FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

April 18, 2017

 

Gators reclaim top spot in Week 10 ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll

 

OKLAHOMA CITY — In a season in which four different teams have held the No. 1 spot in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll, the Florida Gators (40-3) have once again earned the title of the top-ranked team after a 4-1 record on the week USA Softball announced today. The Gators, whose four wins were over Top 25-ranked opponents, captured 15-of-20 first-place votes while No. 2 Arizona (41-3) captured three votes, while No. 4 Texas A&M (37-4) and No. 5 Minnesota (38-3) earned one vote apiece.

 

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

 

The Gators started their week with a 3-0 win in their Southeastern Conference (SEC) finale against then-No. 19 Georgia (29-15).  Florida then faced their in-state rival, No. 2 Florida State (39-3-1), for a midweek, Top 5 matchup.  The rivalry lived up to the hype, as Florida earned the 1-0, walk off victory in the bottom of the seventh inning.  Florida then headed to Lexington, Ky. for another SEC series against then-No. 22 Kentucky (26-13), posting a 2-1 record against the Wildcats to earn the series win.  Dropping one spot to No. 2 this week is Arizona, who suffered their first Pac-12 Conference series loss of the season on the road against then-No. 16 Utah (28-8).  The Wildcats opened the series with a 5-1 win over the Utes before dropping back-to-back games, 6-3 and 3-2.

 

Also falling one spot in the poll this week is No. 3 Florida State.  The Seminoles suffered the 1-0 loss to Florida, before a two-game series against non-conference opponent, South Carolina.  The teams split the series, with South Carolina taking the first game in a 7-2 win while Florida State rebounded in game two with a 3-1 win.  No. 4 Texas A&M rose one spot in the poll this week after a 2-1 outing against Arkansas.  The Aggies earned the series win after posting a pair of wins over the Razorbacks, 3-0 and 3-2, before falling 5-3 (nine innings) in the series finale.  Closing out the Top 5 is Minnesota, who swept Big Ten foe Northwestern.   

 

Rounding out the Top 10: No. 6 Oregon (37-4) fell two spots after suffering a Pac-12 series loss against then-No. 13 Washington (31-10); Auburn (36-7) holds on to the No. 7 spot in the poll this week after a 3-1 week, including an SEC series win over Missouri; No. 8 Oklahoma (38-7) swept Kansas on the road to remain undefeated in Big 12 Conference play; No. 9 Tennessee (39-5) jumped five spots in the poll after earning an SEC series win over then-No. 10 Alabama (36-9); No. 10 Washington rose three spots after a 2-1 showing against then-No. 4 Oregon.

 

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 
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Codi Warren I Managing Director of Communications

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