Ducks Repeat at No. 15 in NFCA Poll #7
Looking ahead to its final weekend of non-conference action, the University of Oregon softball team (22-4) stood top 15 in the NFCA national poll for the seventh straight week.
UO held steady in the both the NFCA and USA Softball editions and stood 15th and 16th, respectively, after it went 4-0 last weekend in its home opener.
Among the current polls, 10 Duck foes this season ranked top 25 (NFCA / USA SB): Alabama (1/1), Washington (6/6), Arizona State (5/5), Arizona (9/9), UCLA (7/13), California (10/8), Stanford (13/12), Hawaii (21/25), Louisiana-Lafayette (19/20) and Texas A&M (22/21).
Two other Duck opponents, BYU and North Carolina, each received votes in at least one poll.
Overall in the both editions, Alabama jumped to the top spot after it swept the former No. 1, Georgia, in a three-game series last weekend. Florida stood second in both; Michigan also moved into the top five for the first time and split the third and fourth spots with Georgia; and Arizona State stood fifth in both.
Oregon has now been ranked for 19 straight editions by USA Softball and 14 straight polls by the NFCA. Week-by-week NFCA/USA SB rankings this year for UO follow: 3/16 (16/15), 3/9 (15/14), 3/2 (13/13), 2/22 (13/13), 2/15 (14/14), Preseason (14/14).
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 weekend, the Ducks went 4-0 in Eugene at Howe Field with 6-1 and 6-2 wins over Weber State, and 11-3 and 9-0 decisions over Utah State.
Sophomore Jessica Moore
pitched the 18th no-hitter all-time for UO vs. the Wildcats, and came back with her eighth career shutout vs. the Aggies (and now ranks 10th all-time for UO). Senior starter Brittany Rumfelt
and junior Mikayla Endicott
yielded only one hit in the other game vs. Weber State, and junior Samantha Skillingstad
(7-0) tied her career-high in strikeouts (12) vs. Utah State.
At the plate vs. Weber, seven different Ducks homered in the two tilts. Against the Aggies, freshman Kailee Cuico
tied the school record for doubles in a game by former All-American Kathy Stahl (3) and led the team to a game record (7), too.
For the weekend, two Ducks hit .500: senior Monique Fuiava
(4-for-8, 3 doubles, 5 RBI) and Cuico (4-for-8, 5 RBI), and seven others topped .300: freshman Courtney Ceo
(.429, 6H, 5 RBI, 2 HR, 2 SB), sophomore Kaylan Howard
(.429, 1 2B, 1 HR), Peterson (.429, 1 2B), sophomore Allie Burger
(.364), junior Lindsey Chambers
(.333, 1 HR), sophomore Samantha Pappas
(.300, 1 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR) and junior Kelsey Chambers
(.300, 2 2B, 1 HR, 6 RBI).
Looking ahead, UO plays a doubleheader at Portland State that starts at 2 p.m. at Erv Lind Stadium. The Ducks then travel to the Mustang Classic in San Luis Obispo, Fri.-Sun., March 25-27 and face Cal Poly, UNLV and Fairfield.
The following weekend, UO opens play at No. 6 Washington (22-2) with single games, Friday-Sunday, April 1-3, and the first contest set to be televised by Fox Sports Net.
ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25
http://www.usasoftball.com/folders.asp?uid=3208
Rk Team Record Totals Prev
*1. Alabama (16) 29-1 496 2
2. Florida (4) 29-1 482 3
3. Michigan 29-2 444 6
4. Georgia 23-4 434 1
*5. Arizona State 30-2 431 5
*6. Washington 23-2 385 4
7. Oklahoma 26-7 351 8
*8. California 21-3 342 9
*9. Arizona 26-6 337 7
10. Texas 24-3 308 14
11. Tennessee 23-4 296 T11
*12. Stanford 17-3 292 10
T13. Missouri 22-3 273 13
*T13. UCLA 20-5 273 T11
15. Baylor 24-4 204 15
>16. Oregon 22-4 201 16
17. Oklahoma State 25-6 175 18
18. Nebraska 24-3 174 17
19. Texas Tech 35-1 119 22
*20. ULL 17-10 105 19
*21. Texas A&M 26-7 91 23
22. Auburn 25-4 81 24
23. Kentucky 19-6 59 21
24. LSU 17-12 39 25
*25. Hawaii 22-9 32 20
Others receiving votes: Georgia Tech (26); Notre Dame (14); *BYU (9); Fresno State (9); Syracuse (7); UAB (4); SC Upstate (4); Kansas (2); Long Beach State (1)
Dropped Out: None
New to Poll: None
Parenthesis denotes first place votes.
* 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 Alabama 29-1 744 3
2 Florida 30-1 723 2
3 Georgia 23-4 664 1
4 Michigan 29-2 659 5
*5 Arizona State 30-2 620 6
*6 Washington 22-2 609 4
*7 UCLA 20-5 529 8
8 Texas 24-3 524 12
*9 Arizona 26-6 516 7
*10 California 21-3 460 10
11 Tennessee 23-4 443 11
12 Oklahoma 26-7 437 9
*13 Stanford 17-3 391 13
14 Nebraska 24-3 361 14
>15 Oregon 22-4 337 15
16 Missouri 22-3 303 17
17 Baylor 24-4 259 18
18 Oklahoma State 25-6 218 20
*19 La.-Lafayette 24-5 208 19
20 Texas Tech 35-1 180 21
*21 Hawaii 22-9 143 16
*22 Texas A&M 26-7 133 22
23 Auburn 25-4 113 23
24 Kentucky 19-6 56 24
25 LSU 17-12 29 25
Others Receiving Votes: Georgia Tech 14, Syracuse 10, Kansas 9, Fresno St. 8, *BYU 5, S.C. Upstate 2, Long Beach St. 1, *North Carolina 1, Notre Dame 1
Dropped Out: None
-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
- www.GoDucks.com
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