  
#2 UCLA 1
#7 Arizona 0  
  #6 Arizona State 3
  #3 Alabama 1  
#3 Alabama 5  
#7 Arizona 1  
  #3 Alabama 3
  Louisiana-Lafayette 1  

Game Results

DateGameWinnerScoreLoserNotes
May 29, 2008Game 1Louisiana-Lafayette3-2FloridaIn 8th inn., ULL pitcher Ashley Brignac threw 21 straight pitches after reaching a count of 3 balls, 2 strikes before the batter was retired.[1][2]
Game 2Texas A&M1-0Virginia TechA throwing error allowed Texas A&M to score an unearned run in the 6th inning.[3][4]
Game 3Arizona State3-1AlabamaASU erased a 0-1 deficit and scored 3 runs in the 7th inning.[5][6]
Game 4UCLA1-0ArizonaTwo errors in the first inning helped UCLA score their only run.[7][8]
May 30, 2008Game 5Texas A&M2-1Louisiana-LafayetteLouisiana-Lafayette tied the game in the bottom of the 6th inning;
Texas A&M scored the winning run in the top of the 7th inning.[9][10]
Game 6Arizona State4-0UCLAArizona State scored 2 runs in both 3rd and 5th innings;
UCLA had 4 hits and Arizona State had 3 hits.[11][12]
May 31, 2008Game 7Florida2-0Virginia TechVT eliminated in 9 innings; UF scored 2 runs in top of the 9th, VT pitcher Angela Tincher missed tying WCWS record for SO in extra-inning game by 1.[13][14]
Game 8Alabama5-1ArizonaAlabama scored 4 runs in the 6th inning to knock out 2-time defending champion Arizona.[15][16]
Game 9Florida2-0UCLAFlorida scored on a pitching error and an RBI single in the first and sixth inning, respectively, to eliminate UCLA. UCLA's class became the first in school history to not win a WCWS title.[17]
Game 10Alabama3-1Louisiana-LafayetteLouisiana-Lafayette eliminated;
Alabama scored the winning runs in the 5th inning.[18]
June 1, 2008Game 11Florida6-1Texas A&MFlorida used 3 unearned runs in the 4th inning aided by a catcher's error to break a 1-1 tie and a 2-run HR extended the lead in the 7th inning.[19]
Game 12Arizona State3-1AlabamaASU scored on a three-run home run. ASU advances to the National Championship series, and Alabama is eliminated.[20][21]
Game 13Texas A&M1-0FloridaTexas A&M advances to the National Championship series.
Macie Morrow scored on Kelsey Spittler's triple in the top of the 9th inning.[22][23]
June 2, 2008Finals Game 1Arizona State3-0Texas A&MArizona State had a run in the 1st, 3rd, and 5th innings.
Krista Donnenwirth hit a home run.[24][25]
June 3, 2008Finals Game 2Arizona State11-0Texas A&MArizona State scored 7 runs in the 7th inning to make the game an 11 run game, blanking the Aggies and taking home the national championship trophy.[26]

Championship Game

[27]

School Top Batter Stats.
Arizona State Sun Devils Kaitlin Cochran (CF) 1-2 3RBIs HR 2BBs
Texas A&M Aggies Megan Gibson (P) 1-2 2B BB SB
School Pitcher IPHRERBBSOABBF
Arizona State Sun Devils Katie Burkhart (W) 7.04001132526
Texas A&M Aggies Megan Gibson (L) 7.0101110353135

Final standings

Place School WCWS Record
1st Arizona State 5-0
2nd Texas A&M 3-3
3rd Florida 3-2
Alabama 2-2
5th UCLA 1-2
Louisiana-Lafayette 1-2
7th Arizona 0-2
Virginia Tech 0-2

All Tournament Team

The following players were members of the All-Tournament Team:[28]

