California still ahead in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll
OKLAHOMA CITY — Despite suffering its first loss in conference play, California remains the No. 1 team in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 poll, announced today by the Amateur Softball Association (ASA) of America. The Golden Bears (39-2, 11-1 Pac-12) captured 15 first-place votes in the poll, securing their ninth time in 10 weeks as the top-ranked squad.
Heading in to the week with a 13-game winning streak, California overpowered Saint Mary’s 9-0 before putting their perfect Pac-12 record to the test against then-No. 13 Arizona (29-12, 8-7 Pac-12). The Golden Bears edged the Wildcats 2-0 before suffering an 8-3 loss, their first loss in Pac-12 play and their second loss overall. The Golden Bears bounced back in the third and final game of the series, besting Arizona 6-0. Valerie Arioto, a USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Top 25 Finalist, notched two home runs in the final game, bringing her season total to 19.
No. 2 Alabama (40-2, 17-2 SEC), the only other team this season to hold the top ranking, captured five votes, preventing the Golden Bears from garnering a third-consecutive sweep of the first-place votes. The Crimson Tide rolled past South Carolina 9-1 (5 innings) and 7-5 before capturing the series sweep with a 19-4 (5 innings) win. The 19 runs tied a season high for Alabama and marked the 13th time the Tide has run-ruled its opponent and the 10th time they have eclipsed ten runs. With the series win, sophomore pitching ace Jackie Traina, also a USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Top 25 Finalist, improved to 26-0 on the year. Arizona State (36-5, 8-2 Pac-12) and Florida (38-5, 18-2 SEC) hold the No. 3 and No. 4 spot respectively while Oklahoma (35-6, 11-3 Big 12) moved up to No. 5. Texas (35-5, 9-3 Big 12) dropped one spot to No. 6 following a 5-2 loss to then-unranked Texas Tech.
Tennessee (35-9, 16-6 SEC) jumped to the No. 7 spot following a series sweep of then-No. 21 LSU (29-13, 11-6 SEC) while Louisiana-Lafayette (38-2, 13-2 Sun Belt) fell one spot to No. 8 after suffering their second loss of the season to Florida International University. Rounding out the Top 10 are No. 9 Louisville (38-2, 8-2 Big East), who enters the Top 10 for the first time this season, and No. 10 Missouri (32-8, 10-5 Big 12). No. 11 Washington (35-9, 6-9 Pac-12), a team that has held a position in the Top 10 all season, has fallen out of the Top 10 for the first time after recording three losses in five games. The Huskies lost 5-3 to then-No. 15 Oregon (29-9, 8-5 Pac-12) and then were handed two losses, 7-5 and 5-0, by then-No. 17 UCLA (29-12, 6-6 Pac-12). With the wins, the Ducks moved to No. 14 while UCLA improved to No. 15.
New to the poll this week is No. 25 Texas Tech (34-9, 7-4 Big 12), a team which defeated two Top 25 teams. The Red Raiders handed then-No. 5 Texas a 5-2 loss and recorded two wins over then-No. 9 Missouri. Dropping out of the polls is last week’s No. 25 Baylor (26-14, 3-8 Big 12)
ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25
April 17, 2012 — Week 10 (April 9 – 15, 2012)
Rank |
Team |
Record |
Points |
Previous Ranking |
1. |
California (15) |
39-2 |
495 |
1 |
2. |
Alabama (5) |
40-2 |
485 |
2 |
3. |
Arizona State |
36-5 |
452 |
3 |
4. |
Florida |
38-5 |
431 |
4 |
5. |
Oklahoma |
35-6 |
419 |
6 |
6. |
Texas |
35-5 |
394 |
5 |
7. |
Tennessee |
35-9 |
380 |
10 |
8. |
Louisiana-Lafayette |
38-2 |
365 |
7 |
9. |
Louisville |
38-2 |
312 |
12 |
10. |
Missouri |
32-8 |
309 |
9 |
11. |
Washington |
35-9 |
298 |
8 |
12. |
Arizona |
29-12 |
288 |
13 |
13. |
Georgia |
34-10 |
255 |
11 |
14. |
Oregon |
29-9 |
233 |
15 |
15. |
UCLA |
29-12 |
216 |
17 |
16. |
Texas A&M |
29-13 |
200 |
14 |
17. |
South Florida |
40-6 |
186 |
16 |
18. |
Hawaii |
35-4 |
170 |
19 |
19. |
Stanford |
32-12 |
167 |
18 |
20. |
Michigan |
30-11 |
121 |
20 |
21. |
North Carolina |
32-10 |
86 |
24 |
22. |
Florida State |
37-10 |
55 |
22 |
23. |
LSU |
29-13 |
43 |
21 |
24. |
Oregon State |
27-14 |
38 |
23 |
25. |
Texas Tech |
34-9 |
27 |
– |
Parenthesis denotes first place votes.
Dropped Out: Baylor (25)
New to Poll: Texas Tech (-)
Others receiving votes: Syracuse (25); Baylor (16); Tulsa (13); Georgia Tech (9); DePaul (8); Fresno State (1); Kentucky (1); UAB (1); Virginia Tech (1)