| Year: | 2023 |
| Division: | Division I |
| Teams: | 64 |
| Wcwsballpark: | USA Softball Hall of Fame Stadium |
| City: | Oklahoma City |
| Champions: | Oklahoma |
| Titlecount: | 7th |
| Runner-Up: | Florida State |
| Wcwscount: | 12th |
| Coach: | Patty Gasso |
| Coachcount: | 7th |
| Mop: | Jordy Bahl |
| Mopteam: | Oklahoma |
| Tournament Link: | NCAA Division I softball championship |
| Different Previous: | 2022 |
The 2023 NCAA Division I softball tournament was held from May 19 through June 8, 2023, as the final part of the 2023 NCAA Division I softball season. The tournament culminated with the 2023 Women's College World Series at USA Softball Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City.[1]
Charlotte, Eastern Illinois, George Mason, North Carolina Central, Northern Colorado, Northern Kentucky, and Omaha made their NCAA Division I softball tournament debuts.[2] Arizona failed to make the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1986, while Michigan failed to make the tournament for the first time since 1994.[3] [4]
A total of 64 teams will enter 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 will be at-large, with selections extended by the NCAA Selection Committee.[5]
The Big West 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.[6]
| Conference | School | Best finish | Last NCAA appearance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| America East | Regionals (2002, 2019, 2021, 2022) | 2022 | ||
| Super Regional (2022) | 2022 | |||
| Regionals (2015) | 2015 | |||
| National Champion (2018) | 2022 | |||
| First appearance | First appearance | |||
| Oklahoma | National Champion (2000, 2013, 2016, 2017, 2021, 2022) | 2022 | ||
| Regionals (2005) | 2005 | |||
| First appearance | First appearance | |||
| Regionals (1995, 2008, 2009, 2021, 2022) | 2022 | |||
| WCWS (1984, 1985, 1986, 2006, 2007, 2022) | 2022 | |||
| Big West | WCWS (1986, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993) | 2021 | ||
| Super Regionals (2012) | 2018 | |||
| Conference USA | Regionals (2000) | 2018 | ||
| First appearance | First appearance | |||
| Regionals (1998, 2000, 2007, 2011, 2012, 2018, 2019) | 2019 | |||
| MAAC | Regionals (2006, 2013, 2016) | 2016 | ||
| Regionals (2005, 2009, 2012, 2016, 2021, 2022) | 2022 | |||
| First appearance | First appearance | |||
| WCWS (1970, 1977, 1978) | 2021 | |||
| Mountain West | Regionals (2001, 2003, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2022) | 2022 | ||
| Regionals (2008, 2012, 2016) | 2016 | |||
| First appearance | First appearance | |||
| Pac-12 | WCWS (1985, 1991, 1994) | 2017 | ||
| Regionals (1996, 2002, 2003, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2019) | 2021 | |||
| Tennessee | WCWS Runner-Up (2007, 2013) | 2022 | ||
| Southern | Regionals (1997, 2018, 2021) | 2021 | ||
| Southland | McNeese | Regionals (1994, 2005, 2010, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2021, 2022) | 2022 | |
| SWAC | Regionals (2018, 2022) | 2022 | ||
| First appearance | First appearance | |||
| Louisiana | Third Place (1993) | 2022 | ||
| Regionals (2022) | 2022 | |||
| West Coast | Regionals (2005, 2007) | 2022 |
| Team | Conference | |
|---|---|---|
| SEC | ||
| SEC | ||
| SEC | ||
| Big 12 | ||
| Pac-12 | ||
| Big West | ||
| Conference USA | ||
| ACC | ||
| ACC | ||
| SEC | ||
| SEC | ||
| Big Ten | ||
| SEC | ||
| ASUN | ||
| ACC | ||
| SEC | ||
| Big Ten | ||
| SEC | ||
| Big Ten | ||
| ACC | ||
| Big 12 | ||
| SEC | ||
| Pac-12 | ||
| SEC | ||
| Pac-12 | ||
| Big 12 | ||
| SEC | ||
| Sun Belt | ||
| Pac-12 | ||
| ACC | ||
| Pac-12 | ||
| American |
| Conference | Total | Schools | |
|---|---|---|---|
| SEC | 12 | Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, LSU, Missouri, Ole Miss, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas A&M | |
