| Year: | 2022 |
| Division: | Division I |
| Teams: | 64 |
| Wcwsballpark: | USA Softball Hall of Fame Stadium |
| City: | Oklahoma City |
| Champions: | Oklahoma |
| Titlecount: | 6th |
| Runner-Up: | Texas |
| Wcwscount: | 6th |
| Coach: | Patty Gasso |
| Coachcount: | 6th |
| Mop: | Jocelyn Alo |
| Mopteam: | Oklahoma |
| Television: | ABC ESPN ESPN2 ESPNU ACCN SECN LHN ESPN+ |
| Tournament Link: | NCAA Division I Softball Championship |
| Different Previous: | 2021 |
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 Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City.[1] [2]
A total of 64 teams entered the tournament, with 32 of them receiving an automatic bid by either winning their conference's tournament or by finishing in first place in their conference. The remaining 32 bids were issued at-large, with selections extended by the NCAA Selection Committee.
The Big West, Mountain West, Pac-12 and West Coast Conference bids were awarded to the regular-season champion. All other conferences had their automatic bid go to the conference tournament winner.[3]
| Team | Conference | |
|---|---|---|
| SEC | ||
| Pac-12 | ||
| SEC | ||
| ACC | ||
| ACC | ||
| SEC | ||
| SEC | ||
| ACC | ||
| Big Ten | ||
| SEC | ||
| SEC | ||
| Big Ten | ||
| Big Ten | ||
| SEC | ||
| SEC | ||
| Big Ten | ||
| ACC | ||
| Big Ten | ||
| Big 12 | ||
| SEC | ||
| Pac-12 | ||
| Pac-12 | ||
| American | ||
| Pac-12 | ||
| SEC | ||
| Big 12 | ||
| SEC | ||
| Pac-12 | ||
| ACC | ||
| Pac-12 | ||
| American | ||
| Big Ten |
| Conference | Total | Schools | |
|---|---|---|---|
| SEC | 12 | Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, LSU, Mississippi State, Missouri, Ole Miss, Tennessee, Texas A&M | |
| Big Ten | 7 | Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Northwestern, Ohio State, Wisconsin | |
| Pac-12 | 7 | Arizona, Arizona State, Oregon, Oregon State, Stanford, UCLA, Washington | |
| ACC | 6 | Clemson, Duke, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Notre Dame, Virginia Tech | |
| American | 3 | South Florida, UCF, Wichita State | |
| Big 12 | 3 | Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas | |
| ASUN | 1 | Liberty | |
| America East | 1 | UMBC | |
| Atlantic 10 | 1 | Fordham | |
| Big East | 1 | Villanova | |
| Big Sky | 1 | Weber State | |
| Big South | 1 | Campbell | |
| Big West | 1 | Cal State Fullerton | |
| Colonial | 1 | UNC Wilmington | |
| 1 | North Texas | ||
| Horizon | 1 | Oakland | |
| Ivy League | 1 | Princeton | |
| MAAC | 1 | Canisius | |
| Mid-American | 1 | Miami (OH) | |
| Mid-Eastern | 1 | Howard | |
| Missouri Valley | 1 | Missouri State | |
| Mountain West | 1 | San Diego State | |
| Northeast | 1 | Saint Francis (PA) | |
| Ohio Valley | 1 | Murray State | |
| Patriot | 1 | Lehigh | |
| SoCon | 1 | Chattanooga | |
| Southland | 1 | McNeese State | |
| Southwestern | 1 | Prairie View A&M | |
| Summit | 1 | South Dakota State | |
| Sun Belt | 1 | Louisiana | |
| WAC | 1 | Grand Canyon | |
| West Coast | 1 | Loyola Marymount |
16 National Seeds were announced on the Selection Show, on Sunday, May 15 at 7 p.m. EDT on ESPN2. Teams in italics advanced to Super Regionals. Teams in bold advanced to the Women's College World Series.[4]
1. Oklahoma
2.
