Ducks Soar to 12th in USA Softball Poll
EUGENE – Returning home for its final two weeks of the regular season, the University of Oregon softball team (35-12, 7-8) jumped in both national polls released Tuesday.
UO was tabbed 12th and 17th, respectively, in the USA Softball and NFCA editions, an improvement of four and two spots, respectively.
Among this week's two editions, nine Duck foes were ranked top 25 (USA SB / NFCA) - Arizona State (1/1), Alabama (5/6), California (7/8), Stanford (10/10), Washington (11/13), Arizona (13/11), UCLA (14/12), Texas A&M (22/22) and Louisiana-Lafayette (25/24).
Three other Duck opponents – BYU, Illinois State and Pacific - received vote(s) in at least one poll.
Overall in both editions, Arizona State ranked first in both polls for the second straight week after it swept Oregon State at home. Michigan held steady at No. 2 after beating Wisconsin twice; now No. 3/5 Tennessee swept Arkansas; No. 4/3 Texas went 2-1 against No. 15/15 Oklahoma; No. 5/6 Alabama didn’t play because of the area tornado/thunderstorm damage, and 6/4 Florida swept South Carolina on the road.
Oregon has now been ranked for 24 straight editions by USA Softball and 19 straight polls by the NFCA. UO's week-by-week NFCA/USA SB rankings this year follow: 4/26 (16/19), 4/19 (19/21), 4/12 (17/17), 4/5 (15/16), 3/30 (14/15), 3/23 (15/16), 3/16 (16/15), 3/9 (15/14), 3/2 (13/13), 2/22 (13/13), 2/15 (14/14), Preseason (14/14).
More information on the NFCA and USA Softball polls is available at the http://nfca.org/top25/index.php?cat_id=1 and http://www.usasoftball.com/news.asp?uid=5398 URL addresses.
This week, UO hosts No. 10 Stanford for single games each day that start Friday, May 6 at 6 p.m., Saturday, May 7 at 2 p.m., and Sunday May 8 at noon. The following week, returning national champion and No. 12 UCLA heads to Eugene for a three-game set, Thu.-Sat., May 12-14.
Sporting the third-most overall wins in the Pac-10 this week, UO is on a roll with five wins in its last six league games. Oregon beat then-No. 9 Arizona twice last weekend in Tucson to take its third series in the rivalry dating back to 1984. The weekend before at home, UO posted its first Civil War series sweep of Oregon State since 1994 (and fourth overall since the first series in 1974).
Last weekend, then-No. 11 Stanford (34-11, 7-7) beat then-No. 11 Washington, 2-1 and 3-1, and lost 7-1 in Palo Alto.
ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25
http://www.usasoftball.com/folders.asp?uid=3208
Rk Team Record Totals Prev
*1. Arizona State (20) 45-5 500 1
2. Michigan 44-4 469 2
3. Tennessee 44-7 446 5
4. Texas 44-5 431 3
*5. Alabama 42-7 416 6
6. Florida 43-8 411 7
*7. California 34-9 377 9
8. Missouri 40-6 374 8
9. Georgia 42-9 346 4
*10. Stanford 35-11 310 13
*11. Washington 32-10 269 12
>12. Oregon 35-12 249 16
*13. Arizona 37-13 248 10
*14. UCLA 31-13 239 11
15. Oklahoma 35-16 238 14
16. Kentucky 35-11 191 15
17. Georgia Tech 42-8 175 20
18. Oklahoma State 37-12 172 T17
19. Baylor 37-12 123 T17
20. Nebraska 35-10 115 19
21. Notre Dame 38-8 101 22
*22. Texas A&M 36-18 90 21
23. LSU 35-15 84 13
24. Indiana 34-15 45 RV
*25. La.-Lafayette 42-9 29 24
Others Receiving Votes: Auburn (15), Houston (9), Maryland (9), *BYU (8), Texas Tech (2), Tulsa (2) and Syracuse (1)
Dropped Out: Fresno State
New to Poll: Indiana
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 Arizona St. (29) 45-5 749 1
2 Michigan (1) 44-4 718 2
3 Texas 44-5 675 3
4 Florida 43-8 663 5
5 Tennessee 44-7 627 6
*6 Alabama 42-7 587 7
7 Georgia 42-9 561 4
*8 California 34-9 547 10
9 Missouri 40-6 503 12
*10 Stanford 35-11 466 13
*11 Arizona 37-13 439 9
*12 UCLA 31-13 406 8
*13 Washington 32-10 385 11
14 Nebraska 35-10 353 14
15 Oklahoma 35-16 324 15
16 Oklahoma State 37-12 293 16
>17 Oregon 35-12 283 19
18 Kentucky 35-11 226 18
19 Georgia Tech 42-8 204 20
20 Baylor 37-12 197 17
21 LSU 35-15 155 21
*22 Texas A&M 36-13 113 22
23 Auburn 36-15 96 25
*24 La.-Lafayette 42-9 82 23
25 Notre Dame 38-8 76 24
Others Receiving Votes: Indiana 8, *Pacific (CA) 3, Texas Tech 3, Tulsa 3, *BYU 2, *Illinois St. 1, New Mexico St. 1, Syracuse 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 -
