Michigan Softball: 2005 NCAA Champion
On June 8, 2005, Michigan became the first school from east of the Mississippi River to claim the NCAA Division I softball championship, defeating UCLA, 4-1, in 10 innings. It was the first year for the best-of-three championship final at the Women's College World Series, and the Wolverines rallied from a game-one loss to take the next two from the Bruins.
That year's team finished the season with a 65-7 overall record. The Wolverines won 27 of 28 games to start the year and ascend to a No. 1 national ranking they carried the rest of the way. They claimed the Big Ten title with a 15-2 mark, hosted and won the Big Ten Tournament and an NCAA regional, then took two of three from Washington in a super regional at Alumni Field to earn the WCWS berth.
20-Year Anniversary Video (2025)
All WCWS game highlights, interviews and celebration video is pulled from the "Winning It All" commemorative DVD produced 20 years ago after the Wolverines' historic 2005 run.
15-Year Anniversary Video (2020)
WCWS Championship Series
Findlay Drives Michigan Past UCLA
| 6/8/2005 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | R | H | E |
 Michigan |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 9 | 1 |
 UCLA |
0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 1 |
| Recap | Boxscore | Video | Full Replay | |||||||||||||
Road to the Championship Series
| 6/6/2005 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
 Tennessee |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 1 |
| Michigan |
1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | X | 3 | 4 | 1 |
| Recap | Boxscore | Video | ||||||||||
| 6/5/2005 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | R | H | E |
| Michigan |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| Tennessee |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 1 |
| Recap | Boxscore | Video | ||||||||||||||
Texas
DePaulPlayers and Coaches
Jennifer
Teague
Volunteer Coach
1st Season
Hail to the Victors!
Michigan's 2005 national title earned the team a trip to the White House to visit President George W. Bush.
Content Archive
20-Year Anniversary (2025)
• 20 years later: The spirit of redemption that fueled Michigan’s 2005 National Championship run (Michigan Daily)
15-Year Anniversary (2020)
• WTKA Audio: Carol Hutchins | Jennie Ritter
• An oral history of the 2005 Michigan softball championship (Michigan Daily)
• How WCWS memorable moments changed softball (espnW)
10-Year Anniversary (2015)
• Where Are They Now: Michigan's 2005 NCAA Champions
• Kornacki: 2005 Softball Champs 10 Years Later
• Wolverines Get Encouragement from 2005 Champs
2005 Season
• Photos: Championship Celebration at Alumni Field
• Seven Days in June (PDF)
• Results | Roster
• Statistics: XML | PDF
• News Releases
