Softball Claims Top Spot in Both Polls
3/20/2012 12:00:00 AM | Softball
March 20, 2012
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The Alabama softball team claimed the top spot in each poll for the first time this season. The Crimson Tide has sat atop of the USA Today/NFCA poll for the past four weeks and now adds the ESPN.com/USA Softball number one ranking to its list of accolades.
For the fourth time in as many weeks, Alabama topped the USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 poll, the Association announced on Tuesday.
The Crimson Tide is off to a 25-0 start this season and received 28 of the 30 first-place votes this week. Despite suffering its first loss of the season at the hands of then No. 18 Hawai`i (24-2), California picked up the remaining two first-place votes and remained at No. 2 in the latest poll. The rest of the top five also remained unchanged as Washington (27-1), Florida (26-2) and Arizona St. (28-3) held tight at third through fifth, respectively.
With losses by California and Hawai`i last week, only three teams in Division I remain undefeated after almost two months of play: No. 1 Alabama, No. 8 Louisiana-Lafayette (26-0) and No. 13 Louisville (22-0). The Crimson Tide will look to stay undefeated this week despite a tough schedule that features two-game sets with SEC rival and 12th-ranked No. 25 DePaul (15-7) and Longwood. The road to perfection will also be tough for Louisiana-Lafayette this week, as they host Georgia Tech in a mid-week doubleheader and travel to Troy for a three-game Sun Belt series. Louisville's schedule is equally as difficult this week and features a double-header with Ohio State and a Big East opening three-game set with Pittsburgh.
After a one-week absence from the poll, North Carolina returned to the fray this week at No. 24 and as a result pushed previous No. 23 New Mexico (17-6) out of the rankings.
The USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Poll is voted on by 30 NCAA Division I head coaches, one representing each conference.
The Southeastern Conference (SEC) now has bragging rights over the Pac-12 as the Alabama softball team (25-0, 6-0 SEC) is the best softball team in the nation, according to the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll released today by the Amateur Softball Association (ASA) of America. The Crimson Tide ousted the California Golden Bears, who have claimed the No. 1 spot the past five weeks, following a perfect week of both conference and non-conference play. The Crimson Tide, received 15 first-place votes while Cal (25-1) received five of 20 votes. The Washington Huskies (27-1) stay at No. 3 while Florida (26-2, 7-1 SEC) remains at No. 4.
The top-ranked Alabama softball team completed an undefeated campaign this past week in which the Crimson Tide defeated then-No. 14 Oregon (18-4) 5-1 and swept Mississippi 12-2 (5), 10-7 and 12-1 (5). This week, Alabama continues SEC play as they host No. 11 Tennessee (19-6, 3-3 SEC) at home. After suffering their first loss of the season at the Chevron Spring Fling to host Hawaii (24-2), Cal dropped to No. 2. The now-No. 17 Rainbow Wahine's Jessica Iwata, who is on the Top 50 Watch List for the 2012 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award, hit a two-run walk off home run in the bottom of the 10th inning, marring Cal's perfect record with a 3-1 loss. The Golden Bears went 4-1 on the weekend, defeating then-No. 21 Texas A&M (20-8) 3-0, then-No. 6 Texas (23-2, 2-0 Big 12) 6-3, Marist 1-0 and Winthrop 7-1.
In their last pre-conference play weekend, No. 3 Washington captured four wins at the Judi Garman Classic in Fullerton, Calif. The Huskies bested UC Davis 14-1 (5), Iowa 4-3, Notre Dame 7-2 and then-No. 25 DePaul 9-1 (5). Washington will face Cal State Bakersfield before beginning Pac-12 play on Friday when they host Utah. The No. 4 Florida Gators collected three SEC wins after sweeping South Carolina 9-1 (5), 1-0 and 7-3. The 19-inning series against the Gamecocks marks the 11th game this season in which the Gators collected at least 10 hits.
Despite losing to the then-No. 1 team, Texas moved up one spot to No. 5 following a 4-1 performance in Hawaii. The Longhorns switched places with No. 6 Arizona State (28-3) after then-No. 11 Louisiana-Lafayette dealt a 9-2 loss to the Sun Devils. The Oklahoma Sooners (24-3) hold down the No. 7 slot, while No. 8
Louisiana-Lafayette (26-0, 3-0 Sun Belt) cracked the Top 10 for the first time this season. The Ragin' Cajuns went 3-0 at the Judi Garman classic, upsetting Arizona State 9-2, beating Penn State 5-1 and topping Fresno State 9-1 before inclement weather forced a cancellation of the remaining matches. Rounding out the Top 10 are No. 9 Stanford (25-3) and No. 10 Missouri (20-3, 3-0 Big 12).
No. 11 Tennessee (19-6, 3-3 SEC) fell out of the Top 10 for the first time this season after a 2-1 series performance against Arkansas. The Lady Vols nabbed a 7-0 and 9-0 sweep of Georgia Southern in addition to the two conference wins (8-0 and 2-0) and one loss (4-1) against the Razorbacks. Undefeated Louisville (22-0) continued to climb the Top 25 Poll, moving one spot to No. 14 following a flawless week of action. The Cards, Louisiana-Lafayette and Alabama are the only squads in the Top 25 with an undefeated record.
No. 24 Syracuse (17-8) and No. 25 North Carolina (21-8, 2-1 ACC) rejoin the Top 25, while New Mexico (17-6) and DePaul (15-7) dropped out of the poll.
