1998 NCAA Division I softball season

The 1998 NCAA Division I softball season, play of college softball in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division I level, began in February 1998. The season progressed through the regular season, many conference tournaments and championship series, and concluded with the 1998 NCAA Division I Softball Tournament and 1998 Women's College World Series. The Women's College World Series, consisting of the eight remaining teams in the NCAA Tournament and held in held in Oklahoma City at ASA Hall of Fame Stadium, ended on May 25, 1998.

1998 NCAA Division I softball season
Defending Champions	Arizona
Tournament
Women's College World Series
Champions	Fresno State (1st title)
Runners-up	Arizona (11th WCWS Appearance)
Winning Coach	Margie Wright (1st title)
WCWS MOP	Amanda Scott (Fresno State)
Seasons

Conference standings

1998 Big 12 Conference softball standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T   PCT     W   L   T   PCT No. 5 Nebraska ‍†‍‡‍^y 16 – 0 – 0   1.000     48 – 12 – 0   .800 No. 11 Oklahoma ‍‍‍^y 12 – 5 – 0   .706     49 – 15 – 0   .766 No. 7 Texas ‍‍‍^y 11 – 5 – 0   .688     49 – 16 – 0   .754 No. 24 Texas Tech ‍‍‍ 10 – 7 – 0   .588     45 – 19 – 0   .703 No. 4 Oklahoma State ‍‍‍^y 9 – 7 – 0   .563     42 – 19 – 0   .689 Kansas ‍‍‍ 7 – 11 – 0   .389     28 – 34 – 0   .452 Texas A&M ‍‍‍ 6 – 10 – 1   .382     32 – 25 – 2   .559 Iowa State ‍‍‍ 5 – 11 – 0   .313     16 – 27 – 0   .372 Missouri ‍‍‍ 5 – 13 – 0   .278     36 – 20 – 0   .643 Baylor ‍‍‍ 2 – 14 – 1   .147     20 – 36 – 1   .360 † – Conference champion ‡ – Tournament champion y – Invited to the NCAA Tournament Rankings from NFCA [1]

Women's College World Series

The 1998 NCAA Women's College World Series took place from May 21 to May 25, 1998 in Oklahoma City.[2]

		Arizona	1
		Oklahoma State	0
							Arizona	8^5
							Washington	0
		Washington	1
		UMass	0
												Arizona	5	—
											Oklahoma State	0	—
		Oklahoma State	6
		UMass	0
							Michigan	1
							Oklahoma State	3
																	Arizona	0
																	Fresno State	1
		Michigan	7
		Texas	2
							Michigan	0
							Fresno State	8^5
		Nebraska
		Fresno State	6
												Fresno State	1	6
											Washington	3	1
		Texas	1
		Nebraska	2
							Washington	3
							Nebraska	1

Season Leaders

BATTING

BATTING AVERAGE: .519 - Tanisha Kemp, Morgan State Bears

RBIs: 100 - Leah Braatz, Arizona Wildcats

HOME RUNS: 25 - Kelly Kretschman, Alabama Crimson Tide & Leah Braatz, Arizona Wildcats

PITCHING

WINS: 40-9 - Jenny Voss, Nebraska Cornhuskers

ERA: 0.42 (8 ER/132.0 IP) - Liza Brown, DePaul Blue Demons

STRIKEOUTS: 430, Danielle Henderson, UMass Minutewomen

Records

[3]

FRESHMAN CLASS RUNS: 94 - Kelly Kretschman, Alabama Crimson Tide

SENIOR CLASS RUNS: 97 - Alison McCutcheon, Arizona Wildcats

SENIOR CLASS HITS: 117 - Alison McCutcheon, Arizona Wildcats

TEAM STOLEN BASES: 368 - Alabama State Hornets

Awards

• Honda Sports Award Softball:

Nancy Evans, Arizona Wildcats[4][5]

YEAR	W	L	GP	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	ERA	WHIP
1998	36	2	42	37	36	20	3	241.2	160	40	34	39	255	0.98	0.82

YEAR	G	AB	R	H	BA	RBI	HR	3B	2B	TB	SLG	BB	SO	SB	SBA
1998	69	191	38	70	.366	44	7	1	15	108	.565%	30	8	1	1

All America Teams

The following players were members of the All-American Teams.[6]

