FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 11, 2013
Oklahoma finishes season at No. 1 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll
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OKLAHOMA CITY — After claiming their program’s second national championship at the 2013 NCAA Women’s College World Series (WCWS) in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma was voted No. 1 in the final ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll of the 2013 season, the Amateur Softball Association (ASA) of America and USA Softball announced today. The Sooners (57-4, 15-2 Big 12), who held the top spot in every regular season poll this year, swept all 20 first-place votes after a flawless 10-0 performance in the post season, including a 5-0 campaign in Oklahoma City during the NCAA WCWS.
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Click here to see the complete poll.
To advance to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma defeated Marist 17-0 (five innings) and added two additional wins to their record following their 10-5 and 14-1 (five innings) victories over then-No. 24 Arkansas (36-20, 12-10 SEC). Next, the Sooners eliminated then-No. 20 Texas A&M (42-18, 10-13 SEC) 10-2 (six innings) and 8-0 (five innings) in the Super Regionals held in Norman, Okla.
The Sooners started their week in Oklahoma City with a 7-1 win over then-No. 8 Michigan (51-13, 20-2 Big 10) before posting a 10-2, five-inning run-rule over then-No. 7 Texas (51-10, 14-4 Big 12). The Sooners then punched their ticket to the Championship Series by pushing past then-No. 9 Washington (45-17, 16-8 Pac-12) 6-2. It only took two games for the Sooners to clinch a National Championship title, though Game One of the series proved to be a nail-biter as the game pushed to extra innings with the Sooners coming out with the 5-3 (12 inning) win. 2013 USA Softball National Collegiate Player of the Year recipient Keilani Ricketts (San Jose, Calif.), who was also named the Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA WCWS, helped secure a Sooner victory in Game Two of the Championship Series, collecting four RBI to give Oklahoma the 4-0, shutout win and a National Championship.
Tennessee (52-12, 16-6 SEC) finished the season ranked No. 2 in the nation. En route to the final round in Oklahoma City, the Lady Vols advanced out of the Regionals by beating Longwood 9-0 (five innings) and North Carolina State 1-0 (11 innings) and 7-0. The Lady Vols then faced the reigning National Champion, then-TNo. 10 Alabama (45-15, 13-11 SEC) in the Super Regionals, and ousted the Crimson Tide 3-2 and 5-3 to earn a trip to Oklahoma City. At the NCAA WCWS, Tennessee topped then-No. 2 Florida (58-9, 18-6 SEC) 9-2, Washington 1-0 and Texas 2-1 to earn a trip to the NCAA WCWS Championship Series for the first time since 2007.
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Texas finished the season at No. 3 following a 6-3 win against then-No. 4 Arizona State (50-12, 16-8 Pac-12), the 10-2 (five inning) loss against Oklahoma and a 3-0 win over Florida before being eliminated from the NCAA WCWS by Tennessee after a 2-1 loss. Washington finished the season at No. 4 after a 2-2 performance in which the Huskies notched a 4-3 (eight inning), walk-off win against then-No. 16 Nebraska (45-16, 15-6 Big 10) before falling 1-0 to Tennessee. Washington survived elimination by topping Michigan 4-1 before ending their season with the 6-2 loss to Oklahoma.
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Rounding out the Top 10 teams of the 2013 season are No. 5 Florida, No. 6 Michigan, No. 7 Arizona State, No. 8 Nebraska, No. 9 Oregon (50-11, 19-5 Pac-12) and No. 10 Alabama.Â
Both Arkansas and South Florida (45-16, 18-3 Big East) fell out of the Top 25 this week following their eliminations from the NCAA tournament during their Regional appearance. With their exits, Louisiana-Lafayette (47-15, 19-4 Sun Belt) re-entered the poll at No. 15 and No.17 UAB (40-19, 19-4 Conference USA) joined the Top 25 for the first time this season.
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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/.
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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 24th 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 in 2014! Click here for more information.
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Codi Warren
Marketing and Communications Coordinator
Amateur Softball Association of America/USA Softball
Office 405.425.3431 | Cell 405. 420. 2817
