1976 Women's College World Series

The 1976 Women's College World Series (WCWS) was held in Omaha, Nebraska on May 13–16, with nineteen college softball teams meeting in the 1976 ASA/AIAW fastpitch softball tournament. Most of the teams had won state championships. This was the last WCWS before the adoption of regional qualifying tournaments. Because college softball had not yet been separated into competitive divisions, large and small colleges competed together in one overall national championship.[1]

The Michigan State Spartans went undefeated through all five of their games to win the 1976 national championship, beating Northern Colorado, 3–0, in the final game. Carol Hutchins played shortstop for that 1976 team and would coach the rival Michigan Wolverines to the WCWS title 29 years later in 2005.

Teams

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The double-elimination tournament included the following teams:

Team Appearance
Arizona State 4th
Cal State–Sacramento 1st
East Stroudsburg State (PA) 2nd
Illinois State 6th
Indiana State 2nd
Kansas 4th
Mayville State (ND) 1st
Michigan State 4th
Minnesota 1st
Nebraska–Omaha 7th
Northern Colorado 8th
Northern Iowa 3rd
Northern State (SD) 2nd
Northwestern Oklahoma State 1st
Oregon 1st
South Carolina 4th
Tarkio College (MO) 1st
Texas–Arlington 1st
Utah 1st

Bracket

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The bracket included 19 teams with results as shown.[2][3][4][5][6][7][8]

Upper round 1Upper round 2Upper round 3Upper round 4Upper finalFinal
Minnesota1
Minnesota5Michigan State2
Michigan State6[a]
Oregon1
Kansas5
Cal State–SacramentoL
Cal State–Sacramento5KansasW
Michigan State2[a]
Utah1
Arizona State0
East Stroudsburg4
East Stroudsburg10Arizona State14
Arizona State2
South Carolina0
Northern Iowa0
Northern Iowa3
Northern State1
Michigan State1
Nebraska–Omaha0
Nebraska–Omaha10
Mayville State College0
Nebraska–Omaha3
Tarkio College1
Tarkio College3
Indiana State0
Nebraska–Omaha3
Northern Colorado2
Illinois State7
Northwestern Oklahoma State0
Illinois State1
Michigan State3
Northern Colorado5[b]
Northern Colorado1(12)Northern Colorado0
Texas–Arlington0
Lower round 1Lower round 2Lower round 3Lower round 4Lower round 5Lower round 6Lower final
East Stroudsburg0
Tarkio College4
East Stroudsburg4Tarkio College3
Tarkio College5Arizona State5
Northern State1Utah1
Illinois State0Northern Colorado3
Utah5Cal State–Sacramento3
Arizona State3Nebraska–Omaha2
Cal State–Sacramento6Illinois State6
Northern Colorado13
Mayville State College0Minnesota1
Oregon11Indiana State2
Northern Iowa0
Indiana State14Northern Iowa10
Northern Iowa6Northern Colorado1
Oregon6
Texas–Arlington0
Texas–Arlington2
Texas–Arlington3Kansas0
Northwestern Oklahoma State1South Carolina0
South Carolina5
  1. ^ a b The Michigan State Softball Record Book lists the scores of these wins over Kansas and Arizona State as 6-4 and 4-0, respectively.
  2. ^ No-hitter. The Northern Colorado Softball Record Book lists this score as 5-0.

Ranking

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Place School WCWS Record
1st Michigan State 5-0
2nd Northern Colorado 5-2
3rd Nebraska–Omaha 3-2
4th Arizona State 3-2
5th Tarkio College 3-2
Northern Iowa 3-2
7th Illinois State 2-2
Texas–Arlington 2-2
9th East Stroudsburg State College 2-2
Cal State–Sacramento 2-2
Kansas 1-2
Indiana State 1-2
13th Utah 1-2
Oregon 1-2
South Carolina 1-2
Minnesota 1-2
17th Northwestern Oklahoma State 0-2
Northern State College 0-2
Mayville State College 0-2

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Plummer III, William; Floyd, Larry C. (2013). A Series Of Their Own: History Of The Women's College World Series. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States: Turnkey Communications Inc. ISBN 978-0-9893007-0-4.
  2. ^ "UNO Wins on Linson's 1-Hitter". Omaha World Herald. Omaha, Nebraska. May 14, 1976. p. 23. Retrieved 2017-03-26.
  3. ^ "McCauley, UNO Post Two Wins". Omaha World Herald. Omaha, Nebraska. May 15, 1976. p. 17. Retrieved 2017-03-26.
  4. ^ "Rain Forces Shift in Softball Tourney". Omaha World Herald. Omaha, Nebraska. May 16, 1976. p. 1-C. Retrieved 2017-03-26.
  5. ^ "Michigan State Undefeated Champ". Omaha World Herald. Omaha, Nebraska. May 17, 1976. p. 13. Retrieved 2017-03-26.
  6. ^ "Michigan State Softball Record Book" (PDF). Lansing, Michigan: Michigan State University. 2009. p. 18. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-03-27. Retrieved 2017-03-26.
  7. ^ "UNC Softball Record Book" (PDF). Greeley, Colorado: University of Northern Colorado. 2016. p. 4. Retrieved 2017-03-26.
  8. ^ Oregon Softball 2015 Media Guide. Eugene, Oregon: University of Oregon. 2015. p. 42. Retrieved 2017-03-05.