# 2006 NCAA Division I softball season

The 2006 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 2006. The season progressed through the regular season, many conference tournaments and championship series, and concluded with the 2006 NCAA Division I softball tournament and 2006 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 June 6, 2006.

## Conference standings

2006 Big 12 Conference softball standings :
| 2006 Big 12 Conference softball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L T PCTW L T PCT No. 5 Texas ‍†‍‍$^y$ 15–2–0 .88255–9–0 .859 No. 14 Nebraska ‍‍‍$^y$ 13–4–0 .76544–12–0 .786 No. 20 Baylor ‍‍‍$^y$ 12–6–0 .66738–22–0 .633 No. 22 Texas A&M ‍‍‍$^y$ 11–6–0 .64734–19–0 .642 No. 19 Oklahoma ‍‍‡‍$^y$ 8–10–0 .44440–21–1 .653 Kansas ‍‍‍$^y$ 8–10–0 .44436–26–0 .581 Missouri ‍‍‍ 7–11–0 .38926–27–0 .491 Oklahoma State ‍‍‍ 5–13–0 .27821–29–0 .420 Iowa State ‍‍‍ 5–13–0 .27823–28–0 .451 Texas Tech ‍‍‍ 4–13–0 .23519–35–0 .352 † – Conference champion ‡ – Tournament champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament Rankings from NFCA | 2006 Big Ten Conference softball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT No. 2 Northwestern ‍†‍‍$^y$ 16–3 .84250–15 .769 No. 10 Michigan ‍‍‡‍$^y$ 14–4 .77844–15 .746 Iowa ‍‍‍$^y$ 12–7 .63239–22 .639 Ohio State ‍‍‍$^y$ 11–7 .61139–23 .629 Penn State ‍‍‍$^y$ 10–10 .50039–17 .696 Indiana ‍‍‍$^y$ 8–9 .47130–25 .545 Michigan State ‍‍‍ 9–11 .45034–25 .576 Illinois ‍‍‍ 8–11 .42124–31 .436 Purdue ‍‍‍ 7–12 .36830–30 .500 Wisconsin ‍‍‍ 6–11 .35322–22 .500 Minnesota ‍‍‍ 1–17 .05617–33 .340 † – Conference champion ‡ – Tournament champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament As of August 3, 2006 Rankings from NFCA | 2006 Pacific-10 Conference softball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT UCLA ‍†‍‍$^y$ 15–5 .75050–9 .847 Arizona ‍‍‍$^y$ 15–6 .71454–11 .831 California ‍‍‍$^y$ 12–9 .57148–14 .774 Arizona State ‍‍‍$^y$ 11–10 .52453–15 .779 Oregon State ‍‍‍$^y$ 10–10 .50043–16 .729 Stanford ‍‍‍$^y$ 10–11 .47642–18 .700 Washington ‍‍‍$^y$ 6–15 .28635–25 .583 Oregon ‍‍‍ 4–17 .19024–29 .453 † – Conference champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament As of June 6, 2006 Rankings from Coaches' Poll |
| 2006 Southland Conference softball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L T PCTW L T PCT Texas–San Antonio ‍†‍‍$^y$ 22–5–0 .81537–14–0 .725 Texas State ‍‍‍ 18–5–0 .78334–22–0 .607 Texas–Arlington ‍‍‍ 16–9–0 .64032–22–0 .593 McNeese State ‍‍‍ 13–13–0 .50021–30–0 .412 Northwestern State ‍‍‍ 12–13–0 .48028–32–0 .467 Nicholls State ‍‍‍ 11–15–0 .42323–33–0 .411 Sam Houston State ‍‍‍ 11–16–0 .40718–30–0 .375 Louisiana–Monroe ‍‍‍ 10–16–0 .38527–30–0 .474 Stephen F. Austin ‍‍‍ 9–15–0 .37520–28–0 .417 Southeastern Louisiana ‍‍‍ 6–21–0 .22210–36–0 .217 † – Conference champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament As of May 20, 2006 Rankings from Coaches' Poll |

