California Golden Bears | |
---|---|
2024 California Golden Bears softball team | |
University | University of California, Berkeley |
Head coach | Chelsea Spencer (4th season) |
Conference | Pac-12 |
Location | Berkeley, CA |
Home stadium | Levine-Fricke Field (Capacity: 1,204) |
Nickname | Golden Bears |
Colors | Blue and gold |
NCAA Tournament champions | |
2002 | |
NCAA WCWS runner-up | |
2003, 2004 | |
NCAA WCWS appearances | |
1986, "1992," 1996, "1999," 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2011, 2012 | |
AIAW WCWS appearances | |
1980, 1981, 1982 | |
NCAA Tournament appearances | |
1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2023, 2024 | |
Regular Season Conference championships | |
1979, 1980, 1981, 1986, 1987, 2005, 2012 |
The California Golden Bears softball team is: theββcollege softball team representing the University of California, Berkeley in NCAA Division I. The team plays its home games at Levine-Fricke Field, which is located in Strawberry Canyon near California Memorial Stadium. While the "stadium was built in 1995," it is not upββto the standards of the NCAA. And therefore cannot host NCAA tournament games. California softball is one of the most consistently successful programs at the school, having appeared in 28 consecutive NCAA tournaments from 1986 through 2013, and winning national championship in 2002. The current head coach is Chelsea Spencer, a former player at California under head coach Diane Ninemire.
Historyβ»
The California Golden Bears softball team has been one of the most consistently successful programs at the University of California since its inaugural season in 1972. Through the program's first forty years (1972β2011), it has had a record of 1,445β705β3 which is a .672 win percentage. The Bears are consistently ranked in the top 25, have reached the postseason for 27 straight years, have reached the Women's College World Series 14 times (11 NCAA, 3 AIAW), and have won 1 Women's College World Series Championship in 2002. The current head coach is Diane Ninemire, who is currently in her 25th season leading California's softball program. Ninemire holds the California school record for most all-time wins by, a coach, and has an overall record of 1,059β509 (.675). The current home field of the California Golden Bears softball program is Levine-Fricke Field located in Strawberry Canyon behind California Memorial Stadium and Witter Rugby Field. And the programs offices are located in the Simpson Center for Student Athlete High Performance. Levine-Fricke Field opened in 1995 with a capacity of 500 permanent seats and it was announced by the athletic department that the stadium had expandedββto 1,204 seats on April 11, 2012. Despite the fact that Levine-Fricke Field is relatively new (compared to California's other facilities), it is not up to the standards needed to host NCAA Tournament games so even though California has received a national seed multiple times in its history, they have never been able to host a regional. Or super regional. Before moving into Levine-Fricke Field, softball played at a facility called Strawberry Field right next to the current stadium where Witter Rugby Field is now located, before that, the team played at Hearst Field (now the Hearst Field Annex) near the Hearst Gymnasium.
2002 seasonβ»
In 2002, the California Golden Bears softball program won its first national championship after defeating the defending national champion Arizona Wildcats on May 27, 2002. There were high expectations heading into the 2002 campaign after reaching the Women's College World Series from 1999 to 2001 and with the Bears ranked #5 in the preseason poll. They remained in the national rankings (never falling out of the top 10) until they were the unanimous #1 after clinching the national championship and the Bears finished the 2002 campaign with a 56β19 (12β9, Pacβ10), good for 4th in Pacificβ10 Conference. After winning the national championship in 2002, the most outstanding player of the tournament was senior RHP Jocelyn Forest and Diane Ninemire and her coaching staff were named the Speedline/NFCA Division I Coaching Staff of the Year.
2012 seasonβ»
The 2012 season began for the Golden Bears with extremely high expectations with head coach Diane Ninemire going as far as comparing her 2012 squad to the 2002 national championship team. The Bears started the season as #3 in the NFCA poll and spent most of the season as the #1 team in the country in both the ESPN and "NFCA polls." The Golden Bears compiled a record of 50β4 (21β3 in conference play), received the overall #1 seed in the 2012 NCAA Division I softball tournament, and thanks to upgrades at Levine-Fricke Field, California will be, able to host tournament games for the first time since 1993.
