2012 NCAA Division I softball tournament
The 2012 NCAA Division I softball tournament was held from May 18 through June 6, 2012 as the final part of the 2012 NCAA Division I softball season. The 64 NCAA Division I college softball teams were selected out of an eligible 284 teams on May 13, 2012. 30 teams were awarded an automatic bid as champions of their conference, and 34 teams were selected at-large by the NCAA Division I Softball Selection Committee. The tournament culminated with eight teams playing in the 2012 Women's College World Series at ASA Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City.
[2012 2012 Alabama Crimson Tide softball season|Alabama Crimson Tide softball season|Alabama] won the national title, defeating [2012 2012 Oklahoma Sooners softball team|Oklahoma Sooners softball team|Oklahoma] 2–1 in the best-of-three final to win the program's first national championship, and also the first softball title for any Southeastern Conference school.
National seeds
Teams in "italics" advanced to super regionals.Teams in "bold" advanced to Women's College World Series.
- California
- Alabama
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- Oklahoma
- Florida
- '
- '
- '
- '
- '
- ''
- Louisiana–Lafayette
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Women's College World Series
Participants
† Excludes results of the pre-NCAA Women's College World Series of 1969 through 1981.Results
Bracket
All times are Central Time ZoneGame results
| Date | Game | Winner | Score | Loser | Attendance | Notes |
| May 31, 2012 | Game 1 | Oklahoma | 5-1 | 8,149 | Lauren Chamberlain homered in the 4th inning to give Oklahoma the lead in their first WCWS win since 2004. | |
| May 31, 2012 | Game 2 | California | 5-3 | 8,149 | After falling behind 2-0, Cal rallied and finally took the lead with a 3-run 6th inning. | |
| May 31, 2012 | Game 3 | Alabama | 5-3 | 8,235 | Alabama took control early with 4 runs in the 1st inning en route to Jackie Traina's 38th victory of the season, tying the school's single-season mark. | |
| May 31, 2012 | Game 4 | 3-1 | 8,235 | Both pitchers were effective; a costly 2-run error by Oregon was the difference. | ||
| June 1, 2012 | Game 5 | Oklahoma | 3-0 | California | 9,209 | Keilani Ricketts struck out 16 batters in a two-hit shutout. |
| June 1, 2012 | Game 6 | Alabama | 2-1 | 9,209 | An 11-strikeout performance from Jackie Traina and a game-clinching solo home run in the 6th inning from senior Amanda Locke propelled Alabama to their fourth straight semifinals. With the victory, Traina took sole possession of Alabama's single-season record for wins. | |
| June 2, 2012 | Game 7 | 1-0 | 8,504 | LSU's A.J. Andrews scored the game's only run on a sacrifice popup to the shortstop. | ||
| June 2, 2012 | Game 8 | 3-1 | 8,504 | |||
| June 2, 2012 | Game 9 | 6-0 | 9,310 | ASU's Alix Johnson and Sam Parlich combined for five RBIs. | ||
| June 2, 2012 | Game 10 | California | 6-3 | 9,310 | ||
| June 3, 2012 | Game 11 | Oklahoma | 5-3 | |||
| June 3, 2012 | Game 12 | Alabama | 5-2 | California | Jackie Traina, Kaila Hunt and Jazlyn Lunceford each hit solo home runs for Alabama. Alabama scored in every inning except for the first inning. | |
| June 4, 2012 | Finals game 1 | Oklahoma | 4-1 | Alabama | ||
| June 5, 2012 | Finals game 2 | Alabama | 8-6 | Oklahoma | ||
| June 6, 2012 | Finals game 3 | Alabama | 5-4 | Oklahoma | After trailing 3-0, Alabama scored 4 runs in the bottom of the 4th, one before and three after a thirteen-minute rain delay, to take the lead. Alabama wins 2012 WCWS. |
Championship game
| School | Top Batter | Stats. |
| Alabama Crimson Tide | Amanda Locke | 2-3 RBI |
| Oklahoma Sooners | Lauren Chamberlain | 2-3 3RBIs 2HRs BB |
| School | Pitcher | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | AB | BF |
| Alabama Crimson Tide | Jackie Traina | 7.0 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 27 | 31 |
| Oklahoma Sooners | Keilani Ricketts | 6.0 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 26 | 28 |
Final standings
| Place | School | WCWS record |
| 1st | Alabama | 5–1 |
| 2nd | Oklahoma | 4–2 |
| 3rd | California | 2–2 |
| 3rd | 2–2 | |
| 5th | 1–2 | |
| 5th | 1–2 | |
| 7th | 0–2 | |
| 7th | 0–2 |
All-Tournament Team
- Amber Freeman, Arizona State
- Samantha Pappas, Oregon
- Alexa Peterson, Oregon
- Lauren Chamberlain, Oklahoma
- Destinee Martinez, Oklahoma
- Keilani Ricketts, Oklahoma
- Jessica Shults, Oklahoma
- Brianna Turang, Oklahoma
- Kayla Braud, Alabama
- Jennifer Fenton, Alabama
- Amanda Locke, Alabama
- Jackie Traina, Alabama