Ducks Tabbed Again No. 15 by NFCA in Poll #6
UO held steady in the NFCA edition and dropped two positions in the USA Softball poll to 16th after having last week off to focus on final exams.
Among this week’s two polls, 10 Duck foes this season were ranked top 25 (NFCA / USA SB) – Alabama (3/2), Washington (4/4), Arizona State (6/5), Arizona (7/7), UCLA (8/11), California (10/9), Stanford (13/10), Hawai’i (16/20), Louisiana-Lafayette (19/19) and Texas A&M (22/23).
Two other Duck opponents – BYU and Virginia – each received votes in one poll.
Overall in the USA Softball edition, Georgia jumped two spots into the top position, while the former No. 1, Florida, fell to third. The Bulldogs also ranked first in the NFCA edition for the second straight week.
Complete NFCA and USA Softball preseason polls are available at the http://nfca.org/top25/index.php?cat_id=1 and http://www.usasoftball.com/news.asp?uid=5398 URL addresses.
Last week, the Ducks ranked 14th in both polls after wrapping up one of its most successful opening months that included a 4-1 record against top-20 teams.
UO has been ranked for 18 straight editions by USA Softball and 13 straight polls by the NFCA. UO’s week-by-week NFCA/USA SB rankings this year follow: 3/9 (15/14), 3/2 (13/13), 2/22 (13/13), 2/15 (14/14), Preseason (14/14).
In its last action two weekends ago in the Citrus Classic in Orlando, Fla., UO won four games against its six NCAA tournament returning foes. Oregon beat then-No. 17 Louisiana-Lafayette, 5-2; North Carolina, 1-0; Illinois, 2-1; and Illinois State, 6-0; and lost to Virginia, 3-2; and then-No. 1 Alabama, 10-0.
Among the tourney highlights, senior Monique Fuiava joined the Duck all-time career list in homers (ninth-tie, 22), and paced UO for the trip in hitting (.545), home runs (1), total bases (10), runs (4), slugging (.909) and walks (3).
Three other starters topped .300 – freshman Courtney Ceo (.471, 8 H, 1 SB), senior Kaitlin Vitek (.400, 4 H, 2 2B, 1 HR, 9 TB, .900 SLG) and sophomore Allie Burger (.333, 5 H, 3 RBI). Ceo hit safely in all six games, and fellow frosh Alexa Peterson came up with an eighth-inning suicide squeeze and single vs. the Tarheels and No. 17 Rajun' Cajuns for game-winning RBI's, respectively.
On the mound, sophomore Jessica Moore went 3-1 with a 1.72 ERA and 23 strikeouts in her 20.1 innings pitched. Two other Ducks logged sub 2.00 ERA’s – Brittany Rumfelt (0.00, 5 IP, 9 K, 2 BB) and junior Mikayla Endicott (1.75 ERA, 4 IP, 3 SO, 2 BB) – and junior Samantha Skillingstad staked UO’s other win (1-0, 2.10 ERA, 10 IP, 15 SO, 5 BB)
This week, the No. 15 Ducks open their home slate with a doubleheader against Weber State on Saturday, March 19 at 1 p.m. The next day, UO faces Utah State in a doubleheader at noon on Sunday, March 20.
Both games are Bi-Mart 2 for 1 Ticket days. Fans that show their Bi-Mart card at the Howe Field ticket window will receive two general admission tickets for the price of one. Fans can stay after the game to get autographs from the Oregon Softball Team.
ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25
http://www.usasoftball.com/folders.asp?uid=3208
Rk Team Record Totals Prev
1. Georgia (7) 21-1 480 3
*2. Alabama (5) 24-1 479 2
3. Florida (8) 25-1 474 1
*4. Washington 19-0 428 6
*5. Arizona State 24-1 411 7
6. Michigan 25-1 406 5
*7. Arizona 21-4 360 4
8. Oklahoma 22-5 358 9
*9. California 16-2 329 11
*10. Stanford 17-3 290 12
T11. Tennessee 20-4 280 8
*T11. UCLA 20-5 280 10
13. Missouri 16-3 277 T14
14 Texas 18-3 235 13
15. Baylor 22-3 215 22
>16. Oregon 18-4 209 T14
17. Nebraska 19-2 187 20
18. Oklahoma State 20-6 142 18
*19. ULL 20-3 131 16
*20. Hawaii 20-5 123 17
21. Kentucky 16-4 116 23
22. Texas Tech 29-1 88 19
*23. Texas A&M 20-6 73 24
24. Auburn 22-2 58 RV
25. LSU 15-10 20 21
Parenthesis Denotes first place votes.
Others Receiving Votes: Notre (15); DePaul (12); Fresno State (6); UAB (5); Georgia Tech (4); Syracuse (4); *BYU (2); SC Upstate (2); Long Beach (1)
Dropped Out: Houston
New to Poll: Auburn
* Denotes Duck opponents in 2011
USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Poll
http://nfca.org/top25/index.php?cat_id=1
Rk Team Record Totals Prev
1 Georgia (25) 21-1 744 1
2 Florida (4) 25-1 715 2
*3 Alabama (1) 24-1 692 3
*4 Washington 19-0 659 5
5 Michigan 25-1 608 6
*6 Arizona St. 24-1 600 8
*7 Arizona 21-4 546 4
*8 UCLA 20-5 517 9
9 Oklahoma 22-5 506 10
*10 California 16-2 486 11
11 Tennessee 20-4 450 7
12 Texas 18-3 415 12
*13 Stanford 17-3 387 13
14 Nebraska 19-2 347 16
>15 Oregon 18-2 323 15
*16 Hawaii 20-5 290 14
17 Missouri 16-3 278 18
18 Baylor 22-3 237 23
*19 La.-Lafayette 20-3 224 17
20 Oklahoma St. 20-6 169 20
21 Texas Tech 29-1 158 19
*22 Texas A&M 20-6 124 22
23 Auburn 22-2 105 24
24 Kentucky 16-4 77 RV
25 LSU 15-10 31 21
Others Receiving Votes: Fresno St. 17, DePaul 13, Georgia Tech 10, Notre Dame 7, *Virginia 5, Syracuse 3, Long Beach St. 3, Kansas 1, Northwestern 1, S.C Upstate 1, Troy 1
Dropped Out: No. 25 Syracuse
-The USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Poll is voted on by NCAA Division I head coaches representing each conference. First-place votes are in parentheses.
* Denotes Duck opponents in 2011
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