Since 1982, the Women's College World Series has crowned the NCAA national champion. Here's a look at some of the most notable WCWS records.
Some are about team dominance through the years (UCLA's national titles mark), while others are games or years of individual greatness (Arizona's Taryne Mowatt's 2007 season).
13 notable Women's College World Series records
NOTE: These are for the NCAA era (since 1982)
- Team with the most titles — UCLA has 12 national championships (another was vacated)
- Conferences with the most titles — Through 2020, the Pac-12 has won 24 of the 36 national championships. No other conference has more than three
- Position with the most Most Outstanding Player awards — 20 of the 26 Most Outstanding Player award winners starred in the circle
- Most WCWS appearances — UCLA leads the country with 29 appearances, followed by two more conference rivals: Arizona (23) and Washington (14)
- Consecutive WCWS appearances — Arizona reached the WCWS a record 16 consecutive seasons from 1988 through 2003. UCLA has the longest active streak with five
- Longest game — Texas A&M beat Cal Poly Pomona 1-0 in 25 innings in 1984 in six hours and 13 minutes. A&M's Shawn Andaya pitched all 25 innings for a WCWS record. The teams also set a record for most at-bats with 174
- Shortest game — Louisiana Tech defeated Pacific 2-0 in one hour and eight minutes in 1983
- Most strikeouts pitched — UCLA's Debbie Doom struck out 20 against Oklahoma State in 13 innings at the 1982 WCWS. The Bruins won 2-1. Texas' Cat Osterman holds the 7-inning record with 18
- Batting average in a series (individual) — Arizona's Leah O'Brien hit .750 in 1994, going 9-for-12
- Batting average in a series (team) — Arizona hit .394 in 1995. The Wildcats then posted the second-highest average in 1996 at .370
- Runs batted in for a series — Washington's Niki Williams drove in seven of the Huskies eight runs...in a 9-8 defeat to Georgia. However, Washington would win its next three game to win the title
- Taryne Mowatt's busy 2007 — The Arizona star set four series records in 2007: six wins, eight complete games, 60 innings pitched and 76 strikeouts
- Most runs in one inning — Florida scored 11 runs in the first against Alabama in 2011 to win 16-2 in 5 innings.
Here's a closer look at some of these record-holders:
All about the Pac-12 (and Arizona and UCLA)
From 1988 through 1997, only two schools won the national title: Arizona and UCLA.
Combined, the Wildcats and Bruins have 20 championships, not counting UCLA's vacated 1995 title. The next closest school? Oklahoma with four.
The Pac-12 (or Pac-10) has been the conference power since the tournament started. Besides Arizona and UCLA, conference rivals Arizona State (2008, 2011), California (2002) and Washington (2009) also have championships. Add it all up and that's 24 for the conference.
UCLA added its most recent championship in 2019, when the Bruins beat Oklahoma on a walk-off.
Arizona's Taryne Mowatt and her 2007 performance
Defending national champion Arizona returned to Oklahoma City looking to win another title. Mowatt made sure that happened.
The first day belonged to Washington's Danielle Lawrie and Tennessee's Monica Abbott, however. The two stars both pitched no-hitters in the first day of the WCWS. Though Arizona would lose to Tennessee in its second game, the Wildcats ran off wins of 3-0, 2-0 and 8-1 to advance to the final series vs. the Vols. After losing the first game 3-0, Arizona won 1-0 (10 innings) and 5-0 against Abbott to clinch the crown.
Mowatt threw every pitch during the run, even striking out 11 Vols in the final game, throwing a record 60 innings. That number pushed her passed Abbott for the single-season WCWS strikeout record of 76.
Pitching, pitching and more pitching
There have been 26 Most Outstanding Player selections. Twenty of those have been pitchers. In 2019, UCLA's Rachel Garcia won MOP. Here are a few other star pitchers to earn MOP honors:
- Oklahoma's Paige Parker, 2016
- Florida's Lauren Haeger, 2015
- Oklahoma's Keilani Ricketts, 2013
- Alabama's Jackie Traina, 2012
- Washington's Danielle Lawrie, 2009
- Arizona's Taryne Mowatt, 2007
- Arizona's Jennie Finch, 2001
Florida State's Jessie Warren is the most recent non-pitcher to win MOP, taking it in 2018. She had 13 hits (tying the WCWS record) and hit .520. The third baseman also made a diving catch to help FSU win Game 1 against Washington in the championship series.
