# 2004 NCAA Division I softball season

The 2004 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 January 2004. The season progressed through the regular season, many conference tournaments and championship series, and concluded with the 2004 NCAA Division I softball tournament and 2004 Women's College World Series. The Women's College World Series, consisting of the eight remaining teams in the NCAA Tournament and held in Oklahoma City at ASA Hall of Fame Stadium, ended on May 31, 2004.

## Conference standings

2004 Big 12 Conference softball standings :
| 2004 Big 12 Conference softball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L T PCTW L T PCT No. 14 Nebraska ‍†‍‡‍$^y$ 14–3–0 .82445–17–0 .726 Texas A&M ‍‍‍$^y$ 13–3–0 .81333–22–0 .600 Missouri ‍‍‍$^y$ 13–4–0 .76529–26–0 .527 No. 18 Baylor ‍‍‍$^y$ 11–6–0 .64748–17–0 .738 No. 6 Oklahoma ‍‍‍$^y$ 11–7–0 .61145–22–1 .669 Oklahoma State ‍‍‍ 7–10–0 .41227–28–0 .491 Kansas ‍‍‍ 7–11–0 .38933–28–1 .540 Texas ‍‍‍ 5–13–0 .27824–25–0 .490 Iowa State ‍‍‍ 3–13–0 .18813–31–0 .295 Texas Tech ‍‍‍ 2–16–0 .11122–36–0 .379 † – Conference champion ‡ – Tournament champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament Rankings from NFCA | 2004 Big Ten Conference softball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT No. 9 Michigan ‍†‍‍$^y$ 17–3 .85054–11 .831 No. 17 Illinois ‍‍‍$^y$ 14–6 .70045–21 .682 Iowa ‍‍‍$^y$ 14–6 .70039–24 .619 Northwestern ‍‍‍$^y$ 13–9 .59134–20 .630 Minnesota ‍‍‍ 10–10 .50033–23 .589 Ohio State ‍‍‍$^y$ 8–11 .42135–25 .583 Michigan State ‍‍‡‍$^y$ 8–12 .40036–26 .581 Penn State ‍‍‍ 8–12 .40025–32 .439 Indiana ‍‍‍ 7–13 .35032–31 .508 Wisconsin ‍‍‍ 6–14 .30029–28 .509 Purdue ‍‍‍ 5–14 .26332–25 .561 † – Conference champion ‡ – Tournament champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament As of May 24, 2004 Rankings from NFCA | 2004 Pacific-10 Conference softball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT Arizona ‍†‍‍$^y$ 17–3 .85055–6 .902 California ‍‍‍$^y$ 13–8 .61953–13 .803 Stanford ‍‍‍$^y$ 13–8 .61949–19 .721 UCLA ‍‍‍$^y$ 12–8 .60047–9 .839 Washington ‍‍‍$^y$ 10–10 .50040–19 .678 Oregon ‍‍‍$^y$ 10–11 .47642–21 .667 Oregon State ‍‍‍$^y$ 4–17 .19044–28 .611 Arizona State ‍‍‍ 3–17 .15033–31 .516 † – Conference champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament As of June 30, 2004 Rankings from Coaches' Poll |
| 2004 Southland Conference softball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L T PCTW L T PCT Texas–San Antonio ‍†‍‍$^y$ 20–6–0 .76937–17–0 .685 Texas State ‍‍‍ 19–7–0 .73137–20–0 .649 Sam Houston State ‍‍‍ 17–9–0 .65429–23–0 .558 Texas–Arlington ‍‍‍ 15–10–0 .60024–24–1 .500 Northwestern State ‍‍‍ 14–12–0 .53835–28–0 .556 Nicholls State ‍‍‍ 12–14–0 .46224–29–0 .453 Southeastern Louisiana ‍‍‍ 10–15–0 .40023–25–0 .479 Stephen F. Austin ‍‍‍ 10–15–0 .40023–27–0 .460 McNeese State ‍‍‍ 8–17–0 .32019–41–0 .317 Louisiana–Monroe ‍‍‍ 3–23–0 .11513–48–0 .213 † – Conference champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament As of May 20, 2004 Rankings from Coaches' Poll |

