1991 NCAA Division I softball season

The 1991 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 1991. The season progressed through the regular season, many conference tournaments and championship series, and concluded with the 1991 NCAA Division I softball tournament and 1991 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 26, 1991.

1991 NCAA Division I softball season
Defending Champions	UCLA
Tournament
Women's College World Series
Duration	May 23–26, 1991
Champions	Arizona (1st title)
Runners-up	UCLA (9th WCWS Appearance)
Winning Coach	Mike Candrea (1st title)
Seasons

Conference standings

1991 Big Ten Conference softball standings v t e Conf Overall Team W   L   T   PCT W   L   T   PCT Minnesota ‍†‍‍y 20 – 4 – 0   .833 48 – 27 – 0   .640 Iowa ‍‍‍y 19 – 5 – 0   .792 53 – 11 – 0   .828 Michigan ‍‍‍ 15 – 9 – 0   .625 36 – 19 – 0   .655 Ohio State  ‍‍‍ 10 – 14 – 0   .417 20 – 32 – 0   .385 Indiana ‍‍‍ 9 – 15 – 0   .375 23 – 31 – 0   .426 Northwestern  ‍‍‍ 9 – 15 – 0   .375 21 – 33 – 0   .389 Michigan State  ‍‍‍ 2 – 22 – 0   .083 11 – 41 – 0   .212 † – Conference champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] Rankings from Coaches' Poll

1991 Pacific-10 Conference softball standings v t e Conf Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT UCLA  ‍†‍‍y 16 – 4   .800 50 – 5   .909 Arizona State  ‍‍‍y 15 – 5   .750 43 – 16   .729 California  ‍‍‍y 14 – 6   .700 48 – 18   .727 Arizona  ‍‍‍y 11 – 9   .550 56 – 16   .778 Oregon  ‍‍‍ 4 – 16   .200 29 – 29   .500 Oregon State  ‍‍‍ 0 – 20   .000 9 – 43   .173 † – Conference champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament As of May 31, 1991[9] Rankings from Coaches' Poll

1991 Southland Conference softball standings v t e Conf Overall Team W   L   T   PCT W   L   T   PCT Northwestern Louisiana  ‍†‍‍ 18 – 5 – 0   .783 44 – 18 – 0   .710 Sam Houston State  ‍‍‍ 18 – 6 – 0   .750 37 – 23 – 0   .617 Stephen F. Austin  ‍‍‍ 17 – 6 – 0   .739 38 – 16 – 0   .704 Southwest Texas State  ‍‍‍ 10 – 14 – 0   .417 17 – 37 – 0   .315 Texas–Arlington  ‍‍‍ 9 – 15 – 0   .375 21 – 38 – 0   .356 McNeese State  ‍‍‍ 5 – 17 – 0   .227 11 – 33 – 0   .250 Northeast Louisiana  ‍‍‍ 4 – 18 – 0   .182 21 – 36 – 0   .368 † – Conference champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament As of May 20, 1991[10] Rankings from Coaches' Poll

Women's College World Series

The 1991 NCAA Women's College World Series took place from May 23 to May 26, 1991 in Oklahoma City.^[11]

	Upper round 1					Upper round 2					Upper final					Semifinals					Preliminary final					Final
	Florida State		0
	UCLA		1
						UCLA		0
						Arizona		19
	UNLV		0
	Arizona		113
											Arizona		18
											Long Beach State		0
	Long Beach State		1
																Arizona		0
	Missouri		0
						Long Beach State		3								Fresno State		18
						Fresno State		0
	Fresno State		2
	Utah		0																							Arizona		5
																					Fresno State		1			UCLA		1
						Lower round 1					Lower round 2										UCLA		513
											Fresno State		3
						Florida State		3			Florida State		0
																Long Beach State		0
						UNLV		1
																UCLA		111
											Missouri		0
						Missouri		29			UCLA		5
						Utah		0

Season leaders

Batting

• Batting average: .581 – Stacy Cowen, Manhattan Jaspers
• RBIs: 70 – Danielle Yearick, Manhattan Jaspers
• Home runs: 12 – Sue Hellman, Wagner Seahawks

Pitching

• Wins: 36-7 – Missi Young, Texas A&M Aggies
• ERA: 0.18 (6 ER/232.2 IP) – Karen Snelgrove, Missouri Tigers
• Strikeouts: 463 – Michele Granger, California Golden Bears

Records

NCAA Division I single game walks: 6 – Wendy Stewart, Utah Utes; May 11, 1991^[12]

NCAA Division I 7 inning single game strikeouts: 21 – Michele Granger, California Golden Bears; March 22, 1991

NCAA Division I single game innings pitched: 31.0 – Kelly Brookhart, Creighton Bluejays & Janet Womack, Utah Utes; May 11, 1991

Freshman class single game home runs: 3 – Danielle Yearick, Manhattan Jaspers; April 20, 1991

