The 2023 NCAA Division I softball season, play of

college softball College softball is softball as played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education, predominantly in the United States. College softball is normally played by women at the Intercollegiate level, whereas college baseball is nor ...

in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division I level, began in February 2023. The season progressed through the regular season, many conference tournaments and championship series, and concluded with the

2023 NCAA Division I softball tournament The 2023 NCAA Division I softball tournament was held from May 19 through June 8, 2023, as the final part of the 2023 NCAA Division I softball season. The tournament culminated with the 2023 Women's College World Series at USA Softball Hall of Fam ...

and

2023 Women's College World Series The 2023 NCAA Division I softball tournament was held from May 19 through June 8, 2023, as the final part of the 2023 NCAA Division I softball season. The tournament culminated with the 2023 Women's College World Series at USA Softball Hall of Fam ...

. The Women's College World Series, consisting of the eight remaining teams in the NCAA tournament and held annually in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, at ASA Hall of Fame Stadium, ended in June 2023.

Realignment

Five schools began transitions from NCAA Division II to Division I on July 1, 2022. *

Lindenwood Lindenwood may refer to a place in the United States: *Lindenwood, Illinois *Lindenwood, Queens, New York *Lindenwood Cemetery, Fort Wayne, Indiana In education: * Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Missouri * Lindenwood University – Bellevil ...

and Southern Indiana joined the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC). * Queens joined the

ASUN Conference The ASUN Conference, formerly the Atlantic Sun Conference, is a collegiate athletic conference operating mostly in the Southeastern United States. The league participates at the NCAA Division I level, and began sponsoring football at the Divisio ...

. * Stonehill joined the Northeast Conference (NEC). * Texas A&M–Commerce joined the Southland Conference (SLC). A total of 17 softball-sponsoring schools changed conferences after the 2022 season. *

Austin Peay Austin Peay (June 1, 1876 – October 2, 1927) was an American politician who served as the 35th governor of Tennessee from 1923 to 1927. He was the state's first governor since the Civil War to win three consecutive terms and the first to die ...

Belmont Belmont may refer to: People * Belmont (surname) Places * Belmont Abbey (disambiguation) * Belmont Historic District (disambiguation) * Belmont Hotel (disambiguation) * Belmont Park (disambiguation) * Belmont Plantation (disambiguation) * Belmon ...

, and

Murray State Murray State University (MSU) is a public university in Murray, Kentucky. In addition to the main campus in Calloway County in southwestern Kentucky, Murray State operates extended campuses offering upper level and graduate courses in Paducah, ...

left the Ohio Valley Conference. Peay joined the ASUN, and Belmont and Murray State joined the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC). *

Bryant Bryant may refer to: Organizations * Bryant Bank, a bank in Alabama, United States * Bryant Electric Company, an American manufacturer of electrical components * Bryant Homes, a British house builder, part of Taylor Woodrow * Bryant University ...

and Mount St. Mary's left the NEC, respectively for the America East Conference and Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC). * Hampton,

Monmouth Monmouth ( , ; cy, Trefynwy meaning "town on the Monnow") is a town and community in Wales. It is situated where the River Monnow joins the River Wye, from the Wales–England border. Monmouth is northeast of Cardiff, and west of London. I ...

North Carolina A&T North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (also known as North Carolina A&T State University, North Carolina A&T, N.C. A&T, or simply A&T) is a public, historically black land-grant research university in Greensboro, North Caro ...

, and Stony Brook joined the

Colonial Athletic Association The Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I whose full members are located in East Coast states from Massachusetts to South Carolina. Most of its members are public universi ...

(CAA). Hampton and A&T left the

Big South Conference The Big South Conference is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I. Originally a non-football conference, the Big South began sponsoring football in 2002 as part of the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). Th ...

(the latter after only one season), Monmouth the MAAC, and Stony Brook the America East. * Hartford, which began a transition to NCAA Division III in the 2021–22 school year, left the America East to become an independent for 2022–23 before joining the D-III Commonwealth Coast Conference in 2023. * James Madison, Marshall,

Old Dominion Old Dominion most commonly refers to: *The Old Dominion, a nickname for the U.S. Commonwealth of Virginia ** Colony of Virginia *Old Dominion University, a public university in Norfolk, Virginia **Old Dominion Monarchs, the athletic teams represe ...

, and Southern Miss joined the

Sun Belt Conference The Sun Belt Conference (SBC) is a collegiate athletic conference that has been affiliated with the NCAA's Division I since 1976. Originally a non-football conference, the Sun Belt began sponsoring football in 2001. Its football teams participa ...

(SBC). James Madison left the CAA, while the others left

Conference USA Conference USA (C-USA or CUSA) is an intercollegiate athletic conference whose current member institutions are located within the Southern United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. C-USA's offices are l ...

(C-USA). * Lamar, which had announced it would leave the WAC to return to its former home of the SLC in 2023–24, expedited this move to 2022–23. * UIC left the Horizon League for the MVC. *

UT Arlington The University of Texas at Arlington (UTA or UT Arlington) is a public research university in Arlington, Texas. The university was founded in 1895 and was in the Texas A&M University System for several decades until joining the University of Te ...

left the SBC for the WAC.

