Softball Rankings: Week 7
3/28/2012 12:00:00 AM | Softball
March 28, 2012
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The Alabama softball team dropped to No. 2 in both polls, the two organizations announced. The Crimson Tide received two first place votes in the ESPN.com/USA Softball poll and 10 votes in the USA Today/NFCA poll.
The California Golden Bears are back on top of the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 poll, the Amateur Softball Association (ASA) of America announced today. Cal (29-1, 3-0 Pac-12) held the coveted No. 1 spot for five consecutive weeks before falling to No. 2 following a loss to Hawaii in Week Six. After a week as the top team in the nation, Alabama (30-1, 7-1 SEC) fell to No. 2 after suffering their first loss of the season to then-No. 11 Tennessee in conference play. The Golden Bears earned 18 first-place votes this week while Alabama remained the only other team this week to receive No. 1 votes, receiving two.
En route to the top spot, the Golden Bears defeated Princeton 8-0 in five innings before kicking off conference play against then-No. 9 Stanford. Ace pitcher Jolene Henderson limited Stanford to a .161 batting average while Valerie Arioto notched seven RBI as Cal swept the Pac-12 series 9-0, 4-3 and 8-0. This week, Cal hosts Sacramento State before hosting Washington for another conference match-up.
Following a week at No. 1, Alabama struggled against Southeastern Conference (SEC) rivals Tennessee and dropped to No. 2. The Crimson Tide collected an eleven inning, 3-2 win before falling to the Lady Vols 5-2, snapping a 26-game winning streak and marking the first time Alabama has lost at home since March, 2011. The Crimson Tide bounced back from the loss, however, and captured the Easton Alabama Challenge title later in the week after defeating DePaul 4-3 and 9-7 and rolling past Longwood 11-0 (5) and 7-2.
For the fifth-consecutive week, Washington (32-1, 3-0 Pac-12) holds the No. 3 spot while Florida (29-1, 10-1 SEC) stays strong at No. 4. The Huskies nabbed five wins at home, including a conference-opening sweep of Utah, while the Gators defeated SEC foe Arkansas three times. Arizona State (31-3, 3-0 Pac-12) recaptured the No. 5 spot this week following a conference sweep against then-No. 13 Arizona (19-8, 0-3 Pac-12). The Sun Devils routed the Wildcats 4-2, 9-6 and 7-6, marking the 11th time in program history that Arizona State has swept their in-state rival Arizona since 1971. Despite a perfect weekend against Iowa State, Texas (26-2, 5-0 Big 12) dropped to No. 6 in the polls. Rounding out the Top 10: No. 7 Oklahoma (26-4, 2-1 Big 12), which went 2-1 against then-No. 18 Baylor (22-8, 1-2 Big 12); No. 8 Louisiana-Lafayette (30-1, 5-1 Sun Belt), which had two wins against Georgia Tech and went 2-1 against Troy; No. 9 Tennessee (23-7, 7-4 SEC) which had wins against Mississippi State and went 1-1 with Alabama; and No. 10 Georgia (27-5, 7-2 SEC), which had wins over Georgia State and Mississippi.
Although they remain the lone member of the Top 25 Poll without a loss this season, Louisville (27-0, 3-0 Big East), is No. 11, their highest ranking in the polls to date. After reaching the Top 10 for the first time since the Week 1 poll was released Feb. 14, Missouri (23-5, 4-2 Big 12) fell to No. 12 this week after falling to now-No. 15 Texas A&M (22-9, 2-1 Big 12) twice. No. 13 Stanford (25-6, 0-3 Pac-12) also fell out of the Top 10 this week after a sweep at home at the hands of Cal.
LSU enters the Top 25 this week at No. 23, while last week's No. 25 North Carolina dropped out. The SEC has the most teams in the Top 10 this week with four followed closely by the Pac-12 with three. The Big 12 has two teams in the top ten while Louisiana-Lafayette from the Sun Belt Conference holds the remaining spot. After suffering its first loss of the season last week, Alabama fell from the top spot in the latest USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 poll and was replaced by California, the Association announced on Tuesday.
California (29-1) opened Pac-12 play last week with a sweep of then ninth-ranked Stanford to top the rankings for the first time since Feb. 23, 2005. The Golden Bears received 20 of 30 first-place votes, while No. 2 Alabama (30-1) received the remaining 10. The Crimson Tide's 26-game win-streak came to a halt last Wednesday when they were upended by then 12th-ranked Tennessee (23-7), 5-2, in the backside of a SEC doubleheader.
The rest of the top five was unchanged this week, as Washington (32-1), Florida (29-2) and Arizona State (31-3) all reprised their roles at third through, fifth, respectively.
No. 8 Louisiana-Lafayette (30-1) also held on to its ranking this week, despite suffering its first loss of 2012 on the road at Troy. With the Louisiana-Lafayette and Alabama losses last week, that leaves No. 11 Louisville (27-0) as the nation's lone remaining undefeated team.
Despite losing to No. 1 Alabama by a total of just three runs over two games last week, DePaul (16-10) fell from the poll after being ranked for three-straight weeks. Moving back into the rankings this week was New Mexico (22-6), which used a 5-0 week to return to the poll after a one-week absence.
