2016 NCAA Division I softball season
Defending ChampionsFlorida
Tournament
Women's College World Series
ChampionsOklahoma (3rd title)
Runners-upAuburn (2nd WCWS Appearance)
Winning CoachPatty Gasso (3rd title)
WCWS MOPPaige Parker (Oklahoma)
Seasons
← 2015
2017 →

The 2016 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 2016. The season progressed through the regular season, many conference tournaments and championship series, and concluded with the 2016 NCAA Division I softball tournament and 2016 Women's College World Series. The Women's College World Series, consisting of the eight remaining teams in the NCAA Tournament and held annually in Oklahoma City at ASA Hall of Fame Stadium, ended in June 2016.

Conference standings

2016 American Athletic Conference softball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 25 South Florida  ‍†‍‍y 15 – 3   .833 45 – 16   .738
UCF  ‍‍‍y 12 – 4   .750 38 – 22   .633
Tulsa  ‍‍‡‍y 9 – 9   .500 35 – 21   .625
Houston  ‍‍‍ 9 – 9   .500 27 – 29   .482
Memphis  ‍‍‍ 7 – 11   .389 26 – 31   .456
East Carolina  ‍‍‍ 5 – 13   .278 23 – 31   .426
UConn  ‍‍‍ 4 – 12   .250 19 – 33   .365
† – Conference champion
‡ – Tournament champion
y – Invited to the NCAA tournament
As of May 23, 2016[1]
Rankings from Today/NFCA Coaches
2016 Big 12 Conference softball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 1 Oklahoma ‍†‍‍y 17 – 1   .944 57 – 8   .877
No. 21 Baylor ‍‍‍y 13 – 4   .765 45 – 14   .763
Texas ‍‍‍y 10 – 7   .588 38 – 16   .704
Kansas ‍‍‍ 8 – 9   .471 31 – 20   .608
Oklahoma State ‍‍‍y 6 – 11   .353 32 – 26   .552
Texas Tech ‍‍‍ 6 – 12   .333 23 – 32   .418
Iowa State ‍‍‍ 1 – 17   .056 20 – 35   .364
† – Conference champion
y – Invited to the NCAA tournament
Rankings from NFCA [2]
2016 Big East Conference softball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
DePaul  ‍†‍‍ 16 – 3   .842 27 – 25   .519
Villanova  ‍‍‍ 14 – 6   .700 32 – 18   .640
St. John's  ‍‍‍ 12 – 7   .632 29 – 20   .592
Butler  ‍‍‡‍y 9 – 7   .563 28 – 24   .538
Creighton  ‍‍‍ 7 – 11   .389 25 – 22   .532
Seton Hall  ‍‍‍ 7 – 12   .368 24 – 30   .444
Providence  ‍‍‍ 6 – 14   .300 21 – 28   .429
Georgetown  ‍‍‍ 3 – 14   .176 9 – 35   .205
† – Conference champion
‡ – Tournament champion
y – Invited to the NCAA tournament
As of June 30, 2016[3]
Rankings from NFCA
2016 Big Ten Conference softball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 5 Michigan  ‍†‍‍y 21 – 2   .913 52 – 7   .881
No. 20 Minnesota  ‍‍‡‍y 19 – 3   .864 43 – 14   .754
Northwestern  ‍‍‍y 15 – 8   .652 27 – 28   .491
Penn State  ‍‍‍ 14 – 9   .609 30 – 24   .556
Nebraska  ‍‍‍y 13 – 9   .591 35 – 21   .625
Ohio State  ‍‍‍y 13 – 9   .591 34 – 20   .630
Illinois  ‍‍‍y 12 – 11   .522 36 – 23   .610
Wisconsin  ‍‍‍ 11 – 11   .500 28 – 24   .538
Indiana  ‍‍‍ 10 – 13   .435 29 – 25   .537
Michigan State  ‍‍‍ 8 – 15   .348 27 – 28   .491
Purdue  ‍‍‍ 8 – 15   .348 27 – 28   .491
Rutgers  ‍‍‍ 8 – 15   .348 24 – 33   .421
Maryland  ‍‍‍ 4 – 19   .174 12 – 40   .231
Iowa  ‍‍‍ 3 – 20   .130 13 – 39   .250
† – Conference champion
‡ – Tournament champion
y – Invited to the NCAA tournament
As of June 6, 2016[4]
Rankings from NFCA
2016 Colonial Athletic Association softball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T   PCT W   L   T   PCT
#8 James Madison ‍†‍‡‍y 18 – 1 – 0   .947 50 – 6 – 0   .893
Towson  ‍‍‍ 11 – 8 – 0   .579 37 – 17 – 0   .685
College of Charleston  ‍‍‍ 11 – 9 – 0   .550 35 – 23 – 0   .603
Elon  ‍‍‍ 9 – 8 – 0   .529 26 – 25 – 0   .510
Delaware  ‍‍‍ 9 – 9 – 0   .500 30 – 21 – 0   .588
UNC Wilmington  ‍‍‍ 8 – 10 – 0   .444 29 – 21 – 0   .580
Hofstra  ‍‍‍ 8 – 10 – 0   .444 24 – 22 – 0   .522
Drexel  ‍‍‍ 0 – 19 – 0   .000 20 – 35 – 0   .364
