The 2021 NCAA Division I softball tournament was held from May 21 through June 10, 2021 as the final part of the 2021 NCAA Division I softball season. 31 teams were awarded automatic bids as champions of their conferences after the Ivy League opted out of the 2021 softball season. The remaining 33 were selected at-large by the NCAA Division I softball selection committee on May 16, 2021. The tournament culminated with eight teams playing in the 2021 Women's College World Series at USA Softball Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City.
Bids
Automatic bids The Big Ten, Big West, Mountain West, Pac-12, and West Coast Conference bids were awarded to the regular-season champion. All other conferences had their automatic bid go to the conference tournament winner. Conference School Best finish Reference America East Regionals(2002, 2019) American Regionals(1989, 2005, 2016, 2018) ACC First appearance A-10 First appearance ASUN Regionals(2002, 2011, 2018) Big 12 Oklahoma Champions(2000, 2013, 2016, 2017) Big East First appearance Big Sky Regionals(2013) Big South Regionals(1995, 2008, 2009) Big Ten Michigan Champions(2005) Big West WCWS(1986, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993) CAA Super Regionals(2016, 2019) Conference USA Regionals(2013, 2015) Horizon League WCWS(1994) Ivy League Ivy League season canceled MAC Regionals(2005, 2009, 2012, 2016) MAAC Regionals(1999) MEAC First appearance MVC WCWS (1970, 1977, 1978) Mountain West Champions(1998) Northeast Regionals(2017, 2018, 2019) OVC Regionals(2002, 2004) Pac-12 UCLA Champions(1982, 1984, 1985, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1999, 2003, 2004, 2010, 2019) Patriot League Regionals(1996, 2002, 2003, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2019) SEC Alabama Champions(2012) SoCon Regionals(1997, 2018) Southland McNeese State Regionals (1994, 2005, 2010, 2016, 2017, 2018) SWAC Regionals(2016, 2019) Summit League First appearance Sun Belt Louisiana WCWS(1993, 1995, 1996, 2003, 2008, 2014) WAC Regionals (2019) West Coast BYU Super Regionals(2010)
At-large Team Conference Pac-12 Pac-12 Arkansas SEC SEC Big 12 Clemson ACC SEC Florida State ACC SEC Big 12 SEC ASUN SEC Big Ten SEC SEC MVC Big Ten ACC Big 12 Ole Miss SEC Pac-12 South Alabama Sun Belt American Pac-12 SEC Texas Big 12 SEC Texas State Sun Belt Troy Sun Belt American ACC Pac-12
By conference Conference Total Schools SEC12 Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, LSU, Mississippi State, Missouri, Ole Miss, Tennessee, Texas A&M Pac-126 Arizona, Arizona State, Oregon, Stanford, UCLA, Washington ACC5 Clemson, Duke, Florida State, Notre Dame, Virginia Tech Big 125 Baylor, Iowa State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas Sun Belt4 Louisiana, South Alabama, Texas State, Troy American3 South Florida, UCF, Wichita State Big Ten3 Michigan, Minnesota, Northwestern ASUN2 Liberty, Kennesaw State Missouri Valley2 Northern Iowa, Southern Illinois Mountain West1 Fresno State America East1 UMBC Atlantic 101 George Washington Big East1 Villanova Big Sky1 Portland State Big South1 Campbell Big West1 Long Beach State Colonial1 James Madison 1 Western Kentucky Horizon1 UIC MAAC1 Manhattan Mid-American1 Miami (OH) Mid-Eastern1 Morgan State Northeast1 Saint Francis (PA) Ohio Valley1 Eastern Kentucky Patriot1 Boston University SoCon1 UNC Greensboro Southland1 McNeese State Southwestern1 Alabama State Summit1 South Dakota State WAC1 Seattle West Coast1 BYU
National seeds 16 National Seeds were announced on the Selection Show, on Sunday, May 16 at 9 p.m. EDT on ESPN2. 15 of the 16 national seeds hosted Regionals. Teams in italics advanced to Super Regionals. Teams in bold advanced to the Women's College World Series.
