FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

April 11, 2017

 

Arizona Wildcats the new No. 1 team in Week 9 ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll

 

OKLAHOMA CITY — After clinching their series sweep of Pac-12 opponent Stanford, the Arizona Wildcats (40-1) take hold of the No. 1 spot for the first time this season in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll, USA Softball announced today. Improving to 40-1 on the season and adding on to their perfect conference record led to the Wildcats claiming 10-of-20 first-place votes, just one point ahead of No. 2 Florida State (38-1-1), who earned nine first-place votes.  No. 3 Florida (36-2) earned the remaining first-place vote.

 

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

 

No. 1 Arizona continued Pac-12 play as they hosted Stanford for a three-game series over the weekend at Hillenbrand Stadium. In their series opener, the Wildcats began with a 20-1 (five-inning) victory in which six players combined for a season-most seven home runs. Momentum continued in Arizona’s favor as the Wildcats went on to claim two additional run-rule wins, outscoring the Cardinal 41-2 and tacking on another eight home runs to earn their fourth conference sweep in as many tries. Arizona will travel to Salt Lake City, Utah for a three-game series against No. 16 Utah (26-7) this week.

 

Florida State remains perfect in Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) play following a series sweep over Syracuse on the road . The Seminoles opened up play Saturday with an 18-9 win over the Orange and moved onto their doubleheader Sunday, where they earned a 13-4 win in five innings and closed out the sweep with a 6-5 victory. Florida State will resume action Wednesday for an in-state rivalry game against No. 3 Florida before traveling to Columbia, S.C. for two games against the South Carolina Gamecocks.

 

No. 3 Florida rises one spot following a 3-0 week in which the Gators opened the week with a 5-1 win over North Florida before hosting then-No. 18 Georgia (27-13) for a three-game series.  With back-to-back wins, including a 5-0 shutout on Saturday and 4-1 victory the following day, the Gators clinched their ninth-straight Southeastern Conference (SEC) series. Up next, Florida will host No. 2 Florida State in a mid-week showdown before hitting the road for a three-game series against No. 22 Kentucky (24-11).

 

Dropping three spots to No. 4 this week is Oregon (36-2) who went 3-2 on the week and saw their undefeated season come to a halt after playing then-No. 12 UCLA (28-10) on the road. The Ducks’ began the week posting back-to-back wins in their doubleheader against Portland State Tuesday, which helped the Ducks tie the NCAA record for consecutive wins in a season.  The Ducks then headed to UCLA, where they dropped a 2-0 loss in the series opener.  A 1-0 shutout by UCLA Saturday would give the Ducks their second loss of the season before the bats came alive in the finale as Oregon eventually claimed the 11-4 victory. Oregon returns home to host No. 13 Washington (29-9) for a three-game series starting Thursday.

 

Keeping ahold of their No. 5 spot is Texas A&M (35-3) who went 4-0, including a solo 10-3 win over McNeese State to start the week. The Aggies continued their homestand by hosting Oklahoma State for a three-game series in which they outscored the Cowgirls 25-3 and posted their 13th shutout of the season after the 7-0 victory in the finale. Texas A&M hits the road for Fayetteville, Ark. to face Arkansas for a three-game series starting Friday.

 

Rounding out the Top 10: No. 6 Minnesota (35-3) rose one spot following a perfect 5-0 week, including a Big Ten series sweep over Indiana; No. 7 Auburn (33-6) went 2-1 in their series against Ole Miss; No. 8 Oklahoma (35-7) jumped one spot following a 4-0 week including a series sweep of Red River rival Texas; No. 9 UCLA rejoins the Top 10 for the first time since Week 3 after clinching the series win over then-No. 1 Oregon; No. 10 Alabama (35-7) closes out the Top 10 after going 3-1 on the week and claiming an SEC series win over then-No. 8 LSU (32-9).

 

Joining the Top 25 this week is No. 25 Ole Miss (26-13), who earned a 1-0 (12 inning) mid-week  win over Central Arkansas before posting a 1-2 record at Jane B. Moore Field against then-No. 6 Auburn. Dropping out of the Top 25 is last week’s No. 25 Missouri (21-16), who suffered an SEC series loss to Arkansas at home.

 

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!

 

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