FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

February 23, 2016

 

Three teams stake a claim on No. 1 spot in this week’s ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll

 

OKLAHOMA CITY — Two weeks of play have yet to produce a new No.1 team in the country as the Florida Gators (11-0) remain the top team in this week’s ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 the Amateur Softball Association (ASA) of America and USA Softball announced today. The Gators, who remain just one-of-six undefeated Top 25 teams, received 18 first-place votes to maintain their No. 1 ranking while Washington (9-1) and Texas A&M (11-1) each collected one vote.

 

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

 

The Gators started the week with a pair of shutout wins in their home opener against Jacksonville before hitting the road for the Diamond 9 Citrus Classic in Orlando, Fla.   In their first two days of the tournament, the Gators offense came alive in a 9-0 (five innings) shut out of UAB, a 6-2 win over Stephen F. Austin, another 9-0 (five inning) shutout over Omaha and a 3-1 victory over Elon.  Florida closed out the tournament with a 10-0 (five inning) run rule over Jacksonville State to keep their record flawless for the second week in a row. The Gators now set their sights on Palm Springs, Calif. where they will face three Top 25 ranked opponents at the Mary Nutter Classic.

 

No. 2 Michigan (8-1) remains the No. 2 team this week after an undefeated showing at the ACC/Big Ten Challenge in Tallahassee, Fla.  The Wolverines went 4-0, capping off the weekend with a pair of wins over then-No. 15 Florida State (7-3), 6-2 and 10-3, and Virginia Tech, 6-1 and 9-1 (six innings).  Also maintaining their spot in the polls this week is No. 3 Auburn (10-1), who finished the week 5-1.  The Tigers started off the week with a standalone game at home against then-No. 16 UCF (4-7) before heading to Clearwater, Fla. for the Michele Smith PCF Invitational.  The Tigers finished the tournament 4-1 with their sole loss coming at the hands of then-No. 20 James Madison (9-1).

 

Alabama (10-1) jumped two spots to No. 4 after posting a 6-0 record for the week.  The Crimson Tide picked up a standalone win on the road at UAB to start the week before picking up wins over Miami (Ohio), Maryland, Mercer, Georgia State and Mercer at the Panther Invitational in Atlanta, Ga.  Falling one spot this week is No. 5 LSU (8-2), who started off the Mary Nutter Classic with a 3-0 loss to then-No. T10 Arizona (8-3).  The Tigers would rebound, collecting four-straight wins to finish out the tournament, including a 6-5 win over then-No. 16 UCF and a 10-5 win over then-No. 7 UCLA (7-3).

 

Rounding out the Top 10: No. 6 Louisiana-Lafayette (8-1) picked up two wins over then-No. 5 Oregon (8-3) at home; No. 7 Oregon fell two spots this week after dropping two games to Louisiana-Lafayette; No. 8 Washington rose one spot this week despite dropping a 6-11 decision to then-No. 23 Texas A&M; No. 9 Georgia rose three spots this week after a 5-0 showing at the Diamond 9 Citrus Classic in Orlando, Fla.; No. 10 UCLA fell three spots this week after dropping an 8-6 decision to Notre Dame and a 10-5 loss to then-No. 4 LSU.

 

Making the biggest jumps in the polls this week is No.T12 James Madison and No. 24 Texas A&M.   The Dukes were flawless at the Michele Smith PCF Invitational in Clearwater, Fla., where they picked up a pair of wins over Top 25 ranked opponents, to rise eight spots in this week’s polls.  The Aggies rose nine spots in this week’s poll after collecting three wins over Top 25 ranked opponents at the Mary Nutter Classic.

 

New to the Top 25 this week is No. 23 Mississippi State (9-0), who went undefeated at the Mardi Gras Invitational in Mobile, Ala.  Dropping out of the Top 25 is last week’s No. 16 UCF, who went 0-6 against Top 25 ranked opponents.

 

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 26^th 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!

 

Codi Warren I Managing Director of Communications

Amateur Softball Association/USA Softball

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