1. Oklahoma
2. UCLA
3. Alabama
4.
5.
6. Arkansas
7.
8.
9.
10. Florida State
11.
12. Texas
13. (not a host)
14.
15.
16.
Regionals and Super Regionals The Regionals took place May 20–23. The Super Regionals took place May 27–30.
Norman Super Regional
Columbia Super Regional
Stillwater Super Regional
Gainesville Super Regional
Tuscaloosa Super Regional
Fayetteville Super Regional
Baton Rouge Super Regional
Los Angeles Super Regional
Women's College World Series The Women's College World Series was held June 3 through June 10 in Oklahoma City.
Participants
School Conference Record (conference) Head coach WCWS appearances† (including 2021 WCWS) WCWS best finish†* WCWS W–L record† (excluding 2021 WCWS) Alabama SEC 50–7 (18–6) Patrick Murphy 13 (last: 2019) 1st(2012) 20–23 Pac-12 41–13 (12–10) Mike Candrea 24 (last: 2019) 1st(1991, 1993, 1994, 19961997, 2001, 2006, 2007) 62–34 Florida State ACC 44-10-1 (26–5-1) Lonni Alameda 11(last: 2018) 1st(2018) 13–18 SEC 34–21 (7–17) Lu Harris-Champer 5(last: 2018) 3rd(2009, 2010) 5–8 CAA 39–2 (17–1) Loren LaPorte 1 — — Oklahoma Big 12 50–2 (16–1) Patty Gasso 14(last: 2019) 1st(2000, 2013, 2016, 2017) 32–20 Big 12 47–10 (15–3) Kenny Gajewski 9(last: 2019) 3rd (1989, 1990, 1993, 1994) 12–16 UCLA Pac-12 46–5 (19–2) Kelly Inouye-Perez 30 (last: 2019) 1st (1982, 1984, 1985, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1999, 2003, 2004, 2010, 2019) 103–36 † = From NCAA Division I Softball Championship Results
Bracket
Game results Date Game Winning team Score Losing team Winning pitcher Losing pitcher Save Notes June 3 Game 1 Oklahoma Odicci Alexander (17–1) Shannon Saile (17–1) – – Game 2 3–2 Carrie Eberle (26–3) Mary Wilson Avant (20–11) – – Game 3 Alabama 5–1 Montana Fouts (26–3) Hanah Bowen (11–3) – – Game 4 UCLA 4–0 Florida State Rachel Garcia (18–1) – – June 4 Game 5 James Madison 2–1 Odicci Alexander (18–1) Carrie Eberle (26–4) – JMU: First unseeded team in WCWS history to advance to the semifinals Game 6 Alabama 6–0 UCLA Montana Fouts (27–3) Rachel Garcia (18–2) – Montana Fouts perfect game; sixth in WCWS history In the AIAW 1982 WCWS, Jenny Stallard of USIU pitched an 8-inning perfect game against top-seeded Texas A&M, winning 1-0. June 5 Game 7 Oklahoma Georgia Giselle Juarez (19–1) Mary Wilson Avant (20–12) – Georgia eliminated Game 8 Florida State 4–3 Arizona Mariah Lopez (9–3) – Arizona eliminated Game 9 Oklahoma 10–3 UCLA Giselle Juarez (20–1) Rachel Garcia (18–3) – UCLA eliminated Florida State 4–2 Oklahoma State Kelly Maxwell (15–5) – Oklahoma State eliminated June 6 Game 11 Oklahoma 6–3 James Madison Nicole May (15–1) Odicci Alexander (18–2) – – Game 12 Florida State 2–0 Alabama Lexi Kilfoyl (14–3) – – June 7 Game 13 Oklahoma 7–1 James Madison Giselle Juarez (21–1) Odicci Alexander (18–3) – James Madison eliminated Game 14 Florida State 8–5 Alabama Danielle Watson (11–1) Montana Fouts (27–4) – Alabama eliminatedFinalsJune 8 Game 1 Florida State 8–4 Oklahoma Danielle Watson (12–1) Nicole May (15–2) – Florida State 1–0June 9 Game 2 Oklahoma 6–2 Florida State Giselle Juarez (22–1) – Tied 1–1 Game 3 Oklahoma 5–1 Florida State Giselle Juarez (23–1) Danielle Watson (12–2) – Oklahoma wins WCWS
