# 1997 NCAA Division I softball season

The 1997 NCAA Division I softball season, a play of college softball in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division I level, began in February 1997. The season progressed through the regular season, many conference tournaments and championship series, and concluded with the 1997 NCAA Division I softball tournament and 1997 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 26, 1997.

## Conference standings

1997 Big 12 Conference softball standings :
| 1997 Big 12 Conference softball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L T PCTW L T PCT No. 12 Missouri ‍†‍‡‍$^y$ 15–3–0 .83347–16–0 .746 No. 18 Oklahoma ‍‍‍$^y$ 14–4–0 .77855–19–0 .743 No. 17 Kansas ‍‍‍$^y$ 11–6–0 .64738–23–0 .623 No. 25 Nebraska ‍‍‍$^y$ 10–6–0 .62528–22–0 .560 No. 10 Oklahoma State ‍‍‍$^y$ 10–7–0 .58840–22–0 .645 Texas A&M ‍‍‍ 7–9–0 .43837–29–0 .561 Texas ‍‍‍ 6–10–0 .37530–24–0 .556 Baylor ‍‍‍ 4–8–0 .33338–22–0 .633 Texas Tech ‍‍‍ 1–13–0 .07134–29–1 .539 Iowa State ‍‍‍ 1–13–0 .07117–24–0 .415 † – Conference champion ‡ – Tournament champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament Rankings from NFCA/USA Today | 1997 Big Ten Conference softball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L T PCTW L T PCT No. 5 Iowa ‍†‍‍$^y$ 22–0–0 1.00052–9–0 .852 No. 6 Michigan ‍‍‡‍$^y$ 18–4–0 .81851–14–0 .785 No. 24 Michigan State ‍‍‍$^y$ 14–9–0 .60947–22–0 .681 Purdue ‍‍‍ 14–10–0 .58341–25–0 .621 Indiana ‍‍‍ 11–11–0 .50027–21–0 .563 Minnesota ‍‍‍ 10–13–0 .43537–19–0 .661 Wisconsin ‍‍‍ 10–13–0 .43532–25–0 .561 Northwestern ‍‍‍ 9–14–0 .39119–31–0 .380 Ohio State ‍‍‍ 4–18–0 .18220–31–0 .392 Penn State ‍‍‍ 2–22–0 .08323–32–0 .418 † – Conference champion ‡ – Tournament champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament As of June 1997 Rankings from NFCA/USA Today | 1997 Pacific-10 Conference softball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L T PCTW L T PCT No. 1 Arizona ‍†‍‍$^y$ 26–1–0 .96361–5–0 .924 No. 2 UCLA ‍‍‍$^y$ 21–7–0 .75049–14–0 .778 No. 4 Washington ‍‍‍$^y$ 16–11–0 .59350–19–0 .725 No. 11 California ‍‍‍$^y$ 13–14–0 .48136–26–0 .581 Stanford ‍‍‍ 10–18–0 .35731–27–0 .534 No. 23 Arizona State ‍‍‍$^y$ 9–19–0 .32132–25–0 .561 Oregon ‍‍‍ 9–19–0 .32124–35–0 .407 Oregon State ‍‍‍ 6–21–0 .22229–34–1 .461 † – Conference champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament As of May 31, 1997 Rankings from NFCA/USA Today |
| 1997 Southland Conference softball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L T PCTW L T PCT Northeast Louisiana ‍†‍‍ 20–3–0 .87047–12–1 .792 Nicholls State ‍‍‍$^y$ 16–7–0 .69648–23–0 .676 McNeese State ‍‍‍ 13–10–0 .56532–27–0 .542 Northwestern Louisiana ‍‍‍ 12–10–0 .54526–29–0 .473 Texas–Arlington ‍‍‍ 10–11–0 .47618–30–0 .375 Texas–San Antonio ‍‍‍ 11–13–0 .45821–30–0 .412 Sam Houston State ‍‍‍ 9–15–0 .37514–32–0 .304 Southwest Texas State ‍‍‍ 8–15–0 .34812–37–0 .245 Stephen F. Austin ‍‍‍ 4–17–0 .19014–36–0 .280 † – Conference champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament As of May 20, 1997 Rankings from Coaches' Poll |

