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Florida continues their reign at No. 1 in ESPN.com/USA Softball Top 25 Poll

March 29, 2016

Oklahoma City, OK - Florida continues their reign at No. 1 in ESPN.com/USA Softball Top 25 Poll

Keeping their hold onto the No. 1 spot in this week’s ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 is Florida (33-1, 8-1 SEC), who went 3-0 on the road this past week against LSU, the Amateur Softball Association (ASA)/USA Softball announced today. This marks the seventh-straight week this season the Gators have been voted No. 1, capturing 19-of-20 first-place votes, while No. 4 Louisiana-Lafayette earned the remaining first-place vote.


Florida continues their reign at No. 1 in ESPN.com/USA Softball Top 25 Poll

OKLAHOMA CITY — Keeping their hold onto the No. 1 spot in this week's ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 is Florida (33-1, 8-1 SEC), who went 3-0 on the road this past week against LSU, the Amateur Softball Association (ASA)/USA Softball announced today. This marks the seventh-straight week this season the Gators have been voted No. 1, capturing 19-of-20 first-place votes, while No. 4 Louisiana-Lafayette earned the remaining first-place vote.

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

Starting the three-game series with a 3-0 win over then-No. 6 LSU (26-8, 3-6 SEC), Florida combined to finish for another shutout performance with a 3-0 victory in nine innings, outscoring LSU 6-0 in their doubleheader Friday. The Gators took home another win Saturday to sweep their second SEC series and improve to 33-1 on the season, recording their best start in school history. No. 1 Florida will return home to Gainesville, Fla. this weekend to play No.7 Alabama (28-6, 2-3 SEC).

Continuing their homestand at Wilpon Complex, home of Alumni Field, No. 2 Michigan (24-3, 2-1 Big 10) began Week 7 with a mid-week standalone showdown against Western Michigan, defeating the Wildcats, 8-0, in six innings. The Wolverines moved onto play the first-of-three in their conference opener against Northwestern. Despite having an early 7-2 lead in the fourth inning and a rally late in the seventh, Michigan fell to Northwestern, 12-13. In their final games of the series, the Wolverines bounced back to earn two run-rule wins and claim the series against Northwestern, posting 11 runs in both games. No. 2 Michigan will travel to Bloomington, Ind. this weekend to play Indiana.

Auburn (30-4, 6-3 SEC) continues to hang in the No. 3 spot for the fourth-straight week after going 4-0 this past week. The Tigers traveled to the Heck Softball Complex to play a single game against the Georgia State Panthers and recorded an 8-4 win to start the week. Returning home to face South Carolina, the Tigers kept up their momentum and defeated the Gamecocks to complete a sweep of their second conference series this season, with final scores of 10-0, 5-2 and 4-3. Auburn will head to Lexington, Ky. for a matchup against No. 12 Kentucky (30-4, 8-1 SEC) this weekend.

Rising one spot is No. 4 Louisiana-Lafayette (25-2, 7-1 Sun Belt), who outscored Troy on the road 27-1, allowing the Trojans to score just one run through the weekend. The Ragin' Cajuns continue their road trip to Waco, Texas, where they will take on Baylor (26-6, 2-0 Big 12) in a doubleheader Tuesday before returning home to play Texas State for a three-game series.

Closing out the Top 5 is Oregon (26-4, 6-0 Pac-12) who started off the week by finishing its road series against then-No. 7 Washington (21-7, 2-4 Pac-12), 16-4. The Ducks returned home to play Stanford and swept all three games en route to winning their 18th-straight game this season and their 13th-straight against the Cardinals. Oregon faces No. 18 UCLA (19-10-1, 2-2-1 Pac-12) this weekend.

Rounding out the Top 10: No. 6 James Madison (25-2, 3-0 CAA) jumped three spots after opening conference play, 3-0, against UNCW; No. 7 Alabama moved up one spot, recording a win over Alcorn State and one-of-two with then-No.15 Missouri (24-5, 3-2 SEC); No. 8 Florida State (26-3, 6-0 ACC) moves up three after outscoring North Carolina, 36-17, in a three-game series on the road; No. 9 Georgia (29-5, 4-2 SEC) climbs up three spots after going 4-1, highlighted by three huge wins over then-No. 4 Texas A&M (27-6, 2-4 SEC); No. 10 LSU drops four spots following three tough losses against No. 1 Florida.

Joining the Top 25 this week: No. 23 South Florida (29-9, 3-0 American) following their sweep of ECU; No. 24 Ohio State (18-7, 3-0 Big Ten) after outscoring Maryland, 29-9, over its three-game series; No. 25 Louisville (22-6, 8-1 ACC) with three high-scoring victories over NC State.

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 of 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 2.2 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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