| ACC | 6 | Clemson, Duke, Florida State, Louisville, Notre Dame, Virginia Tech | |
| Pac-12 | 6 | California, Oregon, Stanford, UCLA, Utah, Washington | |
| Big 12 | 4 | Baylor, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas | |
| Big Ten | 4 | Indiana, Minnesota, Nebraska, Northwestern | |
| American | 2 | UCF, Wichita State | |
| ASUN | 2 | Central Arkansas, Liberty | |
| Big West | 2 | Cal State Fullerton, Long Beach State | |
| 2 | Charlotte, Middle Tennessee | ||
| Sun Belt | 2 | Louisiana, Texas State | |
| America East | 1 | UMBC | |
| Atlantic 10 | 1 | George Mason | |
| Big East | 1 | Seton Hall | |
| Big Sky | 1 | Northern Colorado | |
| Big South | 1 | Campbell | |
| CAA | 1 | Hofstra | |
| Horizon | 1 | Northern Kentucky | |
| Ivy League | 1 | Harvard | |
| MAAC | 1 | Marist | |
| Mid-American | 1 | Miami (OH) | |
| MEAC | 1 | North Carolina Central | |
| Missouri Valley | 1 | Southern Illinois | |
| Mountain West | 1 | San Diego State | |
| Northeast | 1 | LIU | |
| Ohio Valley | 1 | Eastern Illinois | |
| Patriot | 1 | Boston University | |
| SoCon | 1 | UNC Greensboro | |
| Southland | 1 | McNeese | |
| Southwestern | 1 | Prairie View A&M | |
| Summit | 1 | Omaha | |
| WAC | 1 | Grand Canyon | |
| West Coast | 1 | Loyola Marymount |
Sixteen national seeds were announced on the Selection Show, on Sunday, May 14 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.[7] [8]
1. Oklahoma
2. UCLA
3.
4. Tennessee
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13. Texas
14.
15.
16. Clemson
The Regionals took place May 19–21. The Super Regionals will take place May 25–28.
The Women's College World Series will be held June 1 through June 9 in Oklahoma City.
| School | Conference | Record (conference) | Head coach | WCWS appearances† (including 2023 WCWS) | WCWS best finish†* | WCWS W–L record† (excluding 2023 WCWS) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 44–20 (14–10) | 14 (last: 2021) | 1st (2012) | 22–25 | ||||
| 55–8 (22–2) | 12 (last: 2021) | 1st (2018) | 18–20 | ||||
| 56–1 (18–0) | 16 (last: 2022) | 1st (2000, 2013, 2016, 2017, 2021, 2022) | 43–23 | ||||
| 46–14 (10–8) | 11 (last: 2022) | 3rd (1989, 1990, 1993, 1994, 2022) | 15–20 | ||||
| 44–13 (14–10) | 3 (last: 2004) | 4th (2001, 2004) | 4–4 | ||||
| 49–8 (19–5) | 8 (last: 2015) | 2nd (2007, 2013) | 15–14 | ||||
| 43–13 (16–8) | 15 (last: 2019) | 1st (2009) | 26–23 | ||||
| 42–14 (15–9) | 4 (last: 1994) | 5th (1994) | 1–6 |
| Date[9] | Game | Winning team | Score | Losing team | Winning pitcher | Losing pitcher | Save | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 1 | Game 1 | 10–5 | Ashley Rogers (19–1) | Jaala Torrence (9–3) | Boxscore | |||||
| Game 2 | 2–0 | Jordy Bahl (19–1) | – | Boxscore | ||||||
| Game 3 | Kelly Maxwell (16–6) | – | Boxscore | |||||||
| June 2 | Game 4 | 4–1 | Lindsay Lopez (14–3) | Mariah Lopez (23–7) | – | Boxscore | ||||
| Game 5 | Stanford | 2–0 | Alabama | Alana Vawter (21–8) | NiJaree Canady (4) | Alabama eliminated Boxscore | ||||
| Game 6 | Utah | Lexi Kilfoyl (16–5) | Sydney Sandez (13–6) | – | Utah eliminated Boxscore | |||||
| June 3 | Game 7 | Oklahoma | Tennessee | Jordy Bahl (20–1) | Karlyn Pickens (9–7) | – | Boxscore | |||
| Game 8 | Florida State | 3–1 | Washington | Kathryn Sandercock (28–3) | Ruby Meylan (18–6) | – | Boxscore | |||
| June 4 | Game 9 | Stanford | 1–0 | Washington | NiJaree Canady (17–2) | Ruby Meylan (18–7) | – | Washington eliminated Boxscore | ||
| Tennessee | 3–1 | Oklahoma State | Ashley Rogers (20–1) | Kelly Maxwell (16–7) | – | Oklahoma State eliminated Boxscore | ||||
| June 5 | Game 11 | Oklahoma | Stanford | Jordy Bahl (21–1) | NiJaree Canady (17–3) | – | Stanford eliminated Boxscore | |||