## Women's College World Series

The 1997 NCAA Women's College World Series took place from May 22 to May 26, 1997 in Oklahoma City.
| First round | First round | First round | Second round | Second round | Second round | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | | | Finals | Finals | Finals |
| 1 | Arizona | 2$^8$ | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 8 | UMass | 1 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 8 | UMass | 1 | 1 | Arizona | 2$^{14}$ | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | 5 | UCLA | 0 | | | | | | | | | |
| 4 | Fresno State | 0 | 5 | UCLA | 0 | | | | | | | | | |
| 5 | UCLA | 2$^8$ | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 5 | UCLA | 2$^8$ | | | | 1 | Arizona | 0 | 6 | | | | | |
| | | | | | | 4 | Fresno State | 3 | 3 | | | | | |
| 8 | UMass | 1 | | | | | | | | 4 | Fresno State | 3 | 3 | | | | |
| 4 | Fresno State | 2 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 4 | Fresno State | 2 | 4 | Fresno State | 7 | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | 3 | Iowa | 6 | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | 1 | Arizona | 10$^5$ |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | 5 | UCLA | 2 |
| 3 | Iowa | 3 | | | | | | | | | | | | | 5 | UCLA | 2 |
| 6 | Michigan | 2 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 6 | Michigan | 2 | 3 | Iowa | 1 | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | 7 | Washington | 5 | | | | | | | | | |
| 7 | Washington | 6 | 7 | Washington | 5 | | | | | | | | | |
| 2 | South Carolina | 0 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 2 | South Carolina | 0 | | | | 7 | Washington | 3 | 0 | | | | | |
| | | | | | | 5 | UCLA | 4 | 1 | | | | | |
| 6 | Michigan | 1 | | | | | | | | 5 | UCLA | 4 | 1 | | | | |
| 2 | South Carolina | 0 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 2 | South Carolina | 0 | 6 | Michigan | 3 | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | 5 | UCLA | 7 | | | | | | | | | |

## Season leaders

Batting
* Batting average: .539 – Kim Durce, Alcorn State Braves
* RBIs: 78 – Leah Braatz, Arizona Wildcats
* Home runs: 21 – Leah Braatz, Arizona Wildcats
Pitching
* Wins: 45-10 – Sarah Dawson, Louisiana–Monroe Warhawks
* ERA: 0.37 (13 ER/242.2 IP) – Trinity Johnson, South Carolina Gamecocks
* Strikeouts: 399 – Trinity Johnson, South Carolina Gamecocks

## Records

NCAA Division I season hits: 132 – Alison McCutcheon, Arizona Wildcats
Freshman single game stolen bases: 6 – Kathy Ching, Yale Bulldogs; April 6, 1997
Sophomore single game stolen bases: 7 – Lisa Guillory, Nicholls State Colonels; February 20, 1997
Freshman class stolen bases: 64 – Kathy Ching, Yale Bulldogs
Senior class doubles: 27 – Sara Pickering, Washington Huskies
Senior class shutouts: 31 – Sarah Dawson, Louisiana–Monroe Warhawks
Senior class innings pitched: 400.2 – Sarah Dawson, Louisiana–Monroe Warhawks
Team batting average: .439 – Alcorn State Braves

## Awards

* Honda Sports Award Softball:
Trinity Johnson, South Carolina Gamecocks
| YEAR | W | L | GP | GS | CG | SHO | SV | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | ERA | WHIP |
| 1997 | 34 | 4 | 43 | 33 | 32 | 24 | 4 | 242.1 | 82 | 25 | 13 | 23 | 399 | 0.37 | 0.43 |

