| Year: | 2008 |
| Teams: | 64 |
| Wcwsballpark: | ASA Hall of Fame Stadium |
| City: | Oklahoma City |
| Champions: | Arizona State |
| Titlecount: | 1st NCAA (3rd overall) |
| Runner-Up: | Texas A&M |
| Wcwscount: | 7th |
| Coach: | Clint Myers |
| Coachcount: | 1st |
| Mop: | Katie Burkhart |
| Mopteam: | Arizona State |
The 2008 NCAA Division I softball tournament was held from May 15 through June 4, 2008. 64 NCAA Division I college softball teams met after having played their way through a regular season, and for some, a conference tournament, to play in the NCAA Tournament. The tournament culminated with eight teams playing in the 2008 Women's College World Series at ASA Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
Bold indicates WCWS participant.
Bold indicates winner. * indicates host.
| School | Conference | Record (conference) | Head coach | WCWS appearances† (including 2008 WCWS) | WCWS best finish† | WCWS W–L record† (excluding 2008 WCWS) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 56–5 (25–3) | 5 (last: 2006) | 5th (2000, 2005) | 2–8 | ||||
| 41–16 (13–8) | Larry Ray (acting coach) | 20 (last: 2007) | 1st (1991, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 2001, 2006, 2007) | 57–25 | |||
| 61–5 (18–3) | 7 (last: 2007) | 3rd (1982, 2002) | 5–12 | ||||
| 67–3 (27–1) | 1 | — | 0–0 | ||||
| Louisiana–Lafayette | 51–12 (19–3) | 5 (last: 2003) | 3rd (1993) | 5–8 | |||
| 54–7 (17–1) | 7 (last: 2007) | 1st (1983, 1987) | 18–10 | ||||
| 49–17 (16–5) | 1 | — | 0–0 | ||||
| 48–6 (17–4) | 24 (last: 2006) | 1st (1982, 1984, 1985, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1999, 2003, 2004) | 88–27 |
| Date | Game | Winner | Score | Loser | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 29, 2008 | Game 1 | 3–2 | In 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 2 | 1–0 | A throwing error allowed Texas A&M to score an unearned run in the 6th inning.[3] [4] | ||||
| Game 3 | 3–1 | ASU erased a 0-1 deficit and scored 3 runs in the 7th inning.[5] [6] | ||||
| Game 4 | 1–0 | Two errors in the first inning helped UCLA score their only run.[7] [8] | ||||
| May 30, 2008 | Game 5 | 2–1 | Louisiana–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 6 | 4–0 | Arizona State scored 2 runs in both 3rd and 5th innings; UCLA had 4 hits and Arizona State had 3 hits.[11] [12] | ||||
| May 31, 2008 | Game 7 | 2–0 | VT 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 8 | 5–1 | Alabama scored 4 runs in the 6th inning to knock out 2-time defending champion Arizona.[15] [16] | ||||
| Game 9 | 2–0 | Florida 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 10 | 3–1 | Louisiana–Lafayette eliminated; Alabama scored the winning runs in the 5th inning.[18] | ||||
| June 1, 2008 | Game 11 | 6–1 | Florida 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 12 | 3–1 | ASU scored on a three-run home run. ASU advances to the National Championship series, and Alabama is eliminated.[20] [21] | ||||
| Game 13 | 1–0 | Texas 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, 2008 | Finals game 1 | 3–0 | Arizona State had a run in the 1st, 3rd, and 5th innings. Krista Donnenwirth hit a home run.[24] [25] | |||
| June 3, 2008 | Finals game 2 | 11–0 | Arizona 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] |
| 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 | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | AB | BF | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arizona State Sun Devils | Katie Burkhart (W) | 7.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 13 | 25 | 26 | |
| Texas A&M Aggies | Megan Gibson (L) | 7.0 | 10 | 11 | 10 | 3 | 5 | 31 | 35 |
| Place | School | WCWS record | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Arizona State | 5–0 | |
| align=center | 2nd | Texas A&M | 3–3 |
| 3rd | Florida | 3–2 | |
| Alabama | 2–2 | ||
| 5th | align=center | UCLA | 1–2 |
| Louisiana–Lafayette | 1–2 | ||
| 7th | Arizona | 0–2 | |
| Virginia Tech | 0–2 |
The following players were members of the All-Tournament Team:[28]