1988 NCAA Division I softball season

1988 NCAA Division I softball season
1988 NCAA Division I softball season
Defending Champions	Texas A&M
Tournament
Women's College World Series
Duration	May 25–29, 1988
Champions	UCLA (4th (5th overall) title)
Runners-up	Fresno State (4th WCWS Appearance)
Winning Coach	Sharron Backus (4th (5th overall) title)
Seasons
	← 1987 1989 →

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
v t e	Conf						Overall
Team	W		L		T	PCT	W		L		T	PCT
Minnesota ‍†‍‍^y	15	–	8	–	0	.652	31	–	25	–	0	.554
Michigan ‍‍‍	15	–	9	–	0	.625	29	–	20	–	0	.592
Northwestern ‍‍‍	14	–	10	–	0	.583	25	–	23	–	0	.521
Indiana ‍‍‍	13	–	10	–	1	.563	36	–	20	–	1	.640
Iowa ‍‍‍	10	–	13	–	0	.435	33	–	20	–	1	.620
Michigan State ‍‍‍	10	–	14	–	0	.417	21	–	30	–	0	.412
Ohio State ‍‍‍	5	–	18	–	0	.217	19	–	31	–	1	.382

† – Conference champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament ^[1] ^[2] ^[3] ^[4] ^[5] ^[6] ^[7] ^[8] Rankings from Coaches' Poll

1988 Pacific-10 Conference softball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
UCLA ‍†‍‍^y	15	–	3	.833	53	–	8	.869
Arizona ‍‍‍^y	15	–	5	.750	54	–	18	.750
Oregon ‍‍‍	9	–	11	.450	32	–	26	.552
Arizona State ‍‍‍	8	–	12	.400	26	–	25	.510
California ‍‍‍^y	7	–	11	.389	38	–	22	.633
Oregon State ‍‍‍	2	–	14	.125	13	–	32	.289

† – Conference champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament As of May 31, 1988^[9] Rankings from Coaches' Poll

1988 Pacific Coast Athletic Association softball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Fresno State ‍†‍‍^y	29	–	5	.853	55	–	17	.764
Cal Poly Pomona ‍‍‍^y	28	–	8	.778	57	–	16	.781
Cal State Fullerton ‍‍‍	24	–	10	.706	52	–	20	.722
Long Beach State ‍‍‍^y	25	–	11	.694	46	–	17	.730
Pacific ‍‍‍	16	–	18	.471	35	–	27	.565
Hawaii ‍‍‍	16	–	20	.444	30	–	29	.508
San Jose State ‍‍‍	13	–	19	.406	24	–	29	.453
San Diego State ‍‍‍	9	–	23	.281	24	–	33	.421
UNLV ‍‍‍	9	–	27	.250	18	–	29	.383
UC Santa Barbara ‍‍‍	3	–	31	.088	6	–	50	.107

† – Conference champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament

1988 Southland Conference softball standings
v t e	Conf						Overall
Team	W		L		T	PCT	W		L		T	PCT
Sam Houston State ‍†‍‡‍	13	–	1	–	0	.929	49	–	17	–	0	.742
Texas–Arlington ‍‍‍	10	–	3	–	0	.769	34	–	27	–	0	.557
Stephen F. Austin ‍‍‍	10	–	4	–	0	.714	33	–	16	–	0	.673
Northwestern Louisiana ‍‍‍	6	–	7	–	0	.462	25	–	24	–	0	.510
Southwest Texas State ‍‍‍	6	–	8	–	0	.429	21	–	39	–	0	.350
Northeast Louisiana ‍‍‍	5	–	8	–	0	.385	24	–	35	–	0	.407
McNeese State ‍‍‍	3	–	11	–	0	.214	8	–	34	–	0	.190
North Texas ‍‍‍	1	–	12	–	0	.077	4	–	51	–	0	.073

† – Conference champion ‡ – Tournament champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament As of May 20, 1988^[11] Rankings from Coaches' Poll

The 1988 NCAA Women's College World Series took place from May 25 to May 29, 1988 in Sunnyvale, California.^[12]

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

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

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

The following players were members of the All-American Teams.^[16]

First Team

Position	Player	Class	School
P	Lisa Longaker	SO.	UCLA Bruins
	Melanie Parrent	SR.	Fresno State Bulldogs
	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
	Lorraine Maynez	FR.	UCLA Bruins
	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
	Teresa Cherry	SR.	Arizona Wildcats
	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
	Amy Lienhardt	SR.	Bowling Green Falcons
	Angie McDonald	SR.	Eastern Michigan Eagles
UT	Kris Peterson	SR.	Adelphi Panthers

^ "Big Ten Softball Standings" (PDF). BigTen.org. Big Ten Conference. Retrieved July 5, 2020.
^ 1988 Indiana Season
^ 1988 Iowa Season
^ 1988 Michigan Season
^ 1988 Michigan State Season
^ 1988 Minnesota Season
^ 1988 Northwestern Season
^ 1988 Ohio State Season
^ 2018 Softball Media Guide. Pac-12 Conference. p. 52. Retrieved February 2, 2019.
^ 2020 Softball Record Book (PDF). Big West Conference. p. 2. Retrieved May 19, 2024.
^ "Southland Softball" (PDF). Southland Conference. p. 13. Retrieved February 16, 2024.
^ "1988 Women's College World Series". Ncaa.org. Retrieved July 17, 2020.
^ "Division I Softball Records" (PDF). Ncaa.org. Retrieved July 16, 2020.
^ "PAST HONDA SPORTS AWARD WINNERS FOR SOFTBALL". Collegiatewomensportsawards.com. Retrieved July 16, 2020.
^ "FINAL 1988 Women's Softball Statistics Report" (PDF). Ncaa.org. Retrieved July 29, 2020.
^ "1988 NSCA Division I All-America Teams". Nfca.org. Retrieved July 24, 2020.

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