† – Conference champion
‡ – Tournament champion
As of May 24, 2016[5]
Rankings from USA Today/NFCA Coaches
2016 Ohio Valley Conference softball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Jacksonville State ‡  ‍‍‍ 26 – 0   1.000 43 – 17   .717
Eastern Kentucky  ‍‍‍ 17 – 8   .680 37 – 17   .685
Eastern Illinois  ‍‍‍ 17 – 8   .680 25 – 28   .472
SIU Edwardsville  ‍‍‍ 15 – 11   .577 28 – 26   .519
Tennessee–Martin  ‍‍‍ 14 – 13   .519 30 – 26   .536
Tennessee Tech  ‍‍‍ 14 – 13   .519 23 – 33   .411
Morehead State  ‍‍‍ 11 – 11   .500 26 – 27   .491
Murray State  ‍‍‍ 12 – 14   .462 14 – 31   .311
Belmont  ‍‍‍ 11 – 16   .407 19 – 35   .352
SE Missouri State  ‍‍‍ 10 – 17   .370 16 – 33   .327
Austin Peay  ‍‍‍ 5 – 22   .185 9 – 387   .023
Tennessee State  ‍‍‍ 3 – 22   .120 10 – 45   .182
‡ – OVC Tournament champion
As of May 9, 2016[6]
Rankings from USA Today/NFCA Coaches
2016 Southeastern Conference softball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 1 Florida ‍‍‍ 20 – 4   .833 52 – 4   .929
No. 12 Kentucky  ‍‍‍ 17 – 7   .708 43 – 11   .796
No. 10 Tennessee  ‍‍‍ 16 – 7   .696 40 – 13   .755
No. 6 Auburn  ‍‍‡‍ 16 – 7   .696 46 – 9   .836
No. 4 Alabama  ‍‍‍ 16 – 8   .667 45 – 11   .804
No. 16 Missouri  ‍‍‍ 14 – 10   .583 39 – 13   .750
No. 13 LSU  ‍‍‍ 13 – 11   .542 42 – 14   .750
No. 15 Georgia  ‍‍‍ 12 – 12   .500 40 – 16   .714
Ole Miss  ‍‍‍ 11 – 13   .458 38 – 19   .667
No. 17 Texas A&M  ‍‍‍ 9 – 15   .375 37 – 17   .685
South Carolina  ‍‍‍ 7 – 17   .292 35 – 20   .636
Mississippi State  ‍‍‍ 3 – 21   .125 25 – 30   .455
Arkansas  ‍‍‍ 1 – 23   .042 17 – 39   .304
‡ – Tournament champion
As of May 8, 2016[7]
Rankings from NFCA
2016 Southland Conference softball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
East Division
McNeese State **  x‍‍‡‍y 23 – 4   .852 42 – 12   .778
Nicholls  ‍‍‍ 21 – 5   .808 39 – 17   .696
Lamar  ‍‍‍ 18 – 9   .667 35 – 22   .614
Central Arkansas  ‍‍‍ 16 – 11   .593 35 – 22   .614
Northwestern State  ‍‍‍ 10 – 17   .370 27 – 25   .519
Southeastern Louisiana  ‍‍‍ 6 – 21   .222 23 – 32   .418
West Division
Abilene Christian * x‍‍‍ 19 – 8   .704 26 – 21   .553
Stephen F. Austin  ‍‍‍ 13 – 13   .500 28 – 29   .491
Sam Houston  ‍‍‍ 13 – 14   .481 21 – 33   .389
Texas A&M–Corpus Christi  ‍‍‍ 7 – 19   .269 18 – 30   .375
Houston Baptist  ‍‍‍ 7 – 19   .269 15 – 29   .341
Incarnate Word *  ‍‍‍ 7 – 20   .259 18 – 34   .346
‡ – SLC Tournament Champion
*ineligible for postseason play due to Div. I transition
**Southland Tournament #1 seed champion
As of May 13, 2016[8]
Rankings from USA Today/NFCA Coaches
2016 Sun Belt Conference softball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 12 Louisiana–Lafayette  ‍†‍‡‍y 21 – 2   .913 46 – 9   .836
South Alabama  ‍‍‍ 17 – 6   .739 33 – 18   .647
Texas State ‍‍‍y 15 – 9   .625 40 – 22   .645
Georgia State  ‍‍‍ 13 – 11   .542 33 – 28   .541
Georgia Southern  ‍‍‍ 13 – 11   .542 30 – 27   .526
Troy  ‍‍‍ 11 – 13   .458 31 – 25   .554
UT Arlington  ‍‍‍ 8 – 16   .333 29 – 20   .592
Louisiana–Monroe  ‍‍‍ 7 – 17   .292 24 – 34   .414
Appalachian State  ‍‍‍ 2 – 22   .083 11 – 45   .196
‡ – Tournament champion
As of March 18, 2019[9]
Rankings from NFCA
2016 West Coast Conference softball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T   PCT W   L   T   PCT
BYU  ‍†‍‍y 11 – 2 – 0   .846 36 – 20 – 0   .643
Loyola Marymount  ‍‍‍ 10 – 5 – 0   .667 32 – 21 – 0   .604
San Diego  ‍‍‍ 7 – 6 – 0   .538 21 – 28 – 0   .429
Saint Mary's  ‍‍‍ 6 – 7 – 0   .462 19 – 26 – 1   .424
Santa Clara  ‍‍‍ 4 – 9 – 0   .308 9 – 40 – 0   .184
Pacific  ‍‍‍ 3 – 12 – 0   .200 20 – 28 – 0   .417
† – Conference champion
y – Invited to the NCAA tournament
As of June 17, 2016[10]
Rankings from USA Today/NFCA Coaches

