Lady Vols move into second in this week’s ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll; Sooners remain No. 1

April 16, 2013

---

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

April 16, 2013

                                                                                             

Lady Vols move into second in this week’s ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll; Sooners remain No. 1

 

OKLAHOMA CITY — The Tennessee Lady Vols (38-6, 12-3 SEC) supplanted Arizona State (38-5, 9-3 Pac-12) for the No. 2 overall spot in this week’s ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 poll following a 4-0 week that included a sweep of conference foe Auburn. The Sun Devils had held the second position for five consecutive polls leading up to this week. Despite the shift in the top three, both teams continue to chase the No. 1 Oklahoma Sooners (37-2, 6-0 Big 12) who picked up three more wins over the weekend in a series sweep at Texas Tech.     

 

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

 

The Sooners traveled to Lubbock, Texas on Friday for their second conference series of the year. In game one, the defending USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Keilani Ricketts (San Jose, Calif.) shut down the Red Raiders picking up her fourth career no-hitter and third of the season in a 9-0 Oklahoma win. In game two, the Sooners again shutout Texas Tech for a 6-0 win. On Sunday, Oklahoma completed the series sweep with Ricketts picking up her second win of the weekend, this time by a final of 13-7.  For their efforts, Oklahoma swept all 20 first-place votes, their second-consecutive sweep and third of the season.

 

Tennessee began the week with a 12-3 (5 inning) win over in-state opponent Tennessee Tech. The Lady Vols, riding a 12-game winning streak, then welcomed Auburn to Knoxville for a three game series. In game one, the Lady Vols relied on the sister pitching duo of Ellen and Ivy Renfroe (Jackson, Tenn.) to get the 5-3 win. Tennessee extended its winning streak to 14 by defeating Auburn 6-1 on Saturday and 6-0 on Sunday for the series sweep.

 

Arizona State finished the week with a 2-1 record that included 7-1 and 2-1 wins over then-No. 13 Washington but a 3-1 loss on Friday was enough to drop the Sun Devils one spot in this week’s poll.

 

Florida (41-5, 14-4 SEC) remains No. 4 this week. The Gators went 3-1 with a 9-1 win over now-No. 24 South Florida (35-12, 13-1 Big East) early in the week and a pair of wins over then-No. 19 Kentucky (31-12, 9-6 SEC) in SEC play. The Wildcats took one game from Florida on Saturday to avoid the sweep.

 

Oregon (36-6, 13-2 Pac 12) cracks the Top 5 for the first time this season after coming in at No. 6 in last week’s poll. The Ducks swept then-No. 22 Arizona (27-17, 4-8 Pac-12) over the weekend to improve their conference record to 13-2. Oregon took game one of the series 5-3 and followed it with back-to-back run-rules to secure the sweep.

 

Rounding out the Top 10: No. 6 Alabama (37-6, 10-5 SEC) played just two games over the week, but came out ahead in both defeating Mississippi Valley State 8-5 on Tuesday and UAB 11-0 the following day; No. 7 Texas (38-4, 8-0 Big 12) held their spot on the poll following a conference sweep of Iowa State; No. 8 Louisville (37-6, 10-1 Big East) advanced two spots this week following five wins in which they outscored opponents 48-11; No. 9 Michigan (38-7, 12-0 Big 10) moved into the Top 10 for the first time since Week 14 of the 2011 season. The Wolverines went 4-0 on the week and swept Michigan State in a three-game series; No. 10 California (32-8, 7-5 Pac-12) dropped two spots following a 2-2 week that included a pair of losses to then-No. 21 UCLA (28-14, 5-10 Pac-12).

 

Rejoining the Top 25 this week is No. 24 South Florida (35-12, 13-1 Big East), who last appeared in the Top 25 in week 2 of this season. Each receiving 24 points in this week’s poll, North Carolina (33-15, 10-5 ACC) and Arizona (27-17, 4-8 Pac-12) round out the poll tied at No. 25.

 

The ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll is voted on by coaching representatives from 11 Division I Conferences in the 15 ASA/USA Softball Regions as well as members of National and Local media who consistently cover Division I Softball across the country.

 

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

Assistant Director of Marketing and Communications 2801 NE 50th | Oklahoma City, OK 73111 Work: 405-425-3422 | Cell: 405-207-1004 E-mail: sembree@softball.org | Web: www.usasoftball.com