## Women's College World Series

The 2004 NCAA Women's College World Series took place from May 27 to May 31, 2004 in Oklahoma City.
| First round | First round | First round | Second round | Second round | Second round | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | | | Finals | Finals | Finals |
| 6 | Michigan | 2 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 3 | LSU | 3$^{13}$ | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 3 | LSU | 3$^{13}$ | 2 | UCLA | 2 | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | 3 | LSU | 0 | | | | | | | | | |
| 7 | Stanford | 2 | 3 | LSU | 0 | | | | | | | | | |
| 2 | UCLA | 8 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 2 | UCLA | 8 | | | | 2 | UCLA | 3$^{12}$ | — | | | | | |
| | | | | | | 7 | Stanford | 1 | — | | | | | |
| 7 | Stanford | 5 | | | | | | | | 7 | Stanford | 1 | — | | | | |
| 6 | Michigan | 4 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 6 | Michigan | 4 | 1 | Oklahoma | 2 | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | 7 | Stanford | 3 | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | 5 | California | 1 |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | 2 | UCLA | 3 |
| 8 | Washington | 2 | | | | | | | | | | | | | 2 | UCLA | 3 |
| 1 | Oklahoma | 6 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 1 | Oklahoma | 6 | 1 | Oklahoma | 1 | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | 5 | California | 2$^8$ | | | | | | | | | |
| 5 | California | 4 | 5 | California | 2$^8$ | | | | | | | | | |
| 4 | Florida State | 2 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 4 | Florida State | 2 | | | | 3 | LSU | 4 | 1 | | | | | |
| | | | | | | 5 | California | 1 | 4 | | | | | |
| 4 | Florida State | 2 | | | | | | | | 5 | California | 1 | 4 | | | | |
| 8 | Washington | 0 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 8 | Washington | 0 | 3 | LSU | 2 | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | 4 | Florida State | 1 | | | | | | | | | |

## Season leaders

Batting
* Batting average: .488 – Autumn Champion, Arizona Wildcats
* RBIs: 82 – Holly Groves, South Florida Bulls
* Home runs: 24 – Caitlin Benyi, UCLA Bruins
Pitching
* Wins: 45-5 & 45-10 – Brooke Mitchell, Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns & Monica Abbott, Tennessee Volunteers
* ERA: 0.54 (20 ER/259.0 IP) – Jamie Southern, Fresno State Bulldogs
* Strikeouts: 582 – Monica Abbott, Tennessee Volunteers

## Records

NCAA Division I season triples: 17 – Dianna Korcak, Jacksonville Dolphins
NCAA Division I single game strikeouts: 28 – Cristin Vitek, Baylor Bears; May 20, 2004 (16 innings)
Freshman class 7 inning single game strikeouts: 20 – Monica Abbott, Tennessee Volunteers; March 26, 2004
Sophomore class consecutive wins streak: 32 – Alicia Hollowell, Arizona Wildcats; February 6-April 24, 2004
Freshman class wins: 45 – Monica Abbott, Tennessee Volunteers
Freshman class shutouts: 24 – Monica Abbott, Tennessee Volunteers
Freshman class strikeouts: 582 – Monica Abbott, Tennessee Volunteers
Team single game doubles: 13 – Charleston Cougars, February 11, 2004

## Awards

* USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year:
Jessica van der Linden, Florida State Seminoles
* Honda Sports Award Softball:
Jessica van der Linden, Florida State Seminoles
| YEAR | W | L | GP | GS | CG | SHO | SV | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | ERA | WHIP |
| 2004 | 29 | 8 | 42 | 35 | 31 | 20 | 2 | 246.1 | 106 | 29 | 21 | 51 | 387 | 0.59 | 0.64 |
| YEAR | G | AB | R | H | BA | RBI | HR | 3B | 2B | TB | SLG | BB | SO | SB | SBA |
| 2004 | 73 | 197 | 49 | 79 | .401 | 55 | 4 | 4 | 10 | 109 | .553% | 42 | 23 | 9 | 10 |