Women's College World Series

The 2016 Women's College World Series began on June 2–8 in Oklahoma City.[11]

First round Second round Semifinals Finals
               
16 Georgia 5
8 Florida State 4
16 Georgia 3
4 Auburn 4
4 Auburn 10
12 UCLA 3
4 Auburn 8(8) —
8 Florida State 7 —
8 Florida State 8
12 UCLA 4
2 Michigan 0
8 Florida State 1
4 Auburn 2 11(8) 1
3 Oklahoma 3 7 2
3 Oklahoma 3(8)
6 Alabama 0
3 Oklahoma 7
2 Michigan 5
2 Michigan 2
10 LSU 0
3 Oklahoma 7 —
10 LSU 3 —
6 Alabama 4
10 LSU 6
16 Georgia 1
10 LSU 4

Season leaders

Batting

Pitching

Records

NCAA Division I single game intentional walks: 5 – Darian Tautalafua, Long Beach State 49ers; May 8, 2016[12]

NCAA Division I single game total bases: 17 – Carli Kayler, Troy Trojans; March 19, 2016

Freshman class hits: 104 – Tatyana Forbes, Coastal Carolina Chanticleers

Awards

Sierra Romero, Michigan Wolverines[13]

Sierra Romero, Michigan Wolverines[14]

Sierra Romero, Michigan Wolverines[15]

YEAR G AB R H BA RBI HR 3B 2B TB SLG BB SO SB SBA
2016 59 162 76 73 .450 79 19 1 11 143 .882% 52 12 15 17

Kasey Cooper, Auburn Tigers[16]

YEAR G AB R H BA RBI HR 3B 2B TB SLG BB SO SB SBA
2016 70 187 69 79 .422 83 21 1 19 163 .871% 71 15 6 7

Amanda Lorenz, Florida Gators[17]

YEAR G AB R H BA RBI HR 3B 2B TB SLG BB SO SB SBA
2016 63 181 56 73 .403 48 8 1 14 113 .624% 48 19 10 12

Lexie Elkins, Louisiana[18]

Katie Lacour, Southeastern Louisiana[19]

All America Teams

The following players were members of the All-American Teams.[20]

First Team

Position Player Class School
P Delanie Gourley JR. Florida Gators
Paige Parker SO. Oklahoma Sooners
Megan Good SO. James Madison Dukes
C Lexie Elkins SR. ULL Ragin' Cajuns
1B Tera Blanco SO. Michigan Wolverines
2B Sierra Romero SR. Michigan Wolverines
3B Kasey Cooper JR. Auburn Tigers
SS Kristen Brown SR. North Carolina Tar Heels
OF Haylie McCleney SR. Alabama Crimson Tide
Emily Crane SR. Missouri Tigers
Koral Costa SR. Oregon Ducks
UT Jailyn Ford SR. James Madison Dukes
Kimberlee Souza SR. Washington Huskies
AT-L Sierra Lawrence SR. Michigan Wolverines
Aleshia Ocasio SO. Florida Gators
Sara Groenewegen JR. Minnesota Golden Gophers
Kelsey Nunley SR. Kentucky Wildcats
Marjani Knighten JR. Nebraska Cornhuskers