  • Francesca Enea, Florida
  • Charlotte Morgan, Alabama
  • Stacey Nelson, Florida
  • Holly Tankersley, La.-Lafayette
  • Angela Tincher, Virginia Tech
  • Megan Gibson, Texas A&M
  • Jami Lobpries, Texas A&M
  • Kaitlin Cochran, Arizona State
  • Krista Donnenwirth, Arizona State
  • Lesley Rogers, Arizona State
  • Jackie Vasquez, Arizona State
  • Katie Burkhart, Arizona State (Most Outstanding Player)

WCWS records tied or broken

  • 6,240 Session 1 (Games 1 and 2) total attendance — WCWS record[29]
  • 8,230 Session 3 (Games 5 and 6) total attendance — WCWS record[30]
  • In Game 11, Florida left fielder Francesca Enea hit two home runs to allow her team to defeat Texas A&M 6–1. She tied the WCWS record for the most home runs in a game in the NCAA era that was set by UCLA's Yvonne Gutierrez in 1992 and tied by Arizona's Lindsey Collins in 1999 and UCLA's Andrea Harrison in 2010.[31]
  • Arizona State's 11-0 victory over Texas A&M was the largest margin of victory in a NCAA championship clinching game.[32]

WCWS Leaders

Post-Series Notes

  • At the conclusion of their run in the series, Florida compiled a 70–5 overall record, becoming the first NCAA team to record 70 wins.[33]
  • The 2008 WCWS marked the first time that Arizona did not return to the championship game/series while defending one of their eight national championships.

See also

2008 NCAA Division I Softball Tournament

References

  1. ↑ "Ragin' Cajuns stun top-seeded Florida 3-2".
  2. ↑ "Gators upset on eighth-inning homer".
  3. ↑ "Slip-up sinks Hokies".
  4. ↑ "Errant throw allows Texas A&M to edge Hokies".
  5. ↑ "Women's College World Series: Late Arizona State rally bedevils Tide".
  6. ↑ "ASU softball rallies to win opener".
  7. ↑ "Softball: Unusual call goes against Cats".
  8. ↑ "UCLA beats defending champion Arizona, 1-0".
  9. ↑ "Aggies take advantage of error again".
  10. ↑ "Cajuns stalled: UL drops game to Texas A&M".
  11. ↑ "Bruins' strategy backfires vs. Devils".
  12. ↑ "UCLA strategy thwarted".
  13. ↑ "Virginia Tech can't capitalize on error, loses to Florida in CWS".
  14. ↑ "Tincher ends career without title, but with lasting legacy".
  15. ↑ "Alabama Softball Defeats Arizona, 5-1".
  16. ↑ "'Bama bounces Arizona Wildcats from softball tournament".
  17. ↑ "Arizona, UCLA out of Women's College World Series".
  18. ↑ "WOMEN'S COLLEGE WORLD SERIES: Alabama advances to semifinals".
  19. ↑ "WCWS: Florida Forces If-Game, Defeats Texas A&M 6-1".
  20. ↑ "Tide run ends with 3-1 loss to Arizona State".
  21. ↑ "ASU softball advances to World Series final".
  22. ↑ "Women's College World Series Blog: Game 5 vs. Texas A&M".
  23. ↑ "Once unheralded recruit, Lobpries comes up big for Texas A&M".
  24. ↑ "Texas A&M falls to Arizona State 3-0 in softball World Series opener".
  25. ↑ "Freshman delivers in ASU victory".
  26. ↑ "Arizona State wins NCAA softball title in rout". Archived from the original on June 10, 2008.
  27. ↑ "National Champions!". Thesundevils.com. 2008-06-03. Retrieved 2018-06-09.
  28. ↑ "Tincher named to WCWS All-Tournament Team".
  29. ↑ "UA softball team loses in 1st round of WCWS after delay".
  30. ↑ "WCWS Notebook: Getting 'Pearl'sonal".
  31. ↑ "Women's College World Series Notebook". 2008-06-02.
  32. ↑ Sun Devils - NCAA champs! Archived 2011-08-23 at the Wayback Machine.
  33. ↑ Gators' NCAA run ends
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