Softball Rankings: Week 2
2/15/2011 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Feb. 15, 2011
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The Alabama softball team remained at No. 3 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Poll, once again receiving a first-place vote. The Crimson Tide moved to No. 7 in the USA Today/NFCA Poll as announced by both organizations Tuesday.
Behind an undefeated weekend hosting the Stacy Winsberg Memorial Tournament, UCLA has reclaimed the top spot in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 poll, the Amateur Softball Association (ASA) of America announced today. UCLA received 13 first-place votes after Week 1 of action with No. 2 Arizona, No. 3 Alabama and No. 5 Florida splitting the other seven votes.
The Bruins, last ranked at No. 1 in June 2010 following their championship title at the NCAA Women's College World Series, started their 2011 campaign with back-to-back wins over Utah State, 19-0, and North Dakota State, 7-0, on Feb. 11. The team also notched a 15-2 win over North Dakota State, a 10-2 win over Central Florida and an 8-2 win over San Diego State to pull up one spot from the pre-season poll released last month.
With an 11-1 loss to No. 6 Oklahoma in five innings at the Kajikawa Classic in Tempe, Ariz. Arizona dropped to No. 2 in the poll. The Wildcats defeated Indiana 4-0, Utah 8-3, Nebraska 6-1, then No. 19 Texas A&M 6-3 and Cal Poly 14-0 (five), which helped the team earn five No. 1 votes.
Alabama again garnered one first-place vote but remained No. 3. At the Hibbett/Easton All-Alabama Classic, the Crimson Tide went 5-0 with an 8-0 win over Samford, 18-0 win over Alabama A&M in five, 6-0 win over Jacksonville State, 6-0 win over South Alabama and 9-1 win over Troy in six.
A 5-0 start during the opening weekend of the 2011 season helped the UCLA Bruins stay on top of the first USA Today/NFCA Top 25 poll of the regular season, the Association announced on Tuesday.
UCLA picked up 29 of the 30 first-place votes in the poll, while No. 4 Arizona (5-1) received the other vote for the top spot. Moving up one spot from third to second in this week's poll was Georgia (5-0), while fellow SEC members Tennessee (4-0) and Florida (5-0) rounded out the first five positions in third and fifth, respectively.
In slots six through 10, the teams remained the same with only their positions changing. Oklahoma (5-1) made the biggest jump of the week, moving up three spots from ninth to sixth. In the rest of the Top 10, Alabama (5-0), Missouri (0-0) and Hawai'i (5-0) dropped one spot each to finish in seventh through ninth, respectively, while Washington (5-0) held tight at No. 10.
