Oklahoma City, OK - The Florida Gators (41-3, 12-3 SEC) have upheld their ranking as the No. 1 team in this week's ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll after completing a sweep of then-No. 5 Louisiana-Lafayette (32-6, 13-1 Sun Belt) at home, the Amateur Softball Association (ASA)/USA Softball announced today. Having claimed the No. 1 spot in all but one weekly poll this season, the Gators, who earned 16-of-20 first-place votes, continue to be a favorite for this year's NCAA Women's College World Series (WCWS) which is set to take place this June at the ASA Hall of Fame Stadium – OGE Energy Field. Additional teams receiving first-place votes include Florida State (34-4, 13-1 ACC) who earned two, and Auburn (41-4, 12-3 SEC) and Michigan (33-4, 11-2 Big Ten) who received one apiece.
Click here to see the complete ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll.
#RoadToOKC continues as Florida leads in ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll
OKLAHOMA CITY — The Florida Gators (41-3, 12-3 SEC) have upheld their ranking as the No. 1 team in this week's ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll after completing a sweep of then-No. 5 Louisiana-Lafayette (32-6, 13-1 Sun Belt) at home, the Amateur Softball Association (ASA)/USA Softball announced today. Having claimed the No. 1 spot in all but one weekly poll this season, the Gators, who earned 16-of-20 first-place votes, continue to be a favorite for this year's NCAA Women's College World Series (WCWS) which is set to take place this June at the ASA Hall of Fame Stadium – OGE Energy Field. Additional teams receiving first-place votes include Florida State (34-4, 13-1 ACC) who earned two, and Auburn (41-4, 12-3 SEC) and Michigan (33-4, 11-2 Big Ten) who received one apiece.
Click here to see the complete ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll.
After its game against then-No. 8 Florida State was halted at 0-0 in the ninth inning, Florida moved ahead to face Louisiana-Lafayette at home in a three-game series. Outscoring the Ragin' Cajuns, 22-2, the Gators collected their first-ever three-game sweep over a non-conference opponent in program history with 5-1, 14-1 (five innings) and 3-0 wins, and are now 16-3 on the season against teams ranked in the Top 25.
No. 2 Auburn went 4-0 on the road this week, starting with a standalone game against UAB before a three-game Southeastern Conference (SEC) series at Arkansas. Allowing UAB to score just one run early on in the first inning, the Tigers took it from there and scored eight to earn their first win of the week. Auburn would go on to sweep Arkansas after posting 21-0, 23-0 and 10-0 wins against Razorbacks, earning all three wins after five innings of play.
Following a mid-week victory over in-state rival Michigan State, No. 3 Michigan completed its series sweep of then-No. 23 Ohio State (25-11-1, 9-4-1 Big Ten) by posting 8-0 (six innings), 5-1 and 5-3 wins in front of its home crowd at the Wilpon Complex, home of Alumni Field.
Maintaining its spot in this week's poll is No. 4 Alabama (38-8, 10-5 SEC), who picked up a win over Southern Mississippi, 7-1, prior to its matchup with then-No. 15 Texas A&M (32-11, 6-9 SEC). In the series opener against the Aggies, Alabama's offense remained hot resulting in a 8-3 victory for the Crimson Tide. However, Saturday's doubleheader was a battle and resulted in a hard-fought 8-7 win in game one before falling to Texas A&M, 14-1, in five innings.
Rounding out the Top 10: No. 5 Oregon (32-6, 10-2 Pac-12) had a bye week and will return to play this weekend against Arizona State; No. 6 James Madison (37-3, 12-0 CAA) shutout Drexel, 19-0, in its three-game series against the Dragons; No. 7 Florida State went 3-0 against Boston College; No. 8 Louisiana-Lafayette dropped three spots after falling to No. 1 Florida; No. 9 Oklahoma (34-7, 9-1 Big 12) collected a win over North Texas prior to its series sweep over Texas; No. 10 Washington (28-9, 9-6 Pac-12) rejoins the Top 10 after winning two-of-three games in their Pac-12 series over California.
Dropping out of this week's poll is Arizona State (28-14, 4-7 Pac-12) who dropped its first two games to Utah, while No. 24 Nebraska (28-14, 9-5 Big Ten) joins the Top 25 after going 3-0 against Northwestern. Teams that are in this week's Top 25 who remain undefeated in conference play are No. 6 James Madison and No. 22 Fresno State (30-9-1, 12-0 Mountain West), who are both 12-0 in their respective leagues.
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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