2019 NCAA Division I softball tournament explained

Year:	2019
Teams:	64
Wcwsballpark:	ASA Hall of Fame Stadium
City:	Oklahoma City
Champions:	UCLA
Titlecount:	13th NCAA (14th overall)
Wcwscount:	13th
Coach:	Kelly Inouye-Perez
Coachcount:	2nd
Mop:	Rachel Garcia
Mopteam:	UCLA
Attendance:	8,373 (Final game)
Television:	ESPN ESPN2 ESPN3 SEC Network Longhorn Network
Different Next:	2021

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 were selected at-large by the NCAA Division I softball selection committee. The 64-team, double-elimination tournament concluded with the 2019 Women's College World Series at ASA Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City. The UCLA Bruins won their 13th championship, defeating the Oklahoma Sooners in two games.

Bids

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
		Regionals (2002)
		WCWS (2012)
		Champions (2018)
		Regionals (2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018)
		Regionals (2010, 2014)
		Champions (2000, 2013, 2016, 2017)
		WCWS (1999, 2000, 2005, 2007)
		Regionals (2015, 2016)
		Regionals (2013, 2015, 2016, 2017)
		Champions (2005)
		Champions (1986)
		Super Regionals (2016)
		WCWS (1983, 1985, 1986)
		1st Appearance
		Regionals (1998, 2000, 2007, 2011, 2012, 2018)
		WCWS (1989)
		Regionals (2018)
		Super Regionals (2005)
		Regionals (2008, 2018)
		Regionals (1997, 2003)
		Regionals (2017, 2018)
		Regionals (1999)
		Champions (1982, 1984, 1985, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1999, 2003, 2004, 2010)
		Regionals (1996, 2002, 2003, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018)
		Champions (2014, 2015)
		Regionals (2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2014, 2015)
		Regionals (2007)
		Regionals (2016)
		Super Regionals (2009)
		WCWS (1993, 1995, 1996, 2003, 2008, 2014)
		1st Appearance
		Super Regionals (2010)

At-large

Team	Conference
	SEC
	Pac-12
	Pac-12
	SEC
	SEC
	Mountain West
	SEC
	American
	Big Ten
	SEC
	SEC
	ACC
	Big Ten
	SEC
	SEC
	ACC
	Big Ten
	ACC
	Big Ten
	Big 12
	SEC
	SEC
	Missouri Valley
	Pac-12
	SEC
	Big 12
	SEC
	Big 12
	American
	ACC
	Pac-12
	Big Ten

By conference

Conference	Total	Schools
SEC	13	Alabama,,,,,,,,, Ole Miss,,,
Big Ten	6	,,,,,
ACC	5	,,,,
Pac-12	5	,,, UCLA,
Big 12	4	,,,
American	3	,,
Missouri Valley	2	,
Mountain West	2	,
America East	1
Atlantic Sun	1
Atlantic 10	1
Big East	1
Big Sky	1
Big South	1
Big West	1
Colonial	1
	1
Horizon	1
Ivy	1
MAAC	1
Mid-American	1
Mid-Eastern	1
Northeast	1
Ohio Valley	1
Patriot	1
SoCon	1
Southland	1
Southwestern	1
Sun Belt	1	Louisiana
Summit	1	North Dakota State
WAC	1
West Coast	1

National seeds

16 National Seeds were announced on the Selection Show, on Sunday, May 12 at 9 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. (49–2)
2. UCLA (46–5)
3. (45–7)
4. (51–8)
5. (44–15)
6. (42–12)
7. (41–12)
8. Alabama (52–7)
9. (41–14)
10. (40–16)
11. Ole Miss (37–17)
12. (39–14)
13. (39–14)
14. (33–22)
15. (43–11)
16. (43–10)

Regionals and Super Regionals

The Regionals were held May 16–20, 2019. The Super Regionals were held May 23–26, 2019.

Los Angeles Super Regional

Women's College World Series

The Women's College World Series was held May 30 through June 4, 2019, in Oklahoma City.

Participants

Record (conference)	WCWS appearances† (including 2019 WCWS)	WCWS best finish†*	WCWS W–L record† (excluding 2019 WCWS)
57–8 (18–6)	12 (last: 2016)	1st (2012)	17–21
47–12 (19–5)	23 (last: 2010)	1st (1991, 1993, 1994, 1996 1997, 2001, 2006, 2007)	61–32
49–16 (12–12)	10 (last: 2018)	1st (2014, 2015)	26–16
46–12 (20–2)	1	—	—
54–3 (18–0)	13 (last: 2018)	1st (2000, 2013, 2016, 2017)	29–17
44–15 (13–5)	8 (last: 2011)	3rd (1989, 1990, 1993, 1994)	11–14
51–6 (20–4)	29 (last: 2018)	1st (1982, 1984, 1985, 1988, 1989, 1990 1992, 1999, 2003, 2004, 2010)	98–36
50–7 (20–4)	14 (last: 2018)	1st (2009)	24–21