Second Team

Position Player Class School
P Kylee Hanson JR. FAU Owls
Megan Betsa JR. Michigan Wolverines
Alex Stewart JR. ULL Ragin' Cajuns
C Erika Piancastelli SO. McNeese State Cowgirls
1B Alex Powers JR. FSU Seminoles
2B Emily Carosone SR. Auburn Tigers
3B Mysha Sataraka SR. UCLA Bruins
SS Delaney Spaulding JR. UCLA Bruins
OF Aleah Craighton SO. ULL Ragin' Cajuns
Erin Miller SR. Oklahoma Sooners
Lindsey Stephens SR. Texas Longhorns
UT Erica Nunn SR. USF Bulls
Kayli Kvistad SO. Florida Gators
AT-L Sydney Littlejohn JR. Alabama Crimson Tide
Nikki Udria JR. Oregon Ducks
Shay Knighten FR. Oklahoma Sooners
Leona Lafaele SR. Alabama Crimson Tide
Ali Aguilar JR. Washington Huskies

Third Team

Position Player Class School
P Cheridan Hawkins SR. Oregon Ducks
Jessica Burroughs JR. FSU Seminoles
Nisa Ontiveros SR. California Golden Bears
C Emily Naegele SR. Northern Illinois Huskies
1B Jade Rhodes SR. Auburn Tigers
2B Hannah Flippen JR. Utah Utes
3B Bianka Bell SR. LSU Tigers
SS Sami Fagan SR. Missouri Tigers
OF Amanda Lorenz FR. Florida Gators
Karley Wester JR. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Allexis Bennett SR. UCLA Bruins
UT Rainey Gaffin SR. Tennessee Lady Vols
Cammi Prantl SR. Ohio State Buckeyes
AT-L Tina Iosefa SR. Georgia Bulldogs
Vanessa Shippy SO. Oklahoma State Cowgirls
Jessica Warren SO. FSU Seminoles
Victoria Vidales SO. Texas A&M Aggies
Sahvanna Jaquish JR. LSU Tigers
Kiki Stokes SR. Nebraska Cornhuskers
Taylor Glover JR. CSUN Matadors

References

  1. ^ "Standings & Leaders". American Athletic Conference. Retrieved February 1, 2017.
  2. ^ "2019-2020 Big 12 Conference Record Book" (PDF). Big 12 Conference. pp. 196–197. Retrieved June 6, 2020.
  3. ^ "2016 Big East Softball Standings and Leaders". Big East Conference. Retrieved May 5, 2021.
  4. ^ "Big Ten Softball Standings". BigTen.org. Big Ten Conference. Retrieved May 11, 2019.
  5. ^ "2016 Softball Standings". Colonial Athletic Association. Retrieved May 24, 2016.
  6. ^ "Softball". Ohio Valley Conference. Retrieved April 25, 2017.
  7. ^ "Softball" (PDF). Southeastern Conference. Retrieved May 8, 2016.
  8. ^ "2016 Softball Standings". Southland Conference. Retrieved May 13, 2016.
  9. ^ "Softball". Sun Belt Conference. Retrieved March 18, 2019.
  10. ^ "Softball". West Coast Conference. Retrieved May 17, 2016.
  11. ^ "2016 Women's College World Series". Ncaa.org. Retrieved August 6, 2020.
  12. ^ "Division I Softball Records" (PDF). Ncaa.org. Retrieved August 6, 2020.
  13. ^ "Player of The Year". Teamusa.org. Retrieved August 6, 2020.[dead link]
  14. ^ "Michigan's Romero named inaugural Schutt Sports / NFCA Division I National Player of the Year". nfca.org. June 9, 2016. Retrieved May 9, 2021.
  15. ^ "PAST HONDA SPORTS AWARD WINNERS FOR SOFTBALL". Collegiatewomensportsawards.com. Retrieved August 6, 2020.
  16. ^ "With Hitting Down to a Science, Auburn's Kasey Cooper Named espnW Player of The Year". Espn.com. Retrieved August 6, 2020.
  17. ^ "Florida's Lorenz named 2016 Schutt Sports / NFCA Division I National Freshman of the Year". nfca.org. May 31, 2016. Retrieved May 27, 2021.
  18. ^ "NFCA announces the 2016 Diamond Sports Catchers of the Year". nfca.org. July 12, 2016. Retrieved May 23, 2021.
  19. ^ "NFCA Announces 2016 Golden Shoe Award Winners". nfca.org. July 11, 2016. Retrieved May 23, 2021.
  20. ^ "2016 NFCA Division I All-America Teams". Nfca.org. Retrieved August 6, 2020.
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