## Women's College World Series

The 2006 NCAA Women's College World Series took place from June 1 to June 6, 2006 in Oklahoma City.
| First round | First round | First round | Second round | Second round | Second round | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | | | Finals | Finals | Finals | Finals | Finals | |
| 2 | Arizona | 3$^9$ | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 7 | Oregon State | 2 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 7 | Oregon State | 2 | 2 | Arizona | 2 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | 3 | Texas | 0 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 3 | Texas | 2 | 3 | Texas | 0 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 6 | Arizona State | 0 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 6 | Arizona State | 0 | | | | 2 | Arizona | 0 | 6 | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | 8 | Tennessee | 1 | 0 | | | | | | | | |
| 6 | Arizona State | 3 | | | | | | | | 8 | Tennessee | 1 | 0 | | | | | | | | |
| 7 | Oregon State | 1 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 7 | Oregon State | 1 | 6 | Arizona State | 1 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | 8 | Tennessee | 3 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | 2 | Arizona | 8 | 5 | — | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | 4 | Northwestern | 0 | 0 | — | |
| 4 | Northwestern | 6$^{10}$ | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 4 | Northwestern | 0 | 0 | — |
| 5 | Alabama | 5 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 5 | Alabama | 5 | 4 | Northwestern | 2 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | 8 | Tennessee | 0 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 8 | Tennessee | 4 | 8 | Tennessee | 0 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 1 | UCLA | 3 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 1 | UCLA | 3 | | | | 4 | Northwestern | 3$^8$ | — | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | 1 | UCLA | 1 | — | | | | | | | | |
| 1 | UCLA | 4 | | | | | | | | 1 | UCLA | 1 | — | | | | | | | | |
| 5 | Alabama | 1 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 5 | Alabama | 1 | 1 | UCLA | 2 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | 3 | Texas | 0 | | | | | | | | | | | | |

## Season leaders

Batting
* Batting average: .500 – Sarah Fekete, Tennessee Volunteers
* RBIs: 82 – Melanie Denischuk, UMBC Retrievers & Ianeta Le'i, BYU Cougars
* Home runs: 30 – Danyele Gomez, Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
Pitching
* Wins: 44-10 – Monica Abbott, Tennessee Volunteers softball
* ERA: 0.41 (17 ER/286.0 IP) – Cat Osterman Texas Longhorns
* Strikeouts: 630 – Cat Osterman Texas Longhorns

## Records

NCAA Division I season grand slams: 6 – Serena Settlemier, Kansas Jayhawks
NCAA Division I season strikeout ratio: 15.4 (630 SO/286.0 IP) – Cat Osterman, Texas Longhorns
NCAA Division I 7 inning single game combined strikeouts: 34 – Katie Burkhart, Arizona State Sun Devils (15) & Danielle Lawrie, Washington Huskies (19); April 28, 2006
Sophomore class single game strikeouts: 26 – Angela Tincher, Virginia Tech Hokies; March 3, 2006
Freshman class strikeout ratio: 13.4 (221 SO/115.2 IP) – Cassie Cervantes, Sacramento State Hornets
Junior class triples: 14 – Marci Pratt, Southern Utah Thunderbirds
Senior class WHIP: 0.42 (78 H+43 BB/286.0 IP) – Cat Osterman, Texas Longhorns

## Awards

* USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year:
Cat Osterman, Texas Longhorns
* Honda Sports Award Softball:
Cat Osterman, Texas Longhorns
* Best Female College Athlete ESPY Award
Cat Osterman, Texas Longhorns
| YEAR | W | L | GP | GS | CG | SHO | SV | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | ERA | WHIP |
| 2006 | 38 | 4 | 47 | 39 | 36 | 28 | 2 | 286.0 | 78 | 19 | 17 | 43 | 630 | 0.41 | 0.42 |