† = From NCAA Division I Softball Championship Results

Bracket

All-tournament Team

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

Position	Player	School
P & MOP		style=	UCLA
P		style=	Washington
		style=	Alabama
	Samantha Show	style=	Oklahoma State
2B	Kinsley Washington	style=	UCLA
3B		style=	Oklahoma
OF		style=	Oklahoma
	Aaliyah Jordan	style=	UCLA
		style=	Oklahoma
		style=	UCLA
	Sami Reynolds	style=	Washington
U		style=	Alabama

Championship game

School	Top Batter	Stats.
UCLA Bruins	Brianna Tautalafua	3-3 HR RBI
Oklahoma Sooners	Sydney Romero	2-3 HR RBI

School	Pitcher	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	AB	BF
UCLA Bruins	Rachel Garcia (W)	7.0	8	4	4	3	4	38	33
Oklahoma Sooners	Giselle Juarez (L)	6.2	10	5	5	3	7	38	35

Game results

Date	Game	Winning team	Score	Losing team	Losing pitcher	Save	Notes
May 30	Game 1		7–2			–
	Game 2		3–1 ⁽⁸⁾			–
	Game 3		2–1			–
	Game 4		3–2			–
May 31	Game 5		6–2	Arizona		–
May 31	Game 6	Oklahoma	6–1			–
June 1	Game 7	Washington	5–3	Minnesota
	Game 8	Alabama	15–3 ⁽⁵⁾			–
	Game 9		1–0			–
	Game 10	Alabama	2–0	Arizona		–
June 2	Game 11	UCLA	3–0 ⁽¹⁰⁾			–
	Game 12	Alabama	1–0 ⁽⁸⁾			–
	Game 13	Oklahoma	7–3	Alabama		–
Finals
June 3	Game 1	UCLA	16–3	Oklahoma		–	UCLA 1–0
June 4	Game 2	UCLA	5–4	Oklahoma	Giselle Juarez (28–4)	–

Record by conference

Conference	of Bids	Record
Pac-12	5	26–9
Big 12	4	22–12
SEC	13	38–31
Big Ten	6	16–13
ACC	5	12–10
CAA	1	4–3
American	3	5–6
Mountain West	2	3–4
Sun Belt	1	2–2
Missouri Valley	2	2–4
Other	22	8–44

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. Ryan Radtke made his softball radio debut and joined returning analyst Leah Amico.

Television

ESPN held exclusive rights to the tournament. The network aired games across ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, SEC Network, and ESPN3. For just the third time in the history of the women's softball tournament, ESPN covered every regional.

Broadcast assignments

Regionals

Norman: Pam Ward & Jenny Dalton-Hill
Evanston: Kevin Fitzgerald & Jennie Ritter
Austin: Alex Loeb & Megan Willis
Tuscaloosa: Tiffany Greene & Kayla Braud
Gainesville: Eric Frede & Madison Shipman
Knoxville: Jenn Hildreth & Carol Bruggeman]
Stillwater: Melissa Lee & Cheri Kempf
Tallahassee: Mike Couzens & Erin Miller

Super Regionals

Norman: Tiffany Greene & Kayla Braud
Tuscaloosa: Beth Mowins, Jessica Mendoza, & Michele Smith
Gainesville: Eric Frede & Madison Shipman
Tallahassee: Courtney Lyle & Amanda Scarborough

Women's College World Series

Adam Amin, Amanda Scarborough, & Tiffany Greene (afternoons, early Fri)
Beth Mowins, Jessica Mendoza (Thurs, Fri, Championship series), Michele Smith, & Holly Rowe (evenings minus early Fri)

Regionals

Seattle: Alex Perlman & Kenzie Fowler
Lexington: Dave Baker & Francesca Enea
Oxford: Seth Austin & Missy Dickerson
Tucson: Beth Mowins & Michele Smith
Minneapolis: Courtney Lyle & Amanda Scarborough
Baton Rouge: Matt Schumacker & Leigh Dakich
Ann Arbor: Mark Neely & Danielle Lawrie
Los Angeles: Trey Bender & Leah Amico

Super Regionals

Seattle: Mark Neely, Danielle Lawrie, & Holly Rowe
Tucson: Mike Couzens & Erin Miller
Minneapolis: Jenn Hildreth & Carol Bruggeman
Los Angeles: Pam Ward & Jenny Dalton-Hill

Women's College World Series Finals

Beth Mowins, Jessica Mendoza, Michele Smith, & Holly Rowe (TV)
Adam Amin, Amanda Scarborough, Kayla Braud, & Tiffany Greene (ESPN3 Second Screen Experience)

Notes and References

Web site: ESPN Regular Season NCAA Division I Softball Schedule Going Yard with More than 1,200 Games . ESPNPressRoom.com . ESPN . 23 April 2019.