The 2012 NCAA Division I softball tournament was held from May 18 through June 6, 2012 as the final part of the 2012 NCAA Division I softball season. The 64 NCAA Division I college softball teams were selected out of an eligible 284 teams on May 13, 2012. 30 teams were awarded an automatic bid as champions of their conference, and 34 teams were selected at-large by the NCAA Division I Softball Selection Committee. The tournament culminated with eight teams playing in the 2012 Women's College World Series at ASA Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City.
Alabama won the national title, defeating Oklahoma 2–1 in the best-of-three final to win the program's first national championship, and also the first softball title for any Southeastern Conference school.
Automatic bids Conference School ACC America East Atlantic 10 Atlantic Sun Big 12 Oklahoma Big East Big South Big Ten Big West Colonial Conference USA Horizon Ivy Mid-American Metro Atlantic Mid-Eastern Missouri Valley Mountain West Northeast Ohio Valley Pac–12 California Pacific Coast Patriot SEC Alabama Southern Southland SWAC Summit Sun Belt WAC
National seeds Teams in "italics" advanced to super regionals. Teams in "bold" advanced to Women's College World Series.
California Alabama
Oklahoma Florida
Louisiana–Lafayette
Regionals and super regionals
Berkeley Super Regional
Columbia Super Regional
Tampa Super Regional
Norman Super Regional
Tempe Super Regional
Austin Super Regional
Knoxville Super Regional
Tuscaloosa Super Regional
Women's College World Series
Participants School Conference Record (conference) Head coach WCWS appearances† (including 2012 WCWS) WCWS best finish† WCWS W–L record† (excluding 2012 WCWS) Alabama Southeastern 55–7 (19–6) Patrick Murphy 8 (last: 2011) 3rd (2008, 2009, 2011) 8–14 Pac-12 51–9 (18–4) Clint Myers 10 (last: 2011) 1st (2008, 2011) 16–14 California Pac-12 56–5 (21–3) Diane Ninemire 12 (last: 2011) 1st (2002) 19–19 Southeastern 39–23 (15–13) Beth Torina 3 (last: 2004) 3rd (2001, 2004) 5–4 Oklahoma Big 12 50–8 (19–5) Patty Gasso 7 (last: 2011) 1st (2000) 7–10 Pac-12 44–16 (16–8) Mike White 2 (last: 1989) 5th (1989) 1–2 Big East 50–12 (17–5) Ken Erickson 1 (last: – ) – () 0–0 Southeastern 52–12 (22–6) Ralph Weekly/ Karen Weekly 5 (last: 2010) 2nd (2007) 12–8 † Excludes results of the pre-NCAA Women's College World Series of 1969 through 1981.
Results
Bracket All times are Central Time Zone
Game results
Date Game Winner Score Loser Attendance Notes May 31, 2012 Game 1 Oklahoma 5–1 8,149 Lauren Chamberlain homered in the 4th inning to give Oklahoma the lead in their first WCWS win since 2004. Game 2 California 5–3 After falling behind 2–0, Cal rallied and finally took the lead with a 3-run 6th inning. Game 3 Alabama 5–3 8,235 Alabama took control early with 4 runs in the 1st inning en route to Jackie Traina's 38th victory of the season, tying the school's single-season mark. Game 4 3–1 Both pitchers were effective; a costly 2-run error by Oregon was the difference. June 1, 2012 Game 5 Oklahoma 3–0 California 9,209 Keilani Ricketts struck out 16 batters in a two-hit shutout. Game 6 Alabama 2–1 An 11-strikeout performance from Jackie Traina and a game-clinching solo home run in the 6th inning from senior Amanda Locke propelled Alabama to their fourth straight semifinals. With the victory, Traina took sole possession of Alabama's single-season record for wins. June 2, 2012 Game 7 1–0 8,504 LSU's A.J. Andrews scored the game's only run on a sacrifice popup to the shortstop. Game 8 3–1 Game 9 6–0 9,310 ASU's Alix Johnson and Sam Parlich combined for five RBIs. Game 10 California 6–3 June 3, 2012 Game 11 Oklahoma 5–3 Game 12 Alabama 5–2 California Jackie Traina, Kaila Hunt and Jazlyn Lunceford each hit solo home runs for Alabama. Alabama scored in every inning except for the first inning. June 4, 2012 Finals game 1 Oklahoma 4–1 Alabama June 5, 2012 Finals game 2 Alabama 8–6 Oklahoma June 6, 2012 Finals game 3 Alabama 5–4 Oklahoma After trailing 3–0, Alabama scored 4 runs in the bottom of the 4th, one before and three after a thirteen-minute rain delay, to take the lead. Alabama wins 2012 WCWS.
Championship game
School Top Batter Stats. Alabama Crimson Tide Amanda Locke (DP) 2-3 RBI Oklahoma Sooners Lauren Chamberlain (1B) 2-3 3RBIs 2HRs BB
School Pitcher IP H R ER BB SO AB BF Alabama Crimson Tide Jackie Traina (W) 7.0 5 4 4 3 6 27 31 Oklahoma Sooners Keilani Ricketts (L) 6.0 7 5 3 2 7 26 28
Final standings
Place School WCWS record 1st Alabama 5–1 2nd Oklahoma 4–2 3rdCalifornia 2–2 2–2 5th 1–2 1–2 7th 0–2 0–2
All-Tournament Team Amber Freeman, Arizona State Samantha Pappas, Oregon Alexa Peterson, Oregon Lauren Chamberlain, Oklahoma Destinee Martinez, Oklahoma Keilani Ricketts, Oklahoma Jessica Shults, Oklahoma Brianna Turang, Oklahoma Kayla Braud, Alabama Jennifer Fenton, Alabama Amanda Locke, Alabama Jackie Traina, Alabama (Most Valuable Player)
Post-series notes Jackie Traina was named the Women's College World Series MVP. Traina pitched 42 innings, surrendering 18 earned runs on 35 hits and 24 walks while striking out 45 to lead Alabama to its first national softball title. It was also the first national softball title for the SEC.
External links http://www.ncaa.com/brackets/softball/d1/ http://www.ncaa.com/sports/ncaa-w-softbl-body.html
References