2004 Women's College World Series
The 2004 Women's College World Series was held from May 27 until May 31, 2004, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. This was Oklahoma City's 14th time to host the WCWS since first hosting the tournament in 1990.
Having advanced through a 32-team bracket, eight NCAA Division I college softball teams met at ASA Hall of Fame Stadium to decide the 2004 Softball National Championship:
- California
- Florida State
- LSU
- Michigan
- Oklahoma
- Stanford
- UCLA
- Washington
Of these eight teams, half of them had to win their respective regional tournaments on the road in order to advance to Oklahoma City: California, LSU, Oklahoma, and Washington. Starting in 2005, the NCAA doubled the field from 32 teams to 64 and added a "Super Regional" round in addition to the standard regional round.
The Championship Game featured UCLA and California. This would be their 2nd meeting in a Championship game in as many years and would end with UCLA claiming their 9th National Title (Not counting their vacated 1995 National Title or any titles won prior to 1982). This would also be the last year a National Champion would be crowned using the single Championship Game format.
LSU pitcher Kristin Schmidt was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.
Participants
| School | Conference | Record | Head Coach | WCWS Appearances† (Including 2004 WCWS) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| California | Pac-10 | 50-11 | Diane Ninemire | 9 |
| Florida State | ACC | 61-9 | Dr. JoAnne Graf | 7 |
| LSU | SEC | 54-10 | Yvette Girouard | 2 |
| Michigan | Big Ten | 53-11 | Carol Hutchins | 7 |
| Oklahoma | Big 12 | 44-19-1 | Patty Gasso | 5 |
| Stanford | Pac-10 | 47-16 | John Rittman | 2 |
| UCLA | Pac-10 | 43-9 | Sue Enquist | 21* |
| Washington | Pac-10 | 39-17 | Scott Centala, Steve Dailey | 7 |
*: Excludes UCLA's vacated 1995 WCWS participation.
†: Excludes results of the pre-NCAA Women's College World Series of 1969 through 1981.
Bracket
2004 Women's College World Series Bracket
| First round | Second round | Semifinals | Finals | ||||||||||||||||||
| 6 | Michigan | 2* | |||||||||||||||||||
| 3 | LSU | 3* | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2 | UCLA | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||
| 3 | LSU | 0 | |||||||||||||||||||
| 7 | Stanford | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2 | UCLA | 8 | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2 | UCLA | 3* | - | ||||||||||||||||||
| 7 | Stanford | 1* | - | ||||||||||||||||||
| 7 | Stanford | 5 | |||||||||||||||||||
| 6 | Michigan | 4 | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Oklahoma | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||
| 7 | Stanford | 3 | |||||||||||||||||||
| 5 | California | 1 | † | † | |||||||||||||||||
| 2 | UCLA | 3 | † | † | |||||||||||||||||
| 8 | Washington | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Oklahoma | 6 | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Oklahoma | 1* | |||||||||||||||||||
| 5 | California | 2* | |||||||||||||||||||
| 5 | California | 4 | |||||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Florida State | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||
| 3 | LSU | 4 | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 5 | California | 1 | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Florida State | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||
| 8 | Washington | 0 | |||||||||||||||||||
| 3 | LSU | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Florida State | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||
*: Denotes extra inning or run-ruled games (See Game Results below)
†: The Championship Series wasn't implemented until the 2005 WCWS
Game Results
| Date | Game | Winner | Score | Loser | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5/27/2004 | Game 01 | LSU | 3 - 2 | Michigan | 13 Innings |
| Game 02 | UCLA | 8 - 2 | Stanford | ||
| Game 03 | Oklahoma | 6 - 2 | Washington | ||
| Game 04 | California | 4 - 2 | Florida State | ||
| 5/28/2004 | Game 05 | UCLA | 2 - 0 | LSU | |
| Game 06 | California | 2 - 1 | Oklahoma | 8 Innings | |
| 5/29/2004 | Game 07 | Stanford | 5 - 4 | Michigan | Michigan eliminated |
| Game 08 | Florida State | 2 - 0 | Washington | Washington eliminated | |
| Game 09 | Stanford | 3 - 2 | Oklahoma | Oklahoma eliminated | |
| Game 10 | LSU | 2 - 1 | Florida State | Florida State eliminated | |
| 5/30/2004 | Game 11 | UCLA | 3 - 1 | Stanford | 12 Innings. Stanford eliminated |
| Game 12 | LSU | 4 - 1 | California | LSU forces the If Necessary Game (Game 14) | |
| Game 13 | -- | -- | -- | Stanford / UCLA If Necessary game (Game 13) not necessary | |
| Game 14 | California | 4 - 1 | LSU | LSU eliminated | |
| 5/31/2004 | Championship Game | UCLA | 3 - 1 | California | UCLA Wins 2004 WCWS |
Championship Game
| School | Top Batter | Stats. |
|---|---|---|
| UCLA Bruins | Kristen Dedmon (PH) | 1-1 2RBIs |
| California Golden Bears | Jessica Pamanian (2B) | 1-3 RBI |
| School | Pitcher | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | AB | BF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UCLA Bruins | Keira Goerl | 7.0 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 27 | 31 |
| California Golden Bears | Kelly Anderson | 5.0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 16 | 18 |
| California Golden Bears | Kristina Thorson | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
All-Tournament Team
The following players were members of the All-Tournament Team:
| Position | Player | Class | School |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pitcher | Kelly Anderson | Junior | California |
| Keira Goerl | Senior | UCLA | |
| Jessica van der Linden | Senior | Florida State | |
| 1st Base | Christina Enea | Junior | Oklahoma |
| 2nd Base | Caitlin Benyi | Sophomore | UCLA |
| Jessica Pamanian | Junior | California | |
| Shortstop | Lauren Lappin | Sophomore | Stanford |
| Jodie Legaspi | Freshman | UCLA | |
| 3rd Base | Vicky Galindo | Junior | California |
| Outfield | Lisa Dodd | Freshman | UCLA |
| Camille Harris | Sophomore | LSU | |
| Most Outstanding Player | Kristin Schmidt | Senior | LSU |