Sooners keep rolling at No. 1 in ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25

March 20, 2013

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Sooners keep rolling at No. 1 in ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25

 

OKLAHOMA CITY — Six weeks of NCAA Division I softball have yet to produce a shake up at the top of the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll. The Amateur Softball Association (ASA) of America and USA Softball announced today that Oklahoma (27-1), with 20 first place votes, is the first unanimous No. 1 of the 2013 season.

 

The Sooners, who have held the top spot in the poll since week one, traveled to Fullerton, Calif. this week to compete in the Judi Garman Classic where they went 5-0 with five shutouts, including three run-rule victories. Oklahoma defeated Pacific 9-0 (5) and North Carolina St. 3-0 on Friday and then-No. 19 Arizona 4-0 on Saturday. Oklahoma wrapped up their perfect weekend by topping Penn St. 8-0 (5) and Cal State Fullerton 9-0 (5) on Sunday. This weekend the Sooners return to Norman for a three-game series with No. 11 Louisville (23-3).

 

Holding on at No. 2 for the second consecutive week is Arizona State (29-2). The Sun Devils also competed in the Judi Garman Classic this weekend and went 4-1 with wins over Cal State Fullerton 9-0, then-No. 10 Texas 3-0, then-No. T21 Virginia Tech 11-0 and Pacific 5-4. The Pac-12 squad suffered just their second loss of the season to then-No. 14 Michigan 4-5 on Saturday.

 

At No. 3, the Florida Gators (27-3, 4-2 SEC) hosted their first SEC series of the year over the weekend when they welcomed then-No. 7 Tennessee to Gainesville. The top-ten matchup lived up to the hype as all three games between the conference foes went extra innings. The Gators took game one on Friday 6-5 (8) but Tennessee came back with a 3-1 (8) victory on Saturday. In the final game of the series, Florida, down three runs in the sixth, rallied to tie the game and send it to extra innings. In the bottom of the eighth, Florida pitcher Lauren Haeger hit a two-run, walk-off homer for the 5-3 win.

 

No. 4 Texas A&M (26-2, 4-1 SEC) and No. 5 California (23-3) flip-flop in this week’s rankings. The Aggies went 3-0 over the weekend defeating Arkansas 2-1, 7-3 and 9-1 (5). The Golden Bears started their week strong by shutting out then-No. 15 Baylor 3-0 on Wednesday, then-No. 23 Hawaii 1-0 on Thursday and defeating Syracuse 2-1 on Friday but an 8-1 loss in Saturday’s rematch with the Orange kept the reigning Pac-12 Champs from a perfect week.  

 

Rounding out the Top 10: No. 6 Alabama (26-3, 4-2 SEC) swept South Carolina this week; No. 7 Missouri (15-2, 4-1 SEC) was 5-0 on the week with a three-game sweep of Ole Miss; No. 8 Tennessee (23-6, 3-3 SEC) dropped one spot after suffering two losses to No. 3 Florida; No. 9 Texas (27-4) went 4-1 to move up one spot in this week’s poll; and No. 10 Oregon (23-4) went 2-0 against New Mexico.

 

New to the poll, No. 24 Georgia (21-7, 3-0 SEC) returns to the Top 25 after a two-week hiatus and No. 25 South Alabama (23-5, 2-1 Sun Belt) enters the Top 25 for the first time this season. Following four losses on the week, North Carolina (19-10, 3-0 ACC) dropped out of this week’s poll along with Louisiana-Lafayette (19-11, 2-4 Sun Belt) who fell twice to now-No. 25 South Alabama this week.

 

 

ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25

2013 Season – Week 6 – March 19, 2013

 

Rank	Team	Record	Points	Previous Ranking
1.	Oklahoma (20)	27-1	500	1
2.	Arizona State	29-2	474	2
3.	Florida	27-3	444	3
4.	Texas A&M	26-2	432	5
5.	California	23-3	425	4
6.	Alabama	26-3	398	6
7.	Missouri	15-2	374	8
8.	Tennessee	23-6	367	7
9.	Texas	27-4	340	10
10.	Oregon	23-4	333	9
11.	Louisville	23-3	294	11
12.	LSU	23-5	279	13
13.	UCLA	23-4	251	12
14.	Michigan	21-7	240	14
15.	Baylor	25-5	213	15
16.	Stanford	22-5	186	18
17.	Washington	22-7	164	16
18.	Tulsa	23-5	157	20
19.	Virginia Tech	18-4	139	T21
20.	Nebraska	18-5	105	T21
21.	Kentucky	19-7	104	17
22.	Arizona	20-8	102	19
23.	Hawaii	22-7	56	23
24.	Georgia	21-7	39	RV
25.	South Alabama	23-5	20	RV

 

Parenthesis denotes first place votes.

Dropped Out: - North Carolina, Louisiana-Lafayette New to Poll: Georgia, South Alabama

 

Others receiving votes: Wisconsin (19), Oregon State (17), Iowa (15), SC Upstate (8), Mississippi State (4), San Diego State (1)

 

 

About ASA The Amateur Softball Association, founded in 1933, is the National Governing Body of softball in the United States and a member of the United States Olympic Committee. The ASA has become one of the nation’s largest sports organizations and now sanctions competition in every state through a network of 76 local associations. The ASA has grown from a few hundred teams in the early days to over 210,000 teams today, representing a membership of more than three million. For more information on the ASA, visit http://www.asasoftball.com/.   About USA Softball USA Softball is the brand created, operated and owned by the ASA that links the USA Men’s, Women’s, Junior Boys’ and Junior Girls’ National Team programs together. USA Softball is responsible for training, equipping and promoting these four National Teams to 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 including the last seven consecutive as well as claimed five World Cup of Softball titles. For more information about USA Softball, please visit http://www.usasoftball.com/.

 

About the NCAA Women’s College World Series The ASA Hall of Fame Stadium serves as the home to the NCAA Women’s College World Series (WCWS). For the 23rd year, the top eight college teams in the nation will head to Oklahoma City and complete for a National Championship title. Last year, over 75,000 fans attended the WCWS. Experience It Live May 30 to June 5 in Oklahoma City. Tickets for the 2013 NCAA WCWS are on sale now, click here to purchase your tickets and make a date with champions!

 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------  Steven Embree | ASA/USA Softball

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