Sophomore class single game innings pitched: 25.0 – Mellissa Halkinrude, Utah Utes; May 12, 1991

Junior class batting average: .581 – Stacy Cowen, Manhattan Jaspers

Awards

• Honda Sports Award Softball:

Lisa Fernandez, UCLA Bruins^[13][14]

YEAR	W	L	GP	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	ERA	WHIP
1991	20	3	26	24	23	16	1	165.2	68	9	6	22	165	0.25	0.54

YEAR	G	AB	R	H	BA	RBI	HR	3B	2B	TB	SLG	BB	SO	SB	SBA
1991	63	205	25	70	.341	32	2	1	9	87	.424%	17	2	0	0

All America Teams

The following players were members of the All-American Teams.^[15]

First Team

Position	Player	Class	School
P	Heather Compton	SO.	UCLA Bruins
	Terry Carpenter	JR.	Fresno State Bulldogs
	Michele Granger	SO.	California Golden Bears
C	Diane Pohl	JR.	Iowa Hawkeyes
1B	Julie Cavanaugh	SR.	Oregon Ducks
2B	Julie Smith	SR.	Fresno State Bulldogs
3B	Camille Spitaleri	JR.	Kansas Jayhawks
SS	Julie Standering	SR.	Arizona Wildcats
OF	Yvonne Gutierrez	JR.	UCLA Bruins
	Pam Stanley	JR.	Central Michigan Chippewas
	Tricia Popowski	SR.	South Carolina Gamecocks
UT	Lisa Fernandez	SO.	UCLA Bruins

Second Team

Position	Player	Class	School
P	Karen Snelgrove	JR.	Missouri Tigers
	Karen Jackson	FR.	Iowa Hawkeyes
	Missi Young	SO.	Texas A&M Aggies
C	Erica Ziencina	SR.	UCLA Bruins
1B	Julie Jones	SR.	Arizona Wildcats
2B	Michelle Delloso	SR.	South Carolina Gamecocks
3B	Gina LoPiccolo	SR.	Fresno State Bulldogs
SS	Tiffany Tootle	SO.	South Carolina Gamecocks
OF	Rachel Brown	JR.	Arizona State Sun Devils
	Leigh Ross	SR.	Toledo Rockets
	Charmelle Green	SR.	Utah Utes
UT	Kelly Brookhart	SR.	Creighton Bluejays
AT-L	Kari Blank	JR.	Minnesota Golden Gophers

Third Team

Position	Player	Class	School
P	Lori Harrigan	JR.	UNLV Rebels
	Debbie Day	JR.	Arizona Wildcats
	Christy Larsen	SR.	FSU Seminoles
C	Rhonda Rube	JR.	Northwestern State Demons
1B	Julie Liljeberg	SR.	Western Michigan Broncos
2B	Missy Phillips	SR.	UCLA Bruins
3B	Kim Kostyk	JR.	Long Beach State 49ers
SS	Shauna Bowman	SR.	Ohio State Buckeyes
OF	Dorsey Steamer	JR.	ULL Rajin' Cajuns
	Mich DeBree	SR.	Cal State Fullerton Titans
	Colleen Holloway	SO.	Southern Illinois Salukis
UT	Julie Sexton	SR.	Northern Illinois Huskies
AT-L	Chris Parris	SR.	UNLV Rebels

References

1. "Big Ten Softball Standings" (PDF). BigTen.org. Big Ten Conference. Retrieved July 5, 2020.
2. 1991 Indiana Season
3. 1991 Iowa Season
4. 1991 Michigan Season
5. 1991 Michigan State Season
6. 1991 Minnesota Season
7. 1991 Northwestern Season
8. 1991 Ohio State Season
9. 2018 Softball Media Guide. Pac-12 Conference. p. 52. Retrieved July 18, 2019.
10. "Southland Softball" (PDF). Southland Conference. p. 13. Retrieved February 16, 2024.
11. "1991 Women's College World Series". Ncaa.org. Retrieved July 17, 2020.
12. "Division I Softball Records" (PDF). Ncaa.org. Retrieved July 16, 2020.
13. "PAST HONDA SPORTS AWARD WINNERS FOR SOFTBALL". Collegiatewomensportsawards.com. Retrieved July 17, 2020.
14. "Final 1991 Women's Softball Statistics Report" (PDF). Ncaa.org. Retrieved July 29, 2020.
15. "1991 NSCA Division I All-America Teams". Nfca.org. Retrieved July 24, 2020.

External links

• Utah at Creighton Softball (Part 1 of 4) - 5/11/1991 on YouTube
• Utah at Creighton Softball (Part 2 of 4) - 5/11/1991 on YouTube
• Utah at Creighton Softball (Part 3 of 4) - 5/11/1991 on YouTube
• Utah at Creighton Softball (Part 4 of 4) - 5/11/1991 on YouTube