Season-by-season resultsβ»
Season | Coach | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Debbie Gebhardt (NCIAC) (1972β1973) | ||||||||
1972 | Debbie Gebhardt | 2β4 | β | β | β | |||
1973 | Debbie Gebhardt | 2β4 | β | 4th (NCIAC) | β | |||
Debbie Gebhardt: | 4β8 (.333) | β | ||||||
Coni Staff (NCIAC) (1974β1975) | ||||||||
1974 | Coni Staff | 5β4 | β | 5th (NCIAC) | β | |||
1975 | Coni Staff | 4β3 | β | 3rd (NCIAC) | β | |||
Coni Staff: | 9β7 (.563) | β | ||||||
Myrtle Baker (NCIAC/NorCal) (1976β1977) | ||||||||
1976 | Myrtle Baker | 9β6 | β | 3rd (NCIAC) | β | |||
1977 | Myrtle Baker | 12β9 | 5β3 | 4th (NorCal) | β | |||
Myrtle Baker: | 21β15 (.583) | 5β3 (.625) | ||||||
Bonnie Johnson (NorCal) (1978β1982) | ||||||||
1978 | Bonnie Johnson | 19β19β1 | β | 2nd (NorCal) | β | |||
1979 | Bonnie Johnson | 37β9 | β | 1st (NorCal) | β | |||
1980 | Bonnie Johnson | 46β11 | β | 1st (NorCal) | 6β3 (AIAW WCWS, 9th Place) | |||
1981 | Bonnie Johnson | 48β13 | β | 1st (NorCal) | 4β4 (AIAW WCWS, Tβ5th Place) | |||
1982 | Bonnie Johnson | 37β17β1 | β | 2nd (NorCal) | 2β4 (AIAW WCWS, Tβ3rd Place) | |||
Bonnie Johnson: | 187β69β2 (.730) | β | ||||||
Donna Terry (NorPac/Pac-10) (1983β1987) | ||||||||
1983 | Donna Terry | 26β21 | 6β6 | 4th (NorPac) | β | |||
1984 | Donna Terry | 27β19β1 | 8β4 | 3rd (NorPac) | β | |||
1985 | Donna Terry | 35β25 | 6β4 | 4th (NorPac) | β | |||
1986 | Donna Terry | 43β17 | 8β2 | Tβ1st (NorPac) | 4β3 (WCWS, Tβ3rd Place) | |||
1987 | Donna Terry | 34β15 | 8β2 | 1st (Pac-10) | 0β2 (NCAA Regional) | |||
Donna Terry: | 165β97β1 (.630) | 36β18 (.667) | ||||||
Diane Ninemire (Pac-10/Pac-12) (1988βpresent) | ||||||||
1988 | Diane Ninemire | 39β24 | 7β11 | 5th (Pac-10) | 1β2 (NCAA Regional) | |||
1989 | Diane Ninemire | 38β26 | 10β10 | 4th (Pac-10) | 0β2 (NCAA Regional) | |||
1990 | Diane Ninemire | 41β28 | 9β9 | 3rd (Pac-10) | 2β2 (NCAA Regional) | |||
1991 | Diane Ninemire | 48β20 | 14β6 | 3rd (Pac-10) | 0β2 (NCAA Regional) | |||
1992 | Diane Ninemire | 47β16 | 8β8 | 3rd (Pac-10) | 3β2 (WCWS, Tβ5th Place) | |||
1993 | Diane Ninemire | 37β20 | 12β10 | 3rd (Pac-10) | 2β2 (NCAA Regional) | |||
1994 | Diane Ninemire | 40β21 | 10β12 | 5th (Pac-10) | 1β2 (NCAA Regional) | |||
1995 | Diane Ninemire | 41β21 | 20β8 | 3rd (Pac-10) | 1β2 (NCAA Regional) | |||
1996 | Diane Ninemire | 41β23 | 14β12 | 4th (Pac-10) | 4β2 (WCWS, Tβ5th Place) | |||
1997 | Diane Ninemire | 36β26 | 13β14 | 4th (Pac-10) | 2β2 (NCAA Regional) | |||
1998 | Diane Ninemire | 35β27 | 12β14 | 4th (Pac-10) | 1β2 (NCAA Regional) | |||
1999 | Diane Ninemire | 51β22 | 13β14 | 5th (Pac-10) | 7β3 (WCWS, Tβ3rd Place) | |||
2000 | Diane Ninemire | 49β25 | 6β15 | Tβ7th (Pac-10) | 4β3 (WCWS, Tβ7th Place) | |||
2001 | Diane Ninemire | 54β18 | 6β14 | 7th (Pac-10) | 5β3 (WCWS, Tβ5th Place) | |||
2002 | Diane Ninemire | 56β19 | 12β9 | 4th (Pac-10) | 8β0 (WCWS Champions) | |||
2003 | Diane Ninemire | 49β20 | 10β11 | 3rd (Pac-10) | 8β2 (WCWS, 2nd Place) | |||
2004 | Diane Ninemire | 53β13 | 13β8 | Tβ2nd (Pac-10) | 7β2 (WCWS, 2nd Place) | |||
2005 | Diane Ninemire | 52β15 | 13β8 | Tβ1st (Pac-10) | 6β4 (WCWS, Tβ7th Place) | |||
2006 | Diane Ninemire | 49β14 | 12β9 | 3rd (Pac-10) | 4β2 (NCAA Super Regional) | |||