FIRST TEAM

Position	Player	Class	School
P	Jenny Voss	SO.	Nebraska Cornhuskers
	Nancy Evans	SR.	Arizona Wildcats
	Christa Williams	SO.	Texas Longhorns
C	Leah Braatz	SR.	Arizona Wildcats
1B	Traci Conrad	JR.	Michigan Wolverines
2B	Nina Lindenberg	SR.	Fresno State Bulldogs
3B	Toni Mascarenas	FR.	Arizona Wildcats
SS	Ali Viola	SR.	Nebraska Cornhuskers
OF	Alison McCutcheon	SR.	Arizona Wildcats
	Laura Berg	SR.	Fresno State Bulldogs
	Lauren Bauer	FR.	Arizona Wildcats
DP	Brandy Arthur	SR.	North Carolina Tar Heels
UT	Sara Griffin	SR.	Michigan Wolverines
AT-L	Shannon Beeler	JR.	Minnesota Golden Gophers
	Nikki Cockrell	JR.	Texas Longhorns
	Jamie Foutch	JR.	Oklahoma State Cowgirls
	Amanda Scott	SO.	Fresno State Bulldogs
	Leticia Pineda	SR.	Arizona Wildcats

SECOND TEAM

Position	Player	Class	School
P	Jennifer Spediacci	SO.	Washington Huskies
	Danielle Henderson	JR.	UMass Minutewomen
	Jamie Graves	SO.	Washington Huskies
C	Melissa Gentile	SR.	Michigan Wolverines
1B	Kim Gutridge	SR.	UMass Minutewomen
2B	Yvette Healy	JR.	DePaul Blue Demons
3B	Isonette Polonius	JR.	East Carolina Pirates
SS	Kelly Kretschman	FR.	Alabama Crimson Tide
OF	Sandy Butler	FR.	Texas Tech Red Raiders
	Tia Morenz	SR.	Hawaii Rainbow Wahine
	Kellyn Tate	SR.	Michigan Wolverines
DP	Christie McCoy	SR.	Nebraska Cornhuskers
UT	Tarrah Beyster	SO.	Oregon State Beavers
AT-L	Debbie Bilbao	SR.	Iowa Hawkeyes
	Sandy Rhea	SR.	Utah Utes
	Becky Witt	FR.	Fresno State Bulldogs
	Jodi Reeves	SO.	Texas Longhorns
	Monica Triner	JR.	USF Bulls

THIRD TEAM

Position	Player	Class	School
P	Becky Blevins	JR.	Stanford Cardinal
	Lana Moran	SO.	Oklahoma Sooners
	Chelsey Sakizzie	SR.	Florida Gators
C	Julie Crandall	SR.	UNLV Rebels
1B	Chelo Lopez	SR.	CSUN Matadors
2B	Jodi Otten	SR.	LSU Tigers
3B	Heather Stella	JR.	Illinois State Redbirds
SS	Rosie Leutzinger	SO.	Washington Huskies
OF	Michele Acosta	JR.	Stanford Cardinal
	Wendy Harrison	SO.	Missouri Tigers
	Jody Dean	JR.	UNI Panthers
DP	Marcy Crouch	JR.	Stanford Cardinal
UT	Samantha Iuli	SO.	UIC Flames
AT-L	Monica Armendarez	SR.	Indiana Hoosiers
	Liza Brown	JR.	DePaul Blue Demons
	Eve Gaw	SR.	Washington Huskies
	Desarie Knipfer	SR.	Cal Poly Mustangs
	Steph Midthun	JR.	Minnesota Golden Gophers

References

1. "2019-2020 Big 12 Conference Record Book" (PDF). Big 12 Conference. pp. 196–197. Retrieved June 6, 2020.
2. "1998 Women's College World Series". Ncaa.org. Retrieved 2020-08-02.
3. "Division I Softball Records" (PDF). Ncaa.org. Retrieved 2020-07-18.
4. "PAST HONDA SPORTS AWARD WINNERS FOR SOFTBALL". Collegiatewomensportsawards.com. Retrieved 2020-08-02.
5. "Final 1998 Women's Softball Statistics Report" (PDF). Ncaa.org. Retrieved 2020-08-02.
6. "1998 NSCA Division I All-America Teams". Nfca.org. Retrieved 2020-08-02.