Finals
All-tournament Team The following players were members of the Women's College World Series All-Tournament Team. Position Player School P Giselle Juarez (MOP)Oklahoma Odicci Alexander James Madison Montana Fouts Alabama Kathryn Sandercock Florida State 2B Tiare Jennings Oklahoma OF Mackenzie Donihoo Oklahoma Kate Gordon James Madison Nicole Mendes Oklahoma Kaley Mudge Florida State C Kinzie Hansen Oklahoma U Jocelyn Alo Oklahoma Bailey Hemphill Alabama
Record by conference Conference# of BidsRecordWin % Big 12 5 23–12 ACC 5 19–11 SEC 12 35–25 CAA 1 7–3 Pac-12 6 21–14 American 3 6–6 Big Ten 3 5–6 ASUN 2 3–4 Sun Belt 4 6–8 WCC 1 2–2 Other 22 8–44 The columns RF, SR, WS, NS, F, and NC respectively stand for the Regional Finals, Super Regionals, College World Series Teams, National Semi-Finals, Finals, and National Champion.
Media coverage
Radio For the first time ever Westwood One will provide nationwide radio coverage of every game in the Women's College World Series. It was streamed online at westwoodsports.com, through TuneIn, and on SiriusXM. Ryan Radtke and Leah Amico return as the broadcast team.
Television ESPN held exclusive rights to the tournament. The network aired games across ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, SEC Network, Longhorn Network, ACC Network and ESPN3. For just the fourth time in the history of the women's softball tournament, ESPN covered every regional. ABC will air a super regional game for the first time in tournament history.
Broadcast assignments
Regionals Norman: Courtney Lyle & Kayla Braud Los Angeles: Mark Neely & Kenzie Fowler Tuscaloosa: Eric Frede & Madison Shipman Gainesville: Beth Mowins & Michele Smith Stillwater: Clay Matvick & Natasha Watley Fayetteville: Mike Corey & Leah Amico Baton Rouge: Alex Loeb & Megan Willis Columbia: Tyler Denning & Tori Vidales Super Regionals Norman: Beth Mowins, Jessica Mendoza, Michele Smith & Holly Rowe Columbia: Mike Couzens & Carol Bruggeman Stillwater: Tiffany Greene & Erin Miller Gainesville: Courtney Lyle & Kayla Braud Women's College World Series Kevin Brown, Amanda Scarborough & Jalyn Johnson (afternoons, early Fri) Beth Mowins, Jessica Mendoza, Michele Smith & Holly Rowe (evenings minus early Fri)
Regionals Knoxville: Tiffany Greene & Erin Miller Tallahassee: Jenn Hildreth & Brittany McKinney Tucson: Jonathan Yardley & Amanda Freed Austin: Kevin Brown, Amanda Scarborough & Jalyn Johnson Athens: Alex Perlman & Francesca Enea Lexington: Mike Couzens & Carol Bruggeman Tempe: John Schriffen & Jennie Ritter Seattle: Pam Ward & Jenny Dalton-Hill Super Regionals Tuscaloosa: Eric Frede & Madison Shipman Fayetteville: Pam Ward & Jenny Dalton Hill Baton Rouge: Kevin Brown, Amanda Scarborough & Jalyn Johnson Los Angeles: Mark Neely & Kenzie Fowler Women's College World Series Finals Beth Mowins, Jessica Mendoza, Michele Smith & Holly Rowe
References