OKLAHOMA CITY - In 1982, the Women's College World Series was held for the first time.
Begun in Omaha, Neb., 14,433 tickets were sold for the championship tournament hosted by Creighton.
This past weekend men, women and children filed into Hall of Fame Stadium for the holiday weekend.
Although more than 9,000 people might not seem like a tremendous improvement, it is the most tickets sold in WCWS history, and more than twice the number sold in Columbus, Ga., last year.
"There's becoming more and more parity in softball every year," Arizona coach Mike Candrea said. "The days of coming in here and blowing everyone away are over.
"The state of softball throughout the country is better off because of that."
The increased ticket sales may have been a result of the recent increase in popularity of the sport.
After the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta - where the United States captured the gold medal - more Americans are taking interest in amateur softball.
Former UCLA standout and 1996 Olympic hero Dot Richardson was in attendance for a few of the games over the weekend, and wherever she went, the masses followed.
Lines not unlike those for the re-release of the "Star Wars" movies were formed around the shortstop whose home run won the championship game for the United States in Atlanta.
Another sign of the increased popularity of the sport is ESPN2's telecast of the title game between UCLA and Arizona.
Unfortunately for ratings, the Wildcats won by the mercy rule in five innings, 10-2.
Fab Frosh: Michigan third baseman Melissa Gentile put on an offensive clinic during the WCWS.
The freshman blasted two home runs for the series - one short of the series record. For her efforts, she was named to the all-tournament team.
Gentile's first round-tripper put the Wolverines up 2-0 against Iowa. Her second also gave the Wolverines an early 1-0 advantage over UCLA. Unfortunately for Michigan, the Wolverines dropped both contests.
The O'Fallon, Mo. native was the only Wolverine selected to the all-tournament team. She went 3-for-7 in the series.
Big Pac Attack: The Pacific-10 conference has asserted its dominance over the years in the WCWS. This year's back-to-back national champion - Arizona - has participated in the past seven WCWS championship games.
UCLA has won the most championship contests - seven in 12 appearances. UCLA won the title in 1995, but had to vacate its championship due to illegal scholarship practices.
This season, three of the four teams in the semifinals were from the Pac-10 - Arizona, UCLA and Washington.
AP PHOTO
Michigan senior Tracy Taylor beat this pickoff attempt at first base against South Carolina, and the Wolverines beat the Gamecocks, 1-0, for their only WCWS win.