3.
4.
5. UCLA
6.
7.
8. Arizona State
9.
10. Clemson
11.
12.
13. Washington
14.
15.
16.
The Regionals took place May 20–22. The Super Regionals took place May 26–29.
Played at Boyd & Jill Smith Family Stadium in Stanford, California
Played at Nusz Park in Starkville, Mississippi
The Women's College World Series was held June 2 through June 9 in Oklahoma City.
| School | Conference | Record (conference) | Head coach | WCWS appearances† (including 2022 WCWS) | WCWS best finish†* | WCWS W–L record† (excluding 2022 WCWS) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 38–20 (8–16) | 25 (last: 2021) | 1st (1991, 1993, 1994, 1996 1997, 2001, 2006, 2007) | 62–36 | ||||
| 48–17 (13–11) | 11 (last: 2019) | 1st (2014, 2015) | 26–18 | ||||
| 45–11 (19–4) | 6 (last: 2007) | 2nd (2006) | 14–11 | ||||
| 57–3 (17–1) | 15 (last: 2021) | 1st (2000, 2013, 2016, 2017, 2021) | 38–22 | ||||
| 46–12 (14–4) | 10 (last: 2021) | 3rd (1989, 1990, 1993, 1994, 2022) | 13–18 | ||||
| 39–20 (9–15) | 2 (last: 2006) | 8th (2006) | 0–2 | ||||
| 43–19–1 (12–6) | 6 (last: 2013) | 3rd (2003, 2005, 2013) | 7–10 | ||||
| 48–8 (19–5) | 31 (last: 2021) | 1st (1982, 1984, 1985, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1999, 2003, 2004, 2010, 2019) | 104–38 |
| Date[5] | Game | Winning team | Score | Losing team | Winning pitcher | Losing pitcher | Save | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 2 | Game 1 | 7–2 | Hailey Dolcini (23–10) | Megan Faraimo (22–5) | – | – | |||
| Game 2 | Hope Trautwein (19–1) | Danielle Williams (31–5) | – | – | |||||
| Game 3 | 7–1 | Natalie Lugo (12–5) | Sarah Haendiges (13–7) | – | – | ||||
| Game 4 | 4–2 | Kelly Maxwell (19–4) | Hanah Bowen (13–11) | – | – | ||||
| June 3 | Game 5 | UCLA | 6–1 | Northwestern | Megan Faraimo (23–5) | Danielle Williams (31–6) | – | Northwestern eliminated | |
| Game 6 | Arizona | 3–1 | Oregon State | Hanah Bowen (14–11) | Mariah Mazon (17–12) | – | Oregon State eliminated | ||
| June 4 | Game 7 | Oklahoma | 7–2 | Texas | Hope Trautwein (20–1) | Hailey Dolcini (23–11) | – | – | |
| Game 8 | Oklahoma State | 2–0 | Florida | Kelly Maxwell (20–4) | Lexie Delbrey (15–4) | – | – | ||
| June 5 | Game 9 | UCLA | 8–0 (6) | Florida | Holly Azevedo (21–2) | – | Florida eliminated | ||
| Texas | 5–2 | Arizona | Estelle Czech (12–1) | Hanah Bowen (14–12) | – | Arizona eliminated | |||
| June 6 | Game 11 | UCLA | 7–3 | Oklahoma | Nicole May (15–1) | – | |||
| Game 12 | Oklahoma | 15–0 (5) | UCLA | Hope Trautwein (21–1) | Holly Azevedo (21–3) | – | UCLA eliminated | ||
| Game 13 | Texas | 5–0 | Estelle Czech (13–1) | Morgan Day (13–5) | – | – | |||
| Game 14 | Texas | 6–5 | Oklahoma State | Hailey Dolcini (24–11) | Kelly Maxwell (20–5) | – | Oklahoma State eliminated Texas: First unseeded team in WCWS history to advance to the finals[6] | ||
| Finals | |||||||||
| June 8 | Game 1 | Oklahoma | 16–1 | Texas | Hope Trautwein (22–1) | Hailey Dolcini (24–12) | – | Oklahoma 1–0 | |
| June 9 | Game 2 | Oklahoma | 10–5 | Texas | Jordy Bahl (22–1) | Estelle Czech (13–2) | – | Oklahoma wins WCWS | |
The following players were members of the Women's College World Series All-Tournament Team.
