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Gators perfect week keeps them atop the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll

February 16, 2016

Oklahoma City, OK - Gators perfect week keeps them atop the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll


Gators perfect week keeps them atop the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll

OKLAHOMA CITY — Following a four-game sweep at the USF Wilson-DeMarini Tournament, the Florida Gators (4-0) remain No. 1 in the nation in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 the Amateur Softball Association (ASA)/USA Softball announced today. The Gators maintained their preseason lead, receiving 19-of-20 first-place votes, while Washington (4-0) claimed one first-place vote to help them jump 10 spots in this week's poll.

Click here to see the complete ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll

As the back-to-back defending National Champions, Florida proved triumphant when it outscored all four of its opponents, 38-1, claiming each game via run-rule The Gators began the tournament with an impressive 11-0 (five innings) win over Illinois State on Friday before moving on to face No. 2 Michigan (4-1). For the first time in the 18-game history of the Florida-Michigan series, the Gators run-ruled the Wolverines 8-0 after just five innings. The Gators finished their perfect weekend with wins over Virginia Tech, 8-0 (six innings), and South Florida, 11-1 (six innings). South Florida's RBI single in the bottom of the third inning marked the only run the Gators pitching staff allowed over the weekend.

Claiming No. 2 after a near-perfect weekend, Michigan began the USF Wilson-DeMarini Tournament 2-0 with wins over South Carolina, 15-3 (five innings), and Illinois State, 12-0 (five innings), before falling to Florida. The Wolverines bounced back with an 11-2 (five innings) victory against South Florida and ended the weekend successful with a 3-1 win over Virginia Tech.

Auburn (5-0) climbed to No. 3 in the Top 25 Poll after defeating all five of its opponents at the Plainsman Invite. Starting off their season at home, the Tigers found themselves with double-digit runs on the scoreboard, putting 20-plus runs on the board in two of their wins.

Dropping one spot in the Top 25 Poll this week is No. 4 LSU (4-1), who hosted the Tiger Classic and finished the five-game tournament with a 4-1 record. On their opening day, the Tigers were dominant over both Ohio State and North Florida, shutting out each of the opponents 9-0 after just five innings. The momentum continued as the Tigers claimed a 13-2 (five innings) win over Connecticut before falling 2-1 to Pacific. On the final day, LSU bounced back and collected a 10-1 (five innings) over Pacific win to finish out the tournament.

No. 5 Oregon (5-1) rounds out the Top 5 after their road trip to the Kajikawa Classic (Tempe, Ariz.) proved to be successful. The Ducks posted victories over Cal Poly (12-3) and Georgia State (11-0, six innings) to open the tournament and followed with a 7-2 win over Maryland to remain undefeated. Facing their first ranked opponents in the 2016 season against then-No. 18 Kentucky (3-1), the Ducks were unable to overcome an early Wildcat lead with Kentucky walking away with the 8-6 win. Oregon claimed their final two games of the weekend against Northwestern, 9-3, and Boston College, 4-0.

Rounding out the Top 10: No. 6 Alabama (4-1) moved down one spot after falling to then-No. 17 UCF (4-1); No. 7 UCLA (4-1) held its spot this week after going 1-1 with then-No. 24 Texas A&M (4-1) at the Aggie Classic; No. 8 Louisiana-Lafayette (5-0) moved up three spots following a flawless weekend at the Sand Dollar Classic; No. 9 Washington made the biggest jump in the poll this week after moving up 10 spots after posting impressive wins over then-No. 8 Oklahoma (3-2) and then-No. 13 Minnesota (3-2) at the Sportco Kick Off Classic; No. 10 is held by both Oklahoma and the Arizona (6-0).

New to the poll this week is No. 22 Fresno State (5-0) who went undefeated at the Kajikawa Classic, including two wins over Top 25 ranked opponents, and No. 24 Texas (5-0) who also achieved a perfect weekend as hosts of the Texas Classic. Meanwhile, last week's No. 23 Utah (3-2) and No. 25 NC State (3-2) dropped out of the Top 25 following two losses apiece.

The ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll is voted on by coaching representatives of 10 Division I Conferences in the 15 ASA/USA Softball Regions as well as members of the National and Local media who consistently cover Division I Softball across the country.

About ASA/USA Softball
Founded in 1933, the Amateur Softball Association (ASA)/USA Softball is the National Governing Body Softball in the United States and a member of the United States Olympic Committee. One of the nation's largest sports organizations, ASA/USA Softball sanctions competition in every state through a network of 70 local associations and has grown from a few hundred teams in the early days to over 165,000 teams today, representing a membership of more than 2.5 million. ASA/USA is responsible for training, equipping and promoting the six USA Softball National Teams that compete in international and domestic competitions. The USA Softball Women's National Team is one of only two women's sports involved in the Olympic movement to capture three consecutive gold medals at the Olympic Games since 1996. The U.S. women have also won nine World Championship titles as well as claimed eight World Cup of Softball titles. For more information about ASA/USA Softball, please visit http://www.asausasoftball.com.

About the NCAA Women's College World Series
ASA Hall of Fame Stadium – OGE Energy Field serves as the home to the NCAA Women's College World Series (WCWS). For the 26th year, the top eight college teams in the nation will head to Oklahoma City and compete for a national championship. Last year, over 78,000 fans attended the WCWS. Be there to Share The Experience with softball fans from across the country June 2-8 in Oklahoma City. Tickets for the 2016 NCAA WCWS are on sale now, click here to purchase your tickets and secure your championship experience!

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Katie Willis I Communications Coordinator

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