Oklahoma City, OK - - Second Pac-12 Conference sweep of the season keeps Oregon at No. 1 in Week 8 ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll
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Second Pac-12 Conference sweep of the season keeps Oregon at No. 1 in Week 8 ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll
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OKLAHOMA CITY — After posting a 4-0 record on the week, including a Pac-12 Conference sweep, the Oregon Ducks (33-0) strengthen their hold on the top spot in this week’s ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll, USA Softball announced today. Oregon’s historic undefeated season was enough to help them claim 15-of-20 first-place votes, while Florida State (35-1-1) earned three first-place votes to reclaim the No. 2 spot in the poll this week and No. 3 Arizona (37-1) jumped a spot after earning two first-place votes.
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Click here to see the complete ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll
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The top-ranked Ducks opened play last week with a pitcher’s duel against then-unranked BYU, but the Ducks came out on top with a 1-0 win. Oregon then continued Pac-12 Conference play as they hosted then-No. 23 Arizona State (23-12) at home for a three-game series. A 4-0 shutout win over the Sun Devils in game one followed by an 8-4 win in game two clinched the series for the Ducks before an extra-inning, 1-0 thriller in the series finale helped keep the Ducks undefeated. Oregon will be tested on the road this week as they head to Los Angeles, Calif. to take on No. 12 UCLA (26-9) at Easton Stadium. Â
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Jumping a spot in the poll this week is Florida State, who earned an Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) series sweep over Pittsburgh at home. The Seminoles clinched back-to-back run-rule victories to get the series win before posting a shutout in the series finale to earn the sweep. The shutout marked the 19th time this season the Seminoles have held their opponent without a run while also extending Florida State’s unbeaten streak to 26 games and their winning streak to 21 games. Florida State will now head north this weekend for a three-game series against Syracuse.Â
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Also rising in this week’s poll is No. 3 Arizona following an unblemished week in which the pitching staff allowed just three runs to cross the plate. A pair of wins against Grand Canyon started off the week for the Wildcats before they hosted then-No. 22 California (21-11) at home. Arizona posted back-to-back shutouts, 7-0 and 6-0, over the Golden Bears and completed the sweep of California with a 6-1 win in the series finale. With the win, Arizona improved their winning streak to 22 games while earning their third Pac-12 Conference sweep of the season.
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After dropping a 1-0 decision to then-No. 7 Auburn (31-5) in their Southeastern Conference (SEC) series finale, Florida (33-2) dropped two spots in the poll to No. 4 this week. The Gators would bounce back, putting up a 15-7 win over Bethune-Cookman in a mid-week meeting before hitting the road for an SEC series against then-No. 24 Arkansas (22-12). The Gators hot bats continued as they would post 6-1, 8-0 and 6-1 wins over the Razorbacks to get the series sweep. Closing out the Top 5 this week is No. 5 Texas A&M (31-3), who picked up a 5-1 mid-week win over Texas State before claiming an SEC series win over South Carolina.Â
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Rounding out the Top 10: No. 6 Auburn rose one spot after posting a 4-0 record on the week, including an SEC series sweep of then-T16 Georgia (27-10); No. 7 Minnesota (30-3) fell one spot this week after dropping a close 4-3 decision to unranked Illinois; No. 8 LSU (31-7) rose two spots this week after an undefeated week at home in which the Tigers outscored opponents 21-4; No. 9 Oklahoma (31-7) rejoins the Top 10 this week after an explosive offensive weekend in which the Sooners swept Iowa State, including two run-rule victories; No. 10 Washington (27-8) fell two spots this week after a 1-2 outing against then-No. 14 UCLA.
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Joining the Top 25 this week is No. 23 BYU (23-10), who had a 2-1 week with a pair of wins over Oregon State, and No. 25 Missouri (20-14), who reenters the poll after an SEC series win over then-No. 9 Alabama (32-6). Dropping out of the Top 25 is last week’s No. 21 Wisconsin (23-6), who suffered a Big Ten series sweep at the hands of Nebraska, and last week’s No. 24 Arkansas, who suffered an SEC series sweep at the hands of Florida.
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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.
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