| Game 12 | Florida State | 5–1 | Tennessee | Makenna Reid (13–0) | Payton Gottshall (16–2) | Kathryn Sandercock (10) | Tennessee eliminated Boxscore | |||
| Finals | ||||||||||
| June 7 | Game 1 | Oklahoma | 5–0 | Florida State | Jordy Bahl (22–1) | Mack Leonard (2–2) | – | Oklahoma 1–0 | ||
| June 8 | Game 2 | Oklahoma | 3–1 | Florida State | Alex Storako (19–0) | Jordy Bahl (4) | Oklahoma wins WCWS | |||
The following players were members of the Women's College World Series All-Tournament Team.
| Position | Player | School | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | Jordy Bahl (MOP) | style= | Oklahoma | |
| style= | Stanford | |||
| Kathryn Sandercock | style= | Florida State | ||
| 2B | style= | Oklahoma | ||
| 3B | Zaida Puni | style= | Tennessee | |
| OF | Rylie Boone | style= | Oklahoma | |
| Taylor Gindlesperger | style= | Stanford | ||
| Kiki Milloy | style= | Tennessee | ||
| Kaley Mudge | style= | Florida State | ||
| C | Michaela Edenfield | style= | Florida State | |
| style= | Oklahoma | |||
| U | style= | Oklahoma |
| Conference |
| Record | Win % | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Big 12 | 4 | 20–6 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||
| ACC | 6 | 18–14 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | – | ||
| Pac-12 | 6 | 23–14 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 1 | – | – | ||
| SEC | 12 | 33–26 | 10 | 3 | 2 | 1 | – | – | ||
| Mountain West | 1 | 4–2 | 1 | 1 | – | – | – | – | ||
| Big Ten | 4 | 9–8 | 3 | 1 | – | – | – | – | ||
| Sun Belt | 2 | 5–5 | 1 | 1 | – | – | – | – | ||
| Conference USA | 2 | 5–4 | 2 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| Southland | 1 | 3–2 | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| MAC | 1 | 2–2 | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| ASUN | 2 | 3–4 | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| American | 2 | 2–4 | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| Big South | 1 | 1–2 | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| Patriot | 1 | 1–2 | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| Summit | 1 | 1–2 | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| WAC | 1 | 1–2 | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| West Coast | 1 | 1–2 | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| Big West | 2 | 1–4 | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| America East | 1 | 0–2 | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| Atlantic 10 | 1 | 0–2 | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| Big East | 1 | 0–2 | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| Big Sky | 1 | 0–2 | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| CAA | 1 | 0–2 | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| Horizon | 1 | 0–2 | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| Ivy League | 1 | 0–2 | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| MAAC | 1 | 0–2 | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| MEAC | 1 | 0–2 | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| Missouri Valley | 1 | 0–2 | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| NEC | 1 | 0–2 | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| Ohio Valley | 1 | 0–2 | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| SoCon | 1 | 0–2 | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| SWAC | 1 | 0–2 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
For the third 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 while Taylor Davis worked as a field reporter.[10]
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 sixth time in the history of the women's softball tournament, ESPN covered every regional.[11]
Regionals[11]
Super Regionals[12]
Women's College World Series[13]
Regionals[11]
Super Regionals[12]
Women's College World Series Finals[13]