April2015

Perfect outing keeps Gators No. 1 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll

April 28, 2015

Oklahoma City, OK

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

April 28, 2015

 

Perfect outing keeps Gators No. 1 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll

 

OKLAHOMA CITY — Following their fourth-straight Southeastern Conference (SEC) series sweep, the Florida Gators (47-4, 16-4 SEC) solidified their spot atop the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll after a 4-0 performance against teams in the Top 25.  The Gators are on a roll, finishing the month of April with a perfect 15-0 record and for their efforts have captured 17-of-20 first place votes to remain No. 1 while Oregon (41-5, 16-2 Pac-12) collected three first place votes and fall in at No. 2.   

 

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

 

The Gators faced a tough schedule this week as they played in four contests against Top 25 ranked teams.  Up first was an in-state rivalry against then-No. 11 Florida State (40-12, 20-3 ACC) in which the Gators shutout the Seminoles 5-0.  Florida then played host to then-No. 25 Texas A&M (34-17, 9-12 SEC) in their final home SEC series.  In game one, the Gators rallied from behind to take a 7-3 win and secured the series with a 9-5 win in game two.  A 9-1 (five inning) run-rule in game three logged Florida its fourth-straight series sweep while giving them their sixth-consecutive SEC series victory. Florida will travel to Columbia, Mo. for their final regular season series against No. 13 Missouri (35-10, 13-7 SEC) before heading to Baton Rouge, La. for the SEC Tournament.   

 

For the fourth-straight week, Oregon remains the No. 2 team in the country following a 4-0 showing, including three wins over Top 10 foe Louisiana-Lafayette (34-8, 17-3 Sun Belt).  Starting their week by closing out a Pac-12 contest in a 6-3 win against Stanford, the Ducks hosted the Ragin' Cajuns for a three-game, non-conference series.  The Ducks used a five-run second inning to break game one open, earning an 8-0 (five inning) shutout win in which 2015 Women's National Team Member Janie Takeda (Placentia, Calif.) set the Oregon record for all-time leader in hits and stolen bases.  Oregon kept the momentum alive in the final two games of the series, finishing a three-game sweep by taking additional wins, 10-2 (five inning) and 2-1 (eight inning).

 

No. 3 Michigan (45-6, 18-2 Big 10) and No. 4 Oklahoma (42-7, 14-2 Big 12) each rose one spot in this week's poll.  Michigan posted four wins, including two via run-rule, over the week and outscored opponents 23-5 while Oklahoma went 4-1 with their sole loss coming at the hands of Kansas.  Falling two spots to No. 5 is LSU (41-8, 13-7 SEC), who went 0-3 after suffering losses at the hands of two Top 25 ranked opponents.  Finishing up an SEC series against then-No. 25 Texas A&M, the Tigers dropped a 5-2 decision to the Aggies before heading to Columbia, Mo. for a three-game SEC series against Missouri.  Missouri posted two upset wins over LSU, taking game one 7-2 before exploding for a 10-2 (five inning) win in game two to secure the series win.  For their efforts, Missouri rose four spots in the polls this week to No. 13. 

 

Rounding out the Top 10: Alabama (38-11, 14-7 SEC) remained at No. 6 after going 3-1 during play last week, including an SEC series win over No. 12 Tennessee (36-13, 12-9 SEC); No. 7 UCLA (40-8, 14-3 Pac-12) held their spot in the polls after a 2-0 showing against Oregon State; No. 8 Auburn (44-8, 16-5 SEC) also held onto their spot in the poll this week following their sweep of Arkansas; Minnesota (41-8, 15-3 Big 10) rose one spot to No. 9 this week after posting four run-rule, shutout wins; Florida State rejoins the Top 10 this week after another perfect Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) outing.   

 

Making the biggest jump in the poll this week is Missouri, who rose four spots to No. 13 this week while LSU and No. 21 Kentucky (29-20, 5-16 SEC) each fell two spots this week.  Joining the Top 25 for the first time in school history is No. 24 Utah (33-16, 11-10 Pac-12) who went 2-1 against then-No. 22 Arizona State (30-18, 8-9 Pac-12) while Texas A&M dropped out of the Top 25 for the first time this season.

 

The ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll is voted on by coaching representatives of 10 Division I Conferences in the 15 ASA/USA Softball Regions as well as members of the National and Local media who consistently cover Division I Softball across the country.

 

About ASA/USA Softball 
Founded in 1933, the Amateur Softball Association (ASA)/USA Softball is the National Governing Body Softball in the United States and a member of the United States Olympic Committee. One of the nation’s largest sports organizations, ASA/USA Softball sanctions competition in every state through a network of 74 local associations and has grown from a few hundred teams in the early days to over 165,000 teams today, representing a membership of more than 2.5 million.  ASA/USA is responsible for training, equipping and promoting the six USA Softball National Teams that 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 as well as claimed eight World Cup of Softball titles. For more information about ASA/USA Softball, please visit http://www.asausasoftball.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 25th year, the top eight college teams in the nation will head to Oklahoma City and complete for a National Championship title. Last year, nearly 70,000 fans attended the WCWS. Experience It Live May 28 to June 3 in Oklahoma City. Tickets for the 2015 NCAA WCWS are on sale now, click here to purchase your tickets and make a date with champions!

 

 

Codi Warren

 

Assistant Director of Marketing and Communications

Amateur Softball Association of America/USA Softball

Office 405.425.3431 | Cell 405. 420. 2817

 

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