Florida nabbed No. 1 in ESPN.com/USA Softball Top 25 Collegiate Poll following opening weekend

February 14, 2017

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OKLAHOMA CITY — The Florida Gators (5-0) have claimed the No. 1 spot in the first ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll of the 2017 season following an undefeated week on the road, USA Softball announced today. This marks the fourth-straight year the Gators have been voted No. 1 after the first week of the NCAA college softball season, capturing 16-of-20 first-place votes, while No. 3 Florida State (5-0) earned three and No. 2 Auburn (3-1) received the remaining first-place vote.

 

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

 

Beginning the 2017 season at the USF-Wilson/DeMarini Tournament in Tampa, Fla., Florida combined to go a perfect 5-0 through the three-day tournament. Opening the weekend with a five-inning shutout victory for the third consecutive season, the Gators shut out Illinois State and continued that momentum into the weekend with wins over St. John’s, then-No. 6 Michigan (3-2) , Delaware, and then-No. T24 USF (3-1). Florida will travel to play Jacksonville Feb. 15 in a single games against the Dolphins before returning home to host the Aquafina Invitational Feb. 17-19 at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium.

 

Ranked No. 2 this week is Auburn, who traveled to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico for the Puerto Vallarta College Challenge. Matched up with the 2016 NCAA Women’s College World Series (WCWS) Champions, whom they faced in the Championship Game at historic ASA Hall of Fame Stadium, the Tigers turned the tide and began their season with a 3-2 win over then-No. 1 Oklahoma (2-2). In their second game of the day, Auburn took the field against then-No. 13 Washington (3-1) and despite an early 1-0 lead after the first inning, the Tigers dropped a 10-inning, 2-1 decision to the Huskies. Auburn bounced back and finished the weekend with wins over Nebraska and BYU. Auburn will return home to play a lone game against SIU-Edwardsville Feb. 16 before welcoming Creighton, Evansville, Mercer, and SIU-Edwardsville to its Plainsman Invitational.

 

No. 3 Florida State comes off a perfect weekend at home after hosting the Unconquered Invitational at JoAnne Graf Field. Claiming a five-inning, 13-1 victory over Lipscomb and 5-1 win over Furman on opening day, the Seminoles continued non-conference play by claiming another three wins and all together out-powering their opponents offensively, 35-3. Florida State will continue their home stand with a single game against Florida A&M before hosting the Big Ten/ACC Softball Challenge where they will face off with Northwestern and Nebraska.

 

Sitting at No. 4 this week is Alabama (5-0) who moves up three spots after putting on a 5-0 performance in their season-opening weekend at the Kickin’ Chicken Classic held in Conway, S.C. Alabama returns to Rhoads Stadium for its home opener this week, welcoming South Alabama on Feb. 15 prior to its three-game series against No. 18 Louisiana (4-2) in Lafayette, La.

 

Closing out the Top 5 is UCLA (5-0) who went undefeated and outscored their opponents 48-2 over the weekend as hosts of the Stacy Winsberg Memorial Tournament at Easton Stadium. The Bruins will host No. 23 Kentucky on Feb. 15 before making the short trip to Cathedral City, Calif. for the first weekend of the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic.

 

Rounding out the Top 10: No. 6 Oklahoma fell 5 spots after dropping two close games against Auburn and Washington at the Puerto Vallarta College Challenge; No. 7 Oregon (6-0) moved up two spots after opening their season 6-0 at the Kajikawa Classic in Tempe, Ariz.; No. 8 LSU (4-1) drops three spots following a 4-1 start on the season as hosts of the Tiger Classic; No. 9 Washington moves up four spots in the poll after two big-time wins over Auburn and Oklahoma; No. 10 Michigan falls four spots after going 3-2 with two tough losses against Florida and USF.

 

Joining the Top 25 this week: Hosts of the Kajikawa Classic, No. 21 Arizona State (7-0) opened their season and went undefeated over the four-day weekend by claiming seven victories against UTEP, Virginia, Purdue, San Diego, Indiana, UT Arlington, and UC Riverside; No. 25 Pittsburgh (5-0) hit the road to play in Orlando, Fla. at the UCF Knights Invitational where they collected two wins over then-No. 20 Kentucky (3-2) and UCF, and one over Florida A&M.

 

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

 

About USA Softball
USA Softball is a 501(c)(3) not-for profit organization headquartered in Oklahoma City, Okla., and is designated as the National Governing Body (NGB) of Softball in the United States and a member of the United States Olympic Committee. One of the nation’s largest sports organizations, 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 150,000 teams today, representing a membership of more than 2 million.  USA Softball is dedicated to providing people of all ages the opportunity to play the game they love at a variety of levels by offering recreational, league, tournament and competitive play for fast pitch, slow pitch and modified pitch.  USA Softball annually conducts thousands of tournaments throughout the country including over 100 National Championships.  The USA Softball umpire program is among the nation’s largest and are widely known as the best trained umpires in the game.

As the NGB for the sport of softball, USA Softball is responsible for training, equipping and promoting the six USA Softball National Teams that compete in events such as the Olympics, Pan American Games, World Championships and other international and domestic events. For more information on USA Softball, including its founding and history as the Amateur Softball Association of America (ASA), please visit, www.USASoftball.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 27^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 1-7  in Oklahoma City. Tickets for the 2017 NCAA WCWS are on sale now, click here to purchase your tickets and secure your championship experience!

 

Katie Willis I Communications Coordinator

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