# 1988 NCAA Division I softball season

The 1988 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 1988. The season progressed through the regular season, many conference tournaments and championship series, and concluded with the 1988 NCAA Division I softball tournament and 1988 Women's College World Series. The Women's College World Series, consisting of the eight remaining teams in the NCAA Tournament and held in Sunnyvale, California at ASA Hall of Fame Stadium, ended on May 29, 1988.

## Conference standings

1988 Big Ten Conference softball standings :
| 1988 Big Ten Conference softball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L T PCTW L T PCT Minnesota ‍†‍‍$^y$ 15–8–0 .65231–25–0 .554 Michigan ‍‍‍ 15–9–0 .62529–20–0 .592 Northwestern ‍‍‍ 14–10–0 .58325–23–0 .521 Indiana ‍‍‍ 13–10–1 .56336–20–1 .640 Iowa ‍‍‍ 10–13–0 .43533–20–1 .620 Michigan State ‍‍‍ 10–14–0 .41721–30–0 .412 Ohio State ‍‍‍ 5–18–0 .21719–31–1 .382 † – Conference champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament Rankings from Coaches' Poll | 1988 Pacific-10 Conference softball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT UCLA ‍†‍‍$^y$ 15–3 .83353–8 .869 Arizona ‍‍‍$^y$ 15–5 .75054–18 .750 Oregon ‍‍‍ 9–11 .45032–26 .552 Arizona State ‍‍‍ 8–12 .40026–25 .510 California ‍‍‍$^y$ 7–11 .38938–22 .633 Oregon State ‍‍‍ 2–14 .12513–32 .289 † – Conference champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament As of May 31, 1988 Rankings from Coaches' Poll | 1988 Pacific Coast Athletic Association softball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT Fresno State ‍†‍‍$^y$ 29–5 .85355–17 .764 Cal Poly Pomona ‍‍‍$^y$ 28–8 .77857–16 .781 Cal State Fullerton ‍‍‍ 24–10 .70652–20 .722 Long Beach State ‍‍‍$^y$ 25–11 .69446–17 .730 Pacific ‍‍‍ 16–18 .47135–27 .565 Hawaii ‍‍‍ 16–20 .44430–29 .508 San Jose State ‍‍‍ 13–19 .40624–29 .453 San Diego State ‍‍‍ 9–23 .28124–33 .421 UNLV ‍‍‍ 9–27 .25018–29 .383 UC Santa Barbara ‍‍‍ 3–31 .0886–50 .107 † – Conference champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament |
| 1988 Southland Conference softball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L T PCTW L T PCT Sam Houston State ‍†‍‡‍ 13–1–0 .92949–17–0 .742 Texas–Arlington ‍‍‍ 10–3–0 .76934–27–0 .557 Stephen F. Austin ‍‍‍ 10–4–0 .71433–16–0 .673 Northwestern Louisiana ‍‍‍ 6–7–0 .46225–24–0 .510 Southwest Texas State ‍‍‍ 6–8–0 .42921–39–0 .350 Northeast Louisiana ‍‍‍ 5–8–0 .38524–35–0 .407 McNeese State ‍‍‍ 3–11–0 .2148–34–0 .190 North Texas ‍‍‍ 1–12–0 .0774–51–0 .073 † – Conference champion ‡ – Tournament champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament As of May 20, 1988 Rankings from Coaches' Poll |