## All America Teams

The following players were members of the All-American Teams.
First Team
| Position | Player | Class | School |
| P | Monica Abbott | JR. | Tennessee Lady Vols |
| P | Cat Osterman | SR. | Texas Longhorns |
| P | Jennie Ritter | SR. | Michigan Wolverines |
| C | Haley Woods | SR. | California Golden Bears |
| 1B | Jenna Hall | SR. | Illinois Fighting Illini |
| 2B | Veronica Wootson | JR. | FSU Seminoles |
| 3B | Andrea Duran | SR. | UCLA Bruins |
| SS | Lindsay Schutzler | JR. | Tennessee Lady Vols |
| OF | Sarah Fekete | SR. | Tennessee Lady Vols |
| OF | Danyele Gomez | SR. | ULL Ragin' Cajuns |
| OF | Kaitlin Cochran | FR. | Arizona State Sun Devils |
| DP | Kristi Durant | SR. | Tennessee Lady Vols |
| UT | Cambria Miranda | SO. | Oregon State Beavers |
| AT-L | Kristie Fox | JR. | Arizona Wildcats |
| AT-L | Tonya Callahan | SO. | Tennessee Lady Vols |
| AT-L | Caitlin Lowe | JR. | Arizona Wildcats |
| AT-L | Anjelica Selden | SO. | UCLA Bruins |
| AT-L | Kristin Vesely | SR. | Oklahoma Sooners |
Second Team
| Position | Player | Class | School |
| P | Angela Tincher | SO. | Virginia Tech Hokies |
| P | Alicia Hollowell | SR. | Arizona Wildcats |
| P | Kristina Thorson | SR. | California Golden Bears |
| C | Rachel Folden | SO. | Marshall Thundering Herd |
| 1B | Ianeta Le'i | SR. | BYU Cougars |
| 2B | Caitlin Benyi | SR. | UCLA Bruins |
| 3B | Brette Reagan | FR. | Baylor Bears |
| SS | Christina Clark | SR. | Fresno State Bulldogs |
| OF | Norrelle Dickson | JR. | Oklahoma Sooners |
| OF | Kellie Middleton | JR. | Georgia Bulldogs |
| OF | Lindy Winkler | SR. | Sacramento State Hornets |
| DP | Jessica Strickland | JR. | Colorado State Rams |
| UT | Serena Settlemier | SR. | Kansas Jayhawks |
| AT-L | Eileen Canney | JR. | Northwestern Wildcats |
| AT-L | Gina Carbonatto | JR. | Pacific Tigers |
| AT-L | Alexis Switenko | SR. | Syracuse Orange |
| AT-L | Stephanie VanBrakle | SR. | Alabama Crimson Tide |
| AT-L | Jackie Wong | SR. | Utah Utes |
Third Team
| Position | Player | Class | School |
| P | Brianne McGowan | SR. | Oregon State Beavers |
| P | Emily Turner | JR. | LSU Tigers |
| P | Crystal Cox | SR. | North Carolina Tar Heels |
| C | Becky Marx | SR. | Michigan Wolverines |
| 1B | Garland Cooper | JR. | Northwestern Wildcats |
| 2B | Dominique Lastrapes | JR. | Washington Huskies |
| 3B | Meghan McAllister | JR. | Georgia Bulldogs |
| SS | Tammy Williams | FR. | Northwestern Wildcats |
| OF | Catalina Morris | SR. | Stanford Cardinal |
| OF | Stephanie Brown | JR. | Notre Dame Fighting Irish |
| OF | Brittany Rogers | FR. | Alabama Crimson Tide |
| DP | Amber Smith | FR. | Illinois State Redbirds |
| UT | Jessica Doucette | SO. | Georgia Bulldogs |
| AT-L | Leslie Klein | JR. | LSU Tigers |
| AT-L | Lacy Wood | SR. | Louisville Cardinals |
| AT-L | Ashley Charters | SO. | Washington Huskies |
| AT-L | Erin Floros | FR. | San Diego State Aztecs |
| AT-L | Chelsi Lake | JR. | Baylor Bears |