## All America Teams

The following players were members of the All-American Teams.
First Team
| Position | Player | Class | School |
| P | Monica Abbott | FR. | Tennessee Lady Vols |
| P | Dana Sorensen | SR. | Stanford Cardinal |
| P | Alicia Hollowell | SO. | Arizona Wildcats |
| C | Kristen Rivera | JR. | Washington Huskies |
| 1B | Kim Wendland | JR. | Georgia Bulldogs |
| 2B | Caitlin Benyi | SO. | UCLA Bruins |
| 3B | Vicky Galindo | JR. | California Golden Bears |
| SS | Christina Clark | SO. | Fresno State Bulldogs |
| OF | Nicole Barber | SR. | Georgia Bulldogs |
| OF | Iyhia McMichael | JR. | Mississippi State Bulldogs |
| OF | Caitlin Lowe | FR. | Arizona Wildcats |
| DP | Wendy Allen | SR. | Arizona Wildcats |
| UT | Jessica van der Linden | SR. | FSU Seminoles |
| AT-L | Gina Carbonatto | FR. | Pacific Tigers |
| AT-L | Autumn Champion | SO. | Arizona Wildcats |
| AT-L | Brooke Mitchell | JR. | ULL Ragin' Cajuns |
| AT-L | Heather Scaglione | JR. | Oklahoma State Cowgirls |
Second Team
| Position | Player | Class | School |
| P | Keira Goerl | SR. | UCLA Bruins |
| P | Casey Hunter | JR. | FSU Seminoles |
| P | Kristina Thorson | SO. | California Golden Bears |
| C | Jessica Allister | SR. | Stanford Cardinal |
| 1B | Vanessa Iapala | SO. | Oregon State Beavers |
| 2B | Veronica Wootson | FR. | FSU Seminoles |
| 3B | Phelan Wright | SR. | Arizona State Sun Devils |
| SS | Jessica Merchant | JR. | Michigan Wolverines |
| OF | Kaleo Eldredge | JR. | California Golden Bears |
| OF | LaDonia Hughes | SR. | LSU Tigers |
| OF | Kristen Zaleski | SR. | Texas State Bobcats |
| DP | Holly Groves | SR. | USF Bulls |
| UT | Jessica Beech | SR. | Michigan State Spartans |
| AT-L | Peaches James | SR. | Nebraska Cornhuskers |
| AT-L | Lauren Lappin | SO. | Stanford Cardinal |
| AT-L | Nicole Motycka | JR. | Michigan Wolverines |
| AT-L | Kristin Schmidt | SR. | LSU Tigers |
Third Team
| Position | Player | Class | School |
| P | Jessica Kapchinski | SR. | Texas A&M Aggies |
| P | Kristen Keyes | SR. | Auburn Tigers |
| P | Jessica Sallinger | JR. | Georgia Tech Yellowjackets |
| C | Sara Dean | JR. | Auburn Tigers |
| 1B | Saskia Roberson | JR. | DePaul Blue Demons |
| 2B | Tiffany Haas | SO. | Michigan Wolverines |
| 3B | Sara Larquier | SO. | Virginia Cavaliers |
| SS | Lauren May | JR. | Cornell Big Red |
| OF | Christen Bedwell | SR. | CSUN Matadors |
| OF | Megan Ciolli | JR. | Notre Dame Fighting Irish |
| OF | Leslie Klein | FR. | LSU Tigers |
| DP | Amanda Rivera | SR. | UIC Flames |
| UT | Sarah Martz | SR. | DePaul Blue Demons |
| AT-L | Leigh Ann Ellis | SR. | USF Bulls |
| AT-L | Dominique Lastrapes | FR. | Washington Huskies |
| AT-L | Jackie McClain | SR. | Alabama Crimson Tide |
| AT-L | Megan Meyer | JR. | Seton Hall Pirates |
| AT-L | Chelsea Spencer | JR. | California Golden Bears |