## Women's College World Series

The 1988 NCAA Women's College World Series took place from May 25 to May 29, 1988 in Sunnyvale, California.
| Upper round 1 | Upper round 1 | Upper round 1 | Upper round 2 | Upper round 2 | Upper round 2 | Upper final | Upper final | Upper final | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | | Final | Final | Final | Final |
| UCLA | UCLA | 1 | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Northern Illinois | Northern Illinois | 0 | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Northern Illinois | Northern Illinois | 0 | UCLA | UCLA | 6 | | | | | | | | |
| | | | Fresno State | Fresno State | 1 | | | | | | | | |
| Fresno State | Fresno State | 3 | Fresno State | Fresno State | 1 | | | | | | | | |
| Texas A&M | Texas A&M | 0 | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Texas A&M | Texas A&M | 0 | | | | UCLA | UCLA | 5 | | | | | |
| | | | | | | Arizona | Arizona | 0 | | | | | | | |
| Arizona | Arizona | 1 | | | | Arizona | Arizona | 0 | | | | | |
| Arizona | Arizona | 1 | | | | | | | UCLA | UCLA | 4 | | |
| Adelphi | Adelphi | 0 | | | | | | | UCLA | UCLA | 4 | | |
| Adelphi | Adelphi | 0 | Arizona | Arizona | 4 | | | | Cal Poly Pomona | Cal Poly Pomona | 1 | | |
| | | | Cal State Pomona | Cal State Pomona | 1 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Cal Poly Pomona | Cal Poly Pomona | 3 | Cal State Pomona | Cal State Pomona | 1 | | | | | | | | |
| Nebraska | Nebraska | 0 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | UCLA | UCLA | 1 | 3 |
| | | | Lower round 1 | Lower round 1 | Lower round 1 | Lower round 2 | Lower round 2 | Lower round 2 | | | | | Fresno State | Fresno State | 2 | 0 |
| | | | | | | Cal Poly Pomona | Cal Poly Pomona | | | | | | 1 |
| | | | Northern Illinois | Northern Illinois | 0 | Texas A&M | Texas A&M | | | | | | 0 |
| | | | Northern Illinois | Northern Illinois | 0 | Texas A&M | Texas A&M | | Arizona | Arizona | 0 | | 0 |
| | | | Texas A&M | Texas A&M | 3 | | | | Arizona | Arizona | 0 | |
| | | | Texas A&M | Texas A&M | 3 | | | | Fresno State | Fresno State | 4 | |
| | | | | | | Fresno State | Fresno State | | Fresno State | Fresno State | 4 | 1$^9$ | |
| | | | Adelphi | Adelphi | 1 | Nebraska | Nebraska | | | | | 0 | |
| | | | Nebraska | Nebraska | 5 | | | | | | | | | | |

## Season leaders

Batting
* Batting average: .484 – Jill Justin, Northern Illinois Huskies
* RBIs: 59 – Dori Beach, Charleston Southern Buccaneers
* Home runs: 9 – Luevenia Moore, Florida A&M Lady Rattlers & Michele Smith, Oklahoma State Cowgirls
Pitching
* Wins: 50-8 – Debbie Nichols, Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters
* ERA: 0.29 (11 ER/259.1 IP) – Lisa Longaker, UCLA Bruins
* Strikeouts: 294 – Debby Day, UTA Mavericks

## Records

NCAA Division I season shutouts: 36 – Debbie Nichols, Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters
NCAA Division I season assists: 237 – Charis Monroe, Cal State Fullerton Titans
Freshman class triples: 13 – Tricia Popowski, South Carolina Gamecocks
Freshman class assists: 230 – Julie Standering, Arizona Wildcats
Sophomore class assists: 229 – Carie Dever, Fresno State Bulldogs
Sophomore class wins: 50 – Debbie Nichols, Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters
Junior class innings pitched: 425.0 – Julie Carpenter, Texas A&M Aggies

## Awards

* Honda Sports Award Softball:
Lisa Longaker, UCLA Bruins
| YEAR | W | L | GP | GS | CG | SHO | SV | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | ERA | WHIP |
| 1988 | 31 | 4 | 39 | 34 | 34 | 23 | 3 | 259.1 | 136 | 14 | 11 | 31 | 240 | 0.29 | 0.64 |

## All America Teams

The following players were members of the All-American Teams.
First Team
| Position | Player | Class | School |
| P | Lisa Longaker | SO. | UCLA Bruins |
| P | Melanie Parrent | SR. | Fresno State Bulldogs |
| P | Debbie Nichols | SO. | Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters |
| C | Karen Sanchelli | SR. | South Carolina Gamecocks |
| 1B | Jody Schwartz | SR. | Creighton Bluejays |
| 2B | Alison Stowell | SR. | Cal Poly Pomona Broncos |
| 3B | Janice Parks | JR. | UCLA Bruins |
| SS | Liz Mizeria | SR. | Texas A&M Aggies |
| OF | Jill Justin | JR. | Northern Illinois Huskies |
| OF | Lorraine Maynez | FR. | UCLA Bruins |
| OF | Dee Brewer | FR. | Oklahoma State Cowgirls |
| UT | Michele Smith | JR. | Oklahoma State Cowgirls |
Second Team
| Position | Player | Class | School |
| P | Gretchen Koenig | SR. | South Carolina Gamecocks |
| P | Teresa Cherry | SR. | Arizona Wildcats |
| P | Carie Dever | SO. | Fresno State Bulldogs |
| C | Kris Tipmore | SR. | Central Michigan Chippewas |
| 1B | Gena Strang | SR. | Fresno State Bulldogs |
| 2B | Julie Thomas | SR. | Sam Houston State Bearkats |
| 3B | Valerie Douglas | SR. | Cal State Fullerton Titans |
| SS | Shari Johnson | JR. | Oklahoma State Cowgirls |
| OF | Linda Smolka | JR. | Princeton Tigers |
| OF | Amy Lienhardt | SR. | Bowling Green Falcons |
| OF | Angie McDonald | SR. | Eastern Michigan Eagles |
| UT | Kris Peterson | SR. | Adelphi Panthers |