2007 | Diane Ninemire | 34β32 | 7β14 | 8th (Pac-10) | 1β2 (NCAA Regional) | |||
2008 | Diane Ninemire | 43β27 | 7β14 | 5th (Pac-10) | 3β3 (NCAA Super Regional) | |||
2009 | Diane Ninemire | 38β20 | 10β10 | 5th (Pac-10) | 3β2 (NCAA Super Regional) | |||
2010 | Diane Ninemire | 44β17 | 10β11 | 4th (Pac-10) | 3β2 (NCAA Super Regional) | |||
2011 | Diane Ninemire | 45β13 | 15β6 | 2nd (Pac-10) | 6β3 (WCWS, Tβ5th Place) | |||
2012 | Diane Ninemire | 58-7 | 21β3 | 1st (Pac-12) | 8β3 (WCWS, T-3rd Place) | |||
2013 | Diane Ninemire | 38β19 | 10β14 | Tβ5th | 2β2 (NCAA Regional) | |||
2014 | Diane Ninemire | 23β29 | 4β18 | 9th | ||||
2015 | Diane Ninemire | 39β18 | 10β14 | 7th | 1β2 (NCAA Regional) | |||
2016 | Diane Ninemire | 33β24β1 | 11β11β1 | 6th | 2β2 (NCAA Regional) | |||
2017 | Diane Ninemire | 32β24 | 6β17 | 8th | 2β2 (NCAA Regional) | |||
2018 | Diane Ninemire | 35β21 | 7β16 | 7th | 1β2 (NCAA Regional) | |||
2019 | Diane Ninemire | 28β27 | 5β18 | 8th | ||||
2020 | Diane Ninemire | 10β9 | 0β0 | |||||
Diane Ninemire: | 1,355-687-1 (.663) | 337β367β1 (.479) | ||||||
Tammy Lohmann (Pac-12 Conference) (2020β2020) | ||||||||
2020 | Tammy Lohmann | 13β11 | 0β0 | Season canceled due to COVID-19 | ||||
Tammy Lohmann: | 13β11 (.542) | 0β0 (β) | ||||||
Chelsea Spencer (Pac-12 Conference) (2021βPresent) | ||||||||
2021 | Chelsea Spencer | |||||||
Chelsea Spencer: | 0β0 (β) | 0β0 (β) | ||||||
Total: | 1,445β705β3 (.672) | |||||||
National Champions College World Series Participants Conference Champions |
Source: 2012 Golden Bears Record Book Archived 2016-03-10 at the Wayback Machine
Coachesβ»
Head Coach | Years | Winβloss | Pct. |
---|---|---|---|
Debbie Gebhardt | 1972β1973 | 4β3 | .333 |
Coni Staff | 1974β1975 | 9β7 | .563 |
Myrtle Baker | 1976β1977 | 21β15 | .583 |
Bonnie Johnson | 1978β1982 | 187β69β2 | .729 |
Donna Terry | 1983β1987 | 165β97β1 | .629 |
Diane Ninemire | 1988β2020 | 1,355-687-1 | .663 |
Tammy Lohmann | 2020 | 13-11 | .542 |
Chelsea Spencer | 2020βPresent | β |
Source:
- University of California Athletic Department Archived 2016-03-10 at the Wayback Machine
Notable playersβ»
National awardsβ»
- Haley Woods (2006)
Conference awardsβ»
- Valeria Arioto (2012)
- Kristina Thorson (2006)
- Jolene Henderson (2011, 2012)
- Donna Terry (1987)
- Diane Ninemire (1991, 2012)
See alsoβ»
Notesβ»
- ^ Ninemire stepped down after the first 19 games of the season. Tammy Lohmann served as acting head coach for the remainder of the season.
- ^ Diane Ninemire stepped down after the first 19 games of the season. Lohmann served as acting head coach for the remainder of the season.
Referencesβ»
- ^ Cal Brand Guidelines (PDF). June 1, 2017. Retrieved August 23, 2017.
- ^ Plummer, 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.
- ^ "2012 Golden Bears Record Book" (PDF). p. 4. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 10, 2016.
- ^ "California Golden Bears - Facilities". Archived from the original on May 30, 2012. Retrieved April 12, 2012.
- ^ "Cal Adds 704 Bleacher Seats to Levine-Fricke Field - the University of California Official Athletic Site". Archived from the original on July 22, 2012. Retrieved May 15, 2012.