Oklahoma City, OK - Undefeated Gators streak at No. 1 continues in ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll
For the third-consecutive week, the Florida Gators (16-0) earned the coveted No. 1 spot in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll the Amateur Softball Association (ASA) of America/USA Softball announced today. The Gators remained unblemished in the 2016 season after an impressive road campaign at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic in Palm Springs, Calif. to earn 18 first-place votes while Louisiana-Lafayette (14-1) and Texas A&M (17-1) captured one first-place vote apiece.
Undefeated Gators streak at No. 1 continues in ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll
OKLAHOMA CITY — For the third-consecutive week, the Florida Gators (16-0) earned the coveted No. 1 spot in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll the Amateur Softball Association (ASA) of America/USA Softball announced today. The Gators remained unblemished in the 2016 season after an impressive road campaign at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic in Palm Springs, Calif. to earn 18 first-place votes while Louisiana-Lafayette (14-1) and Texas A&M (17-1) captured one first-place vote apiece.
Click here to see the complete ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll
The Gators completed a perfect five-game road trip in Palm Springs, Calif., boasting a strong pitching staff and defense, to remain the only team undefeated in the Top 25. In their first matchup of the tournament, the Gators outlasted then-No. 10 UCLA (9-6) to walk away with a 2-1 victory and followed with a 5-2 win over NC State. The Gators would earn a come from behind 3-1 win over then-No. 8 Washington (12-3) before shutting out Nebraska and Utah to close out their west coast trip. The Gators will return to action at home this weekend when they host the Aquafina Invitational.
Alabama (15-1) became the new No. 2 team in the country this week after a flawless 5-0 week at home, including three wins over Top 25 ranked opponents. The Crimson Tide picked up an 8-0 (five innings) standalone win to start of their week before hosting the Easton Bama Bash. Alabama collected a pair of wins, 4-3 and 9-1 (six innings), over then-No. 16 Arizona (11-5) before some late-inning heroics guided them to a 4-2 win over Marshall. Alabama capped off their weekend with a 6-5, walk-off win over then-No. 19 Tennessee (10-5).
Dropping one spot to No. 3 this week is Michigan (12-2), who concluded the Mary Nutter Classic with a 4-1 record. The Wolverines walked away with a 16-9 win in a slugfest against then-No. 11 Oklahoma (10-4) to open the weekend before picking up two run-rule wins over Oklahoma State and NC State. Michigan would split their final day at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic, falling 6-5 to Washington before rebounding to defeat Long Beach State 10-4.
Coming in at No. 4 this week is Auburn (15-1), who collected five wins over the week, including three via run-rule. The Tigers posted a 5-1 victory over Boston College to start the week before taking on hosting duties at the Tiger Invitational. Auburn recorded their second win over Boston College, 6-0, before dominating the remainder of the tournament with a 9-0 (five innings) shutout over St. John's, a 14-1 (five innings) routing of Western Illinois and a 21-0 (five innings) shutout over Indiana State. Louisiana-Lafayette jumped one spot this week to No. 5 after posting a 6-0 performance for the week. The Ragin' Cajuns' dominating performance at home, which included four run-rule victories, was enough to earn them a first-place vote.
Rounding out the Top 10: No. 6 LSU (13-2) went 5-0 at home as hosts of the Purple & Gold Challenge; No. 7 Washington continued their climb in the Top 25 Poll despite dropping two games at the Mary Nutter Classic; Oregon (12-4) dropped one spot to No. 8 this week after dropping a 6-5 decision to unranked Nebraska; No. 9 Texas A&M cracked the Top 10 this week after allowing just two runs in a 6-0 campaign over the week; No. 10 James Madison (12-1) also joins the Top 10 for the first time this week after going undefeated as hosts of the Macado's Invitational.
For the second-consecutive week, Texas A&M made the biggest jump in the polls, rising four spots, while UCLA fell five spots this week after a 2-3 week at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic.
New to the Top 25 this week is TNo. 22 Oregon State (14-2), who went 4-1 at the Mary Nutter Classic, and No. 25 Notre Dame (12-3), who had a perfect 5-0 showing at the Diamond 9 Citrus Classic in Orlando, Fla. Dropping out of the Top 25 is last week's No. 23 Mississippi State (12-2), who dropped an 8-4 decision to unranked McNeese State and a 4-0 shutout to then-No. 24 Baylor (11-3). Last week's No. 25 California (9-4) also dropped out of the Top 25 poll after dropping a 7-5 decision to unranked NC State.
The ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll is voted on by coaching representatives of 10 Division I Conferences in the 15 ASA/USA Softball Regions as well as members of the National and Local media who consistently cover Division I Softball across the country.
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