## All America Teams

The following players were members of the All-American Teams.
First Team
| Position | Player | Class | School |
| P | Sarah Dawson | SR. | ULM Warhawks |
| P | Nancy Evans | JR. | Arizona Wildcats |
| P | Trinity Johnson | SR. | South Carolina Gamecocks |
| C | Leah Braatz | JR. | Arizona Wildcats |
| 1B | Leah O'Brien | JR. | Arizona Wildcats |
| 2B | Sara Pickering | SR. | Washington Huskies |
| 3B | Leticia Pineda | JR. | Arizona Wildcats |
| SS | Laura Williams | SR. | Georgia Tech Yellowjackets |
| OF | Alison McCutcheon | SR. | Arizona Wildcats |
| OF | Laura Berg | JR. | Fresno State Bulldogs |
| OF | Sandy Rhea | JR. | Utah Utes |
| DP | Lisa Dacquisto | SR. | Arizona State Sun Devils |
| UT | Debbie Bilbao | JR. | Iowa Hawkeyes |
| AT-L | Traci Conrad | SO. | Michigan Wolverines |
| AT-L | Sarah Fredstrom | JR. | Colorado State Rams |
| AT-L | Stacey Nuveman | FR. | UCLA Bruins |
| AT-L | Amanda Scott | FR. | Fresno State Bulldogs |
| AT-L | Barb Wright | SR. | Missouri Tigers |
Second Team
| Position | Player | Class | School |
| P | B'Ann Burns | SR. | UCLA Bruins |
| P | Nikki Johnson | SR. | Colorado State Rams |
| P | Desarie Knipfer | JR. | Cal Poly Mustangs |
| C | Jennifer Parker | SR. | CSUN Matadors |
| 1B | Alleah Poulson | SR. | UCLA Bruins |
| 2B | Jennifer Buford | JR. | Colorado State Rams |
| 3B | Monica Armendarez | JR. | Indiana Hoosiers |
| SS | Jennifer Lizama | FR. | Nebraska Cornhuskers |
| OF | Shelley Brown | SR. | Washington Huskies |
| OF | Robyn Yorke | JR. | Fresno State Bulldogs |
| OF | Lea Twigg | SR. | Iowa Hawkeyes |
| DP | Dana Degen | FR. | Hawaii Rainbow Wahine |
| UT | Tina Plew | SR. | South Carolina Gamecocks |
| AT-L | Kelly Holmes | SR. | Michigan Wolverines |
| AT-L | Kari Knopf | SR. | Iowa Hawkeyes |
| AT-L | Nina Lindenberg | JR. | Fresno State Bulldogs |
| AT-L | Jill Most | SR. | Oklahoma Sooners |
| AT-L | Becky Newbry | SO. | Washington Huskies |
Third Team
| Position | Player | Class | School |
| P | Susie Bugliarello | SR. | Sacramento State Hornets |
| P | Jamie Schuttek | SR. | Southern Illinois Salukis |
| P | Christa Williams | FR. | UCLA Bruins |
| C | Brandi Macias | SR. | Iowa Hawkeyes |
| 1B | Jamie Foutch | SO. | Oklahoma State Cowgirls |
| 2B | Tammy Pytel | JR. | Northern Illinois Huskies |
| 3B | Stephanie Bonillas | JR. | New Mexico State Aggies |
| SS | Christie Ambrosi | SO. | UCLA Bruins |
| OF | Myssi Calkins | SR. | FSU Seminoles |
| OF | Erin Hickey | SR. | DePaul Blue Demons |
| OF | Priscilla Welch | SR. | Illinois State Redbirds |
| DP | Tiffany Clark | FR. | ULL Rajin' Cajuns |
| UT | Tarrah Beyster | FR. | Oregon State Beavers |
| AT-L | Stephanie DeFeo | SR. | ULL Rajin' Cajuns |
| AT-L | Kristy Fuentes | SR. | FSU Seminoles |
| AT-L | Christy Hebert | SR. | Iowa Hawkeyes |
| AT-L | Danielle Henderson | SO. | UMass Minutewomen |
| AT-L | Kim Rondina | SR. | UNLV Rebels |