Ducks Remain No. 21 in USA Softball Poll #8
EUGENE – After winning the Civil War series last weekend by a 2-1 margin, the University of Oregon softball team (26-6) was tabbed No. 21 for the second straight week in the ESPN.com / USA Softball national poll Tuesday.
UO’s 91 votes in this week’s eighth edition were 17 more than last week and the fourth straight poll that it ranked top 25. Oregon's ranking was its highest since ending the 2008 campaign tabbed No. 20 and No. 23 in the NFCA and USA Softball editions.
In recent weeks, the Ducks stood 21st last week, 25th in the fifth and sixth editions, and received votes in three other USA Softball polls – the preseason, third (3/1) and fourth (3/8) week polls. UO also picked up 23 votes in Tuesday’s USA Today / NFCA Poll – the first team outside the top 25 - and received votes for the third straight week.
Six Pac-10 teams were again tabbed top 15 this week in the USA Softball / NFCA editions - Washington (1/1), Arizona (2/3), UCLA (4/5), Arizona State (10/9), Stanford (9/8) and California (15/13). Seven other teams on UO’s schedule in ’10 also received votes – No. 20/21 Texas A&M, No. -/23 Notre Dame, No. -/25 Hawai’i, BYU, Fresno State, San Diego State and Texas Tech.
Complete NFCA and USA Softball preseason polls are available below and at the http://nfca.org/top25/index.php?cat_id=1 and http://www.usasoftball.com/news.asp?uid=5398 URL addresses.
Glancing at this week’s national rankings, the Ducks jumped to second nationally in batting average (.346) after hitting .400 last weekend vs. the Beavers (39-for-95) – a stretch that included a school record 19 hits vs. in the first game (and 11 and nine the next two games, respectively).
The Ducks also stood seventh nationally in ERA (1.38), 13th in slugging (0.540), 14th in win-loss percentage (.813), 18th in doubles (1.63 per game) and 27th in home runs (1.06 per game).
On the individual front, freshman right fielder Samantha Pappas ranked fifth nationally in batting (.500), 15th in on-base percentage (.559), 16th in slugging (.865), 33rd in RBI (1.06 per game) and 45th in home runs (9). Fellow frosh outfielder Allie Burger stood 14th in batting (.460), and sophomore infielder Kelsey Chambers ranked 102nd in RBI (0.84 per game).
Freshman Jessica Moore was equally easy to find on this week’s NCAA pitching stat charts in ERA (15th, 1.02), fewest hits allowed (24th, 4.21 per 7 innings), strikeouts (25th, 9.9 per 7 inning average), strikeouts (45th, 145) and wins (60th, 12), and is tied for 26th nationally in saves (2) with junior Brittany Rumfelt.
Fans can find the Ducks’ national stat rankings updated every Tuesday on the NCAA website at the http://web1.ncaa.org/stats/StatsSrv/ranksummary?sportCode=WSB URL address.
This week, the Ducks host No. 13 California (29-8) for single games at Howe Field Friday at 6 p.m., Saturday at 1 p.m., and Sunday at noon. The Bears went 1-2 vs. No. 8 Stanford last weekend and won 6-0 Saturday at 6 p.m., and lost to the Cardinal, 5-1, Friday, and 1-0, Thursday.
USA Softball / Espn.com Poll #8
Rk. Team (1st Pl.) Record Pts Prev
*1. Washington (24) 30-3 499 1
*2. Arizona 30-4 473 2
3. Michigan (1) 26-5 465 3
*4. UCLA 27-6 430 5
5. Florida 27-4 396 9
6. Georgia Tech 32-5 394 7
7. Alabama 27-9 388 6
8. Missouri 25-6 354 4
*9. Stanford 27-5 339 11
*10. Arizona State 32-6 295 10
11. Oklahoma State 32-7 287 15
12. Georgia 26-8 283 8
13. Oklahoma 29-8 270 13
14. LSU 29-7 239 12
*15. California 29-8 231 14
16. Florida State 33-7 199 16
17. Texas 31-8 191 17
18. Tennessee 29-7 159 19
19. Illinois 26-4 140 20
*20. Texas A&M 30-9 107 18
**21. Oregon 26-5 91 21
22. Ohio State 21-10 68 23
23. Baylor 19-10 50 24
24. North Carolina 27-13 23 22
25. UMass 21-7 22 RV
Others Receiving Votes: *BYU (19), Arkansas (17), *Hawaii (17), DePaul (12), *Notre Dame (11), Louisville (9), *San Diego State (8), Fordham (7), ULL (2), Hofstra (2), Kentucky (2), *Texas Tech (1).
Dropped Out: BYU
New to Poll: UMass
USA Today / NFCA Poll #8
Rk. Team (1st Pl.) Record Pts Prev
*1 Washington (28) 30-3 747 1
2 Michigan (2) 26-5 715 2
*3 Arizona 30-4 685 3
4 Florida 27-4 655 6
*5 UCLA 27-6 632 5
6 Alabama 27-9 589 8
7 Missouri 25-6 550 4
*8 Stanford 27-5 527 9
*9 Arizona State 32-6 515 7
10 Georgia Tech 32-5 481 10
11 Oklahoma 29-8 439 13
12 Oklahoma State 32-7 412 15
*13 California 29-8 358 14
14 LSU 29-7 340 12
15 Georgia 26-8 328 11
16 Texas 31-8 307 17
17 Tennessee 29-7 295 16
18 Illinois 26-4 244 18
19 Florida State 33-7 204 19
20 Ohio State 21-10 179 21
*21 Texas A&M 30-9 139 20
22 Massachusetts 21-7 119 23
*23 Notre Dame 26-6 67 24
23 Louisville 24-12 67 25
*25 Hawaii 28-11 35 RV
Others Receiving Votes: **Oregon 23, North Carolina 21, *BYU 18, Baylor 18, Fordham 10, Hofstra 7, Lipscomb 7, *Fresno State 5, Arkansas 4, *San Diego State 3, Virginia 2, Kentucky 2, La.-Lafayette 1
Dropped Out: No. 22 North Carolina
Parenthesis Denotes first place votes.
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