Softball Picked Seventh By Pac-10 Coaches
WALNUT CREEK, Calif. ? The University of Oregon softball team has been selected by the Pac-10 Conference softball coaches to finish seventh in the eight-team league in the 2004 season. The Ducks (13 points) edged rival Oregon State (12 points) and were six points behind Arizona State.
After winning the national title last season, UCLA was selected as theconference’s top team in 2004. The Bruins received 48 points, including six first place votes. In second place, Arizona, last year’s Pac-10 Champion, earned 44 points, including the other two first place votes.
California finished third with 36 points, while Washington and Stanford finished fourth and fifth with 30 and 22 points, respectively. Rounding out the rest of the poll was Arizona State with 19 points, Oregon with 13 and Oregon State with 12 points.
In 2003, Oregon finished tied for third in the conference ? its highest league finish since 1990 ? despite being picked to finish last by conference coaches. The Ducks were 5-2 at the NCAA Regionals and fell one game shy of heading to the Women’s College World Series. Oregon was ranked 11th in the final 2003 ESPN.com/USA Softball Top 25 Poll.
It was a banner year for the Pac-10 in 2003, as the Conference sent all eight teams to the NCAA Tournament for the third time in league history. For the third straight season at least three Pac-10 teams advanced to the Women’s College World Series (Arizona, California, UCLA and Washington). For an amazing tenth time in Pac-10 history, two Conference teams squared off in the National Championship Game. Additionally, Pac-10 teams finished 1-2-3 in the final USA Today/NFCA Poll, and had a total of seven teams ranked in the Top-25 in the final poll.
The 2004 softball season will get underway on Saturday, January 24 with preseason tournament action. Pac-10 Conference play begins on Friday, April 2.
Results of the poll are as follows. Seven points are awarded to the first-place vote, six points to the second place vote, and so on. Coaches are not allowed to vote for their own team.
2004 PACIFIC-10 CONFERENCE SOFTBALL COACHES’ PRESEASON POLLSchool (First Place Votes) Points 1. UCLA (6) 48 2. Arizona (2) 44 3. California 36 4. Washington 30 5. Stanford 22 6. Arizona State 19 7. Oregon 13
8. Oregon State 12
