The 2022 NCAA Division I softball season, part of college softball in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division I level, began in February 2022. The season progressed through the regular season, many conference tournaments and championship series, and concluded with the 2022 NCAA Division I softball tournament and 2022 Women's College World Series. The Women's College World Series, consisting of the eight remaining teams in the NCAA Tournament and held annually in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, at ASA Hall of Fame Stadium, ended in June 2022.
Realignment
The following conference moves for the 2022 season were announced: Five schools left the Southland Conference. Abilene Christian, Lamar, Sam Houston, and Stephen F. Austin moved to the WAC, and Central Arkansas left for the ASUN. The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference lost three members. Bethune–Cookman and Florida A&M joined the Southwestern Athletic Conference, and North Carolina A&T joined the Big South Conference. The Ohio Valley Conference lost Eastern Kentucky and Jacksonville State to the ASUN. The Summit League gained St. Thomas from NCAA Division III's Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference after the reception of a waiver for a direct transition to D-I.
Season outlook
USA Today/NFCA DI Coaches PollRankingTeam 1 Oklahoma 2 3 UCLA 4 5 6 7 Washington 8 9 Arizona 10 Texas 11 12 13 14 15 Clemson 16 Michigan 17 18 Oregon 19 20 21 Arizona State 22 23 Louisiana 24 25 ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate PollRankingTeam 1 Oklahoma 2 3 UCLA 4 5 6 7 Washington 8 Texas 9 10 11 Arizona 12 13 Michigan 14 Clemson 15 16 17 Oregon 18 19 20 21 Arizona State 22 23 Louisiana 24 25 D1Softball RankingTeam 1 Oklahoma 2 3 4 UCLA 5 6 7 Washington 8 9 Texas 10 11 12 Michigan 13 14 Clemson 15 Arizona 16 Oregon 17 18 19 20 21 Arizona State 22 Louisiana 23 24 25 Softball AmericaRankingTeam 1 Oklahoma 2 3 4 UCLA 5 6 7 Arizona 8 Washington 9 10 11 Texas 12 13 Michigan 14 Clemson 15 16 17 Oregon 18 19 Louisiana 20 21 Arizona State 22 23 24 25
Conference standings
Awards USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year: Jocelyn Alo, Oklahoma NFCA National Player of the Year: Jocelyn Alo, Oklahoma Softball America Player of the Year: Jocelyn Alo, Oklahoma NFCA National Pitcher of the Year: Georgina Corrick, South Florida Softball America Pitcher of the Year: Georgina Corrick, South Florida NFCA National Freshman of the Year: Jordy Bahl, Oklahoma Softball America Freshman of the Year: Jordy Bahl, Oklahoma Softball America Defensive Player of the Year: Jordyn Rudd, Northwestern NFCA Catcher of the Year: Mia Davidson, Mississippi State NFCA Golden Shoe Award: Alexis Johns, South Florida
All-America Teams The following players were members of the All-American Teams.
First Team Position Player Class School P Georgina Corrick SR. South Florida Jordy Bahl FR. Oklahoma Kelly Maxwell R-JR. Oklahoma State C Mia Davidson GS Mississippi State 1B Danielle Gibson R-SR. Arkansas 2B Tiare Jennings SO. Oklahoma 3B Hannah Gammill SO. Arkansas SS Baylee Klingler SR. Washington OF Rachel Lewis GS Northwestern Jayda Coleman SO. Oklahoma KB Sides R-SR. Arkansas UT Valerie Cagle SO. Clemson Jocelyn Alo R-SR. OklahomaAT-L Keely Rochard SR. Virginia Tech Grace Lyons SR. Oklahoma Danielle Williams SR. Northwestern Linnie Malkin R-SR. Arkansas Cydney Sanders FR. Arizona State
Second Team Position Player Class School P Chenise Delce R-JR. Arkansas Megan Faraimo R-JR. UCLA Kathryn Sandercock SR. Florida State C Delanie Wisz R-SR. UCLA 1B Haley Lee SR. Texas A&M 2B Janae Jefferson SR. Texas 3B Sydney Sherrill R-SR. Florida State SS Erin Coffel SO. Kentucky OF Yannira Acuña SR. Arizona State Addison Barnard SO. Wichita State Bailey Vannoy SR. Charlotte UT Miranda Elish GS Oklahoma State Skylar Wallace R-JR. FloridaAT-L Gabbie Plain GS Washington Sydney McKinney JR. Wichita State Allie Skaggs SO. Arizona Sara Mosley JR. Georgia Montana Fouts SR. Alabama
Third Team Position Player Class School P Mariah Mazon SR. Oregon State Hailey Dolcini SR. Texas Peyton St. George GS Duke C Makena Smith JR. California 1B Karina Gaskins SO. Notre Dame 2B Cam Ybarra SO. Nebraska 3B Karli Spaid SO. Miami (OH) SS Jameson Kavel GS Duke OF Carmyn Greenwood GS Louisville Emma Ritter SO. Virginia Tech Ellessa Bonstrom SR. Utah UT Sierra Lange GS George Washington Mac Barbara R-FR. San Diego StateAT-L Briana Perez R-SR. UCLA Bailey Parshall SR. Penn State Rachel Becker SR. Purdue Mya Stevenson SR. Marshall Lacey Fincher SR. Georgia
Coaching changes This table lists programs that changed head coaches at any point from the first day of the 2022 season until the day before the first day of the 2023 season. TeamFormercoachInterimcoachNewcoachReason Michigan State Jacquie Joseph Joseph announced her retirement after 29 seasons at Michigan State on May 12. Texas A&M Jo Evans On May 23, Texas A&M announced that head coach Jo Evans' contract would not be renewed.
See also 2022 NCAA Division I baseball season
References