Softball Rankings: Week 3
2/22/2011 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Feb. 22, 2011
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The Alabama softball team moved up in the polls after it earned the Bama Bash title and improved to 10-0. The Crimson Tide was tabbed No. 2, earning six first-place votes in the ESPN.com/USA Softball poll while moving to No. 5 with a first-place vote in the USA Today/NFCA poll.
Arizona is back on top of the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 poll, the Amateur Softball Association (ASA) of America announced Monday. The Wildcats were the top-ranked team in the preseason poll released January 25 but fell to No. 2 following a loss to Oklahoma in Week 1.
While the Wildcats received the most first-place votes, with eight of 20, No. 2 Alabama was dubbed the top team by six voters. Georgia had three No. 1 votes but tied at No. 3 in the poll with UCLA, a team that received two first-place votes. Florida, ranked fifth, also received a first-place selection.
As hosts of the Hillenbrand Invitational, Arizona improved to 10-1 on the season starting with a 15-0 victory in five innings over Texas A&M Corpus Christi, which was highlighted by two grand slam home runs from redshirt senior Stacie Chambers (Glendale, Ariz.). Other weekend action for the Wildcats included another win over Texas A&M Corpus Christi, 9-1, and wins over Drake University (5-3), Kennesaw State (8-0 in five) and Pacific (8-6).
Alabama (10-0) claimed the No. 2 spot in the poll, the highest ranking that the undefeated Crimson Tide have held this season. At the Bama Bash in Tuscaloosa, the Tide rolled past Louisville 10-2 (five), Texas-San Antonio 13-5 (six), Syracuse 9-0 (five), Louisville 9-8 and Syracuse 20-5 (five). Freshman Jackie Traina (Naples, Fla.), who posted a win the circle, was named the tournament MVP after recording three multi-hit games and four multi-RBI games.
Following a week at No. 1, defending NCAA National Champion UCLA (9-1) struggled on the opening day of the Louisville Slugger Desert Classic in Las Vegas, dropping to the third spot in the Top 25 poll. After needing nine innings to overcome Southern Illinois Edwardsville 3-2, the Bruins lost 4-3 to unranked Arkansas.
Georgia (10-0) tied with the Bruins at No. 3 after ranking fourth in both the preseason and Week 1 polls. The team has hosted two tournaments to start out the season, going 5-0 in both the opening Red and Black Showcase and the recent Georgia Softball Classic. At the Classic, the Bulldogs defeated Winthrop 14-0, Buffalo 8-0, North Dakota State 14-4, Marshall 12-2 and North Dakota State again 13-4. All games were five innings.
For the third time this season, Florida (9-0) and Oklahoma (11-1) hold on to the No. 5 and No. 6 positions, respectively. Michigan (10-0) moved from eighth to No. 7, a position that now No. 10 Tennessee (8-2) held before dropping two games at the Louisville Slugger Desert Classic. Arizona State (9-1) improved a spot to No. 8 while Washington (8-0) improved two positions to No. 9.
Behind a rough opening weekend in San Diego, Missouri (1-2) plummeted from No. 10 to No. 15. The Tigers opened with a victory against then No. 22 San Diego State but lost to unranked Fresno State and then No. 15 California. Georgia Tech (7-3) also fell from No. 17 to No. 25 with three losses against two unranked teams. A loss by previous No. 1 UCLA and a perfect 10-0 start to the 2011 campaign proved to be the magic formula that Georgia needed to rise to the top spot in the latest USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 poll that was released by the Association on Tuesday.
The Bulldogs, who are coming off of their second straight 5-0 week, received 16 of the 30 first-place votes and were followed by UCLA (9-1) with 11 first-place votes. Dropping one spot to No. 3 was Arizona (10-1), while undefeated Florida (9-0) and Alabama (10-0) rounded out the top five.
Staying put at sixth were the Sooners of Oklahoma (11-1), while Washington (8-0) moved up three spots to seventh. Falling five spots to No. 8 was Tennessee (9-2) who lost twice on the week , while Michigan (10-0) and Hawai'i finished in ninth and 10th, respectively.
Moving into the poll for the first time in over two years this week was No. 23 Houston (9-1), who scored two wins over No. 18 LSU and a win over No. 20 Oklahoma State. The lone team to fall out of the latest edition of the rankings was No. 22 North Carolina, who was swept in a three-game set by Florida.
