Ducks Tabbed Top 15 For Fourth Time in 2012
EUGENE – Heading into its Pac-12 Conference opener this weekend in Corvallis, the University of Oregon softball team (18-4) was tabbed No. 15 and No. 17 in this week’s ESPN.com-USA Softball and NFCA-USA Today national polls published Tuesday.
The Ducks were among seven conference teams sighted in the top 16 overall – three of which earned top-five slots for the fifth straight week.
Glancing at this week's polls, 10 Duck foes this season were ranked top 25 (USA Softball/ NFCA) – No. 1/1 Alabama, No. 2/2 California, No. 3/3 Washington, No. 6/5 Arizona State, No. 9/9 Stanford, No. 10/10 Missouri, No. 13/14 Arizona, No. 1815 Baylor, No. 16/16 UCLA and No. 25/24 North Carolina.
Four other Duck opponents –Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma State and Oregon State - received votes in at least one poll.
For the first time this season, Alabama stood first in both the USA Softball and NFCA editions after the NFCA had picked them No. 1 the previous three weeks. No. 4/4 Florida and No. 5/6 Texas rounded out the top five, and the Longhorns made their first appearance in the top five this season.
For comparison's sake, a complete list of the Pac-12's teams rankings from last week follows: No. 1/2 California, No. 3/3 Washington, No. 5/5 Arizona State, No. 9/9 Stanford, No. 13/13 Arizona and No. 16/16 UCLA.
Oregon has now been ranked for 34 straight editions by USA Softball and 27 straight polls by the NFCA. UO's week-by-week USA SB/ NFCA rankings in that stretch follow: 2012 - Preseason 11th/16th, 2/14 19/19, 2/21 21/19, 2/28 18/18, 3/6 15/18; 3/13 14/17; 3/20 15/17. 2011 - Preseason 14th/14th, 2/15 14th/14th, 2/22 13th/13th, 3/2 13th/13th, 3/9 15th/14th, 3/16 16th/15th, 3/23 15th/16th, 3/30 14th/15th, 4/5 15th/16th, 4/12 17th/17th, 4/19 19th/21th, 4/26 16th/19th, 5/3 12th/17th, 5/10 11th/14th, 5/17 11th/12th, 6/15 14th/15th. 2010 - 3/8 25th/-; 3/15 25th/-; 3/22 21st/-; 3/29 21st/ RV; 4/5 17th/ RV; 4/12 17th/23rd; 4/19 18th/20th; 4/26 19th/20th; 5/3 20th/22nd; 5/5 20th/22nd; 5/10 21st-t/22nd; 6/15 14th/14th.
More information on the USA Softball and NFCA polls are available at the http://www.usasoftball.com/news.asp?uid=5398 and http://nfca.org/top25/index.php?cat_id=1 URL addresses.
Last Tuesday in its homer opener vs. undefeated and No. 1 Alabama, the Ducks were tied 1-1 with the returning World Series advancers until the Tide struck a four-run sixth inning that included two unearned runs.
In the 5-1 loss that ended UO's nine-game win streak, junior Jessica Moore (12-4) tied her career high and UO’s third-best strikeout mark ever (14). En route to her 13th complete game of the season, the All-Pac-12 returnee limited the Tide – who ranked 14th nationally in hitting - to only four hits.
At the plate, freshman Hannah Melick knocked in UO’s run on a pinch-hit single in the fifth inning and leads Duck pinch-hitters this season in batting (.500), hits (4) and RBI (7).
This week, the Ducks look ahead to their Pac-12 Conference opener at Oregon State (21-7) on March 24-26. Saturday’s and Sunday’s games will start at 3 p.m., and Monday’s finale is set for noon.
More game and ticket information in the Civil War series sponsored by PacificSource Health Plans and Northwest Ford Dealers,is available at the www.OSUbeavers.com website.
Afterwards, the Ducks’ return home to host returning national champion and No. 5 Arizona State, Fri.-Sun., March 30-April 1.
NATIONAL POLLS (3/20) – Poll #6
ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25
http://www.usasoftball.com/folders.asp?uid=3208
Rk Team Record Totals Prev
*1. Alabama (15) 25-0 494 2
*2. California (5) 25-1 480 1
*3. Washington 27-1 462 3
4. Florida 26-2 432 4
5. Texas 23-2 398 6
*6. Arizona State 28-3 395 5
7. Oklahoma 24-3 385 7
8. Louisiana-Lafayette 26-0 372 11
*9. Stanford 25-3 330 T9
*10. Missouri 20-3 310 12
11. Tennessee 19-6 298 T9
12. Georgia 23-5 275 8
*13. Arizona 18-4 252 13
14. Louisville 22-0 248 15
> 15. Oregon 18-4 228 14
*16. UCLA 20-6 186 T16
17. Hawaii 24-2 175 T19
*18. Baylor 21-6 167 T16
19. Texas A&M 20-8 129 21
20. Michigan 17-9 115 T19
21. Auburn 23-6 110 18
22. South Florida 24-5 97 23
23. Florida State 23-5 57 22
24. Syracuse 17-8 22 RV
*25. North Carolina 21-8 21 RV
Others receiving votes: DePaul (20); *Oregon State (19); LSU (11); Tulsa (3); Georgia Tech (2); Lipscomb (2); *Nebraska (2); *New Mexico (2); Oklahoma State (1)
New to Poll: Syracuse (RV); North Carolina (RV)
Dropped Out: New Mexico (24); DePaul (25)
Parenthesis denotes first place votes.
* Denotes Duck opponents in 2012
USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Poll
http://nfca.org/top25/index.php?cat_id=1
Rk Team Record Totals Prev
*1 Alabama (28) 25-0 746 1
*2 California (2) 25-1 712 2
*3 Washington 27-1 692 3
4 Florida 26-2 654 4
*5 Arizona St. 28-3 597 5
6 Texas 23-2 588 6
7 Oklahoma 24-3 579 7
8 La.-Lafayette 26-0 565 10
*9 Stanford 25-3 504 9
*10 Missouri 20-3 463 12
11 Georgia 23-5 439 8
12 Tennessee 19-6 403 11
13 Louisville 22-0 393 14
*14 Arizona 18-4 378 13
*15 Baylor 21-6 307 15
*16 UCLA 20-6 302 16
> 17 Oregon 18-4 271 17
17 Hawai‘i 24-2 271 18
19 Texas A&M 20-8 177 22
20 Michigan 17-9 171 19
21 Auburn 23-6 157 20
22 USF 24-5 122 24
23 Florida St. 23-5 112 21
*24 North Carolina 21-8 43 RV
25 DePaul 15-7 36 24
Others Receiving Votes: *Oregon St. 22, Georgia Tech 11, *New Mexico 10, LSU 7, S.C. Upstate 7, Syracuse 5, Tulsa 3, McNeese St. 2, Kansas 1
Dropped Out: No. 23 New Mexico
-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 2012