Incarnate Word The University of the Incarnate Word (UIW) is a private, Catholic university with its main campus in San Antonio and Alamo Heights, Texas. Founded in 1881 by the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word, the university's main campus is located o ...

had announced plans to leave the SLC for the WAC after the 2022 season, but days before that move was to take effect, the school announced it was staying in the SLC. The 2023 season was the last for 14 softball schools in their current conferences, as well as the aforementioned Hartford's only season as a D-I independent. * BYU, Houston, and

UCF The University of Central Florida (UCF) is a public research university whose main campus is in unincorporated Orange County, Florida. UCF also has nine smaller regional campuses throughout central Florida. It is part of the State University ...

moved to the Big 12 Conference. BYU is leaving the

West Coast Conference The West Coast Conference (WCC) — known as the California Basketball Association from 1952 to 1956 and then as the West Coast Athletic Conference until 1989 — is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with NCAA Division I consisting of ...

, while the others left the American Athletic Conference (The American). * Campbell left the Big South for the CAA. * Charlotte,

Florida Atlantic Florida Atlantic University (Florida Atlantic or FAU) is a public research university with its main campus in Boca Raton, Florida, and satellite campuses in Dania Beach, Davie, Fort Lauderdale, Jupiter, and Fort Pierce. FAU belongs to the 12-cam ...

, North Texas, UAB, and UTSA left C-USA for The American. *

Jacksonville State Jacksonville State University (JSU) is a public university in Jacksonville, Alabama. Founded in 1883, Jacksonville State offers programs of study in six academic schools leading to bachelor's, master's, education specialist, and doctorate degrees ...

, Liberty, New Mexico State, and

Sam Houston Samuel Houston (, ; March 2, 1793 – July 26, 1863) was an American general and statesman who played an important role in the Texas Revolution. He served as the first and third president of the Republic of Texas and was one of the first two i ...

joined C-USA. Jacksonville State and Liberty left the ASUN, and New Mexico State and Sam Houston the WAC. *

Western Illinois Forgottonia (), also spelled Forgotonia, is the name given to a 16-County (United States), county region in Western Illinois in the late 1960s and early 1970s. This geographic region forms the distinctive western bulge of Illinois (area west of ...

left the Summit League for the Ohio Valley Conference.

Other changes from 2022

Two Division I members, both sponsoring softball, adopted new names after the 2022 season. Neither school's nickname was affected. * Dixie State University changed its forward-facing name to Utah Tech University in May 2022, ahead of the legal name change on July 1. The nickname remains Trailblazers. * Houston Baptist University became Houston Christian University on September 21, 2022. The nickname remains Huskies.

Season outlook

Conference standings

Awards

* USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year:

Valerie Cagle Valerie Rose Cagle (born January 7, 2002) is an American softball pitcher and utility player for the Clemson Tigers. She was named USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year in 2023. College career On December 4, 2018, Cagle signed with Clemso ...

, Clemson *

NFCA National Player of the Year The NFCA National Player of the Year is an award given by Schutt Sports Schutt Sports (trade name of Kranos Corporation) was a United States company that manufactured protective gear for several sports, focusing on American football, baseball, ...

: Skylar Wallace, Florida *

Softball America Player of the Year The Softball America Player of the Year is an award given by Wilson Sporting Goods to the best college softball College softball is softball as played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education, predominantly in the Unite ...

, Clemson * NFCA National Pitcher of the Year: Ashley Rogers, Tennessee *

Softball America Pitcher of the Year The Softball America Pitcher of the Year is an award given by Wilson Sporting Goods to the best college softball College softball is softball as played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education, predominantly in the United ...

Montana Fouts Montana Fay Fouts (born June 4, 2000) is an American former All-American softball pitcher for the Alabama Crimson Tide and member of the United States women's national softball team. She is best known for pitching a perfect game against UCLA in ...

, Alabama *

NFCA National Freshman of the Year The NFCA National Freshman of the Year is an award given by Schutt Sports Schutt Sports (trade name of Kranos Corporation) was a United States company that manufactured protective gear for several sports, focusing on American football, baseball ...

: NiJaree Canady,

Stanford Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is considere ...

Softball America Freshman of the Year The Softball America Freshman of the Year is an award given by Wilson Sporting Goods to the best college softball College softball is softball as played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education, predominantly in the Unite ...

: NiJaree Canady,

Softball America Defensive Player of the Year The Softball America Player of the Year is an award given by Wilson Sporting Goods to the best defensive college softball College softball is softball as played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education, predominantly in ...

Grace Lyons Grace Lyons may refer to: * Grace Lyons (cricketer) (born 2005), Australian cricketer * Grace Turk, formerly Grace Lyons (born 1999), American softball player {{hndis, Lyons, Grace ...

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

NFCA Catcher of the Year The NFCA Catcher of the Year is an award given by Diamond Sports to the best college softball catcher Catcher is a Baseball positions, position in baseball and softball. When a Batter (baseball), batter takes their at bat, turn to hit, the ca ...

: Terra McGowan, Oregon * NFCA Golden Shoe Award: Mihyia Davis, Louisiana

All-America Teams

The following players were members of the All-American Teams. First Team Second Team Third Team

References

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