| Position | Player | School | |
|---|---|---|---|
| P | Estelle Czech | style= | Texas |
| style= | UCLA | ||
| style= | Oklahoma State | ||
| style= | Oklahoma | ||
| 1B | Courtney Day | style= | Texas |
| 2B | style= | Oklahoma | |
| OF | Rylie Boone | style= | Oklahoma |
| Bella Dayton | style= | Texas | |
| C | Delanie Wisz | style= | UCLA |
| U | Jocelyn Alo (MOP) | style= | Oklahoma |
| style= | UCLA | ||
| style= | Oklahoma |
| Conference |
| Record | Win % | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Big 12 | 3 | 26–8 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | ||
| Pac-12 | 7 | 32–16 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 1 | – | – | ||
| SEC | 12 | 31–26 | 10 | 3 | 1 | – | – | – | ||
| Big Ten | 7 | 11–13 | 3 | 1 | 1 | – | – | – | ||
| ACC | 6 | 11–13 | 4 | 3 | – | – | – | – | ||
| American | 3 | 5–6 | 1 | 1 | – | – | – | – | ||
| Conference USA | 1 | 2–2 | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| Mountain West | 1 | 2–2 | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| Sun Belt | 1 | 2–2 | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| Southland | 1 | 2–2 | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| ASUN | 1 | 1–2 | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| Big West | 1 | 1–2 | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| MAC | 1 | 1–2 | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| Missouri Valley | 1 | 1–2 | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| Patriot | 1 | 1–2 | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| Southern | 1 | 1–2 | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| Summit | 1 | 1–2 | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| West Coast | 1 | 1–2 | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| America East | 1 | 0–2 | .000 | – | – | – | – | – | – | |
| Atlantic 10 | 1 | 0–2 | .000 | – | – | – | – | – | – | |
| Big East | 1 | 0–2 | .000 | – | – | – | – | – | – | |
| Big Sky | 1 | 0–2 | .000 | – | – | – | – | – | – | |
| Big South | 1 | 0–2 | .000 | – | – | – | – | – | – | |
| Colonial | 1 | 0–2 | .000 | – | – | – | – | – | – | |
| Horizon | 1 | 0–2 | .000 | – | – | – | – | – | – | |
| Ivy League | 1 | 0–2 | .000 | – | – | – | – | – | – | |
| Metro Atlantic | 1 | 0–2 | .000 | – | – | – | – | – | – | |
| Mid-Eastern | 1 | 0–2 | .000 | – | – | – | – | – | – | |
| Northeast | 1 | 0–2 | .000 | – | – | – | – | – | – | |
| Ohio Valley | 1 | 0–2 | .000 | – | – | – | – | – | – | |
| SWAC | 1 | 0–2 | .000 | – | – | – | – | – | – | |
| WAC | 1 | 0–2 | .000 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
For the second consecutive year Westwood One provided nationwide radio coverage of every game in the Women's College World Series. Ryan Radtke and Leah Amico returned as two of the broadcasters. Chris Plank and Destinee Martinez worked select games, while Radtke and Amico called the Championship Series.[7]
ESPN held exclusive rights to the tournament. The network aired games across ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN+, SEC Network, Longhorn Network, and ACC Network. For just the fifth time in the history of the women's softball tournament, ESPN covered every regional.[8]
Regionals[8]
Super Regionals[9]
Women's College World Series[10]
Regionals[8]
Super Regionals
Women's College World Series Finals[10]