SEC school back to No. 1 in Top 25 (4/7)

SEC school back to No. 1 in Top 25 (4/7)

Apr 7, 2015 by Brentt Eads
SEC school back to No. 1 in Top 25 (4/7)

The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is back into No. 1 spot atop the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll, as the LSU Tigers (36-3, 9-3 SEC) reclaim the top spot.

After only holding onto the No. 1 spot for only a week, Oregon (32-5, 10-2 Pac-12) fell to No. 2 despite taking two of three games on the road at a Top 10 ranked and Pac-12 Conference foe UCLA (31-8, 6-3 Pac-12).

For their efforts, the Tigers captured 10-of-20 first place votes, while Oregon garnered eight first-place votes and Florida (36-4, 8-4 SEC) nabbed two first-place votes.

Click here to see the complete ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll.

LSU is on top thanks in large part to a 28-0 record at home. Photo by Bridgette Hogan, LSU Sports.
LSU is on top thanks in large part to a 28-0 record at home. Photo by Bridgette Hogan, LSU Sports.

LSU was back to their winning ways at home this past week and to help them regain the No. 1 spot in the country. The Tigers posted a 7-3 win in a stand-alone game against UL-Monroe, coming from behind by two runs  with the help of Bailey Landry (Prairieville, La.) who had four RBI.

In an SEC matchup against Ole Miss, LSU beat the Rebels 5-2 in game one of the three-game series. The Tigers offense was explosive in Saturday’s double header, taking the final two games of the series, 8-0 (five inning) and 8-2. After racking up three wins this past week, LSU still remains an unbeaten 28-0 at home this season.

The Ducks fell to the No. 2 spot in the country after traveling to Los Angeles, Calif. for a series against then-No. 8 UCLA. Looking to defend their spot as the new No. 1 team in the nation, Oregon was unable to get their offense going, as UCLA posted an 8-1 win in their first game of the series.

In game two, the Ducks rebounded with a 6-4 win as Lauren Lindvall (Stevenson Ranch, Calif.) knocked in a three-run home run in the top of the seventh to clinch the game. Oregon came out swinging in the final game of the series to secure the series with a 10-0 (five inning) win, connecting for two grand slams throughout the contest.

The Ducks will now travel to up the road to Hillsboro, Ore. this week for a doubleheader with Portland State before returning home for Pac-12 series against No. 19 Arizona State (24-11, 5-3 Pac-12).

Florida stood pat in the No. 3 spot despite going 4-0 this past week at home. The Gators were pushed to the limit against in-state rival North Florida by a score of 2-1 (eight innings) as a walk off double by Janelle Wheaton (San Dimas, Calif.) gave the Gators the win in dramatic fashion. Florida utilized their strong offense to sweep the series against South Carolina.

Kelsey Stewart had a big week for the Gators.
Kelsey Stewart had a big day for the Gators, getting six hits and seven RBI in a double-header against South Carolina.

The Gators captured all three games via run-rule, while outscoring the Gamecocks 45-5, a new school record for runs in a three-game series. 2015 USA Softball Women’s National Team member Kelsey Stewart (Wichita, Kan.) was dominant in Saturday’s double-header, bringing in seven RBI on six hits, while scoring five runs.

The Gators are scheduled for a challenging week, with a stand-alone game at No. 10 Florida State (33-9, 13-2 ACC) before returning home for a weekend three-game series against No. 15 Kentucky (25-11, 4-8 SEC).

Michigan (33-6, 7-2 Big 10) continues to hang onto the No. 4 spot for the fifth straight week after going 2-1 this week. The Wolverines traveled to Minneapolis, Minn. this past week for a three-game series against then-No. 12 Minnesota (30-7, 6-3 Big 10). Michigan’s offense struggled, as they earned only four hits in the first game, falling 9-1 (six innings). The Wolverines rebounded strongly, winning the remaining two games of the series, 9-4 and 9-1 (six innings).

Holding onto the No. 5 spot is Oklahoma (32-5, 6-0 Big 12) who notched a 12-6 win over Central Arkansas before taking on Iowa State in a Big 12 series. The Sooners left six runners on base in the first two innings in game one, yet pulled out a 4-2 victory over the Cyclones. The Sooners executed offensively in Saturday’s doubleheader, winning both games, 8-2 and 16-1 (five inning). Oklahoma will host Arkansas in a stand-alone game before traveling south to Austin, Texas for a three-game series against Red River rival Texas.

Rounding out the Top 10:  No. 6 Auburn (37-5, 10-2 SEC) continued their rise in the poll after taking two of three games against then-No. T14 Tennessee (27-9, 7-5 SEC); Alabama (35-4, 8-1 SEC) dropped one spot after posting a 4-1 week, including a series win at then-No. T14 Kentucky; UCLA remains at No. 8 this week despite going 1-2 against Oregon; Louisiana-Lafayette (30-5, 15-3 Sun Belt) rose one spot after posting a series win against Georgia State, all games decided by run-rule; Florida State returns to the Top 10 after going 3-1 last week.

Making the biggest jump in the polls this week is Washington (34-9, 6-5 Pac-12), who rose two spots to No. 17 in the polls after a perfect 3-0 week, including a series sweep over Pac-12 opponent Stanford.

Falling four spots to No. 12 this week is Georgia (31-10, 8-6 SEC), who went 2-3 last week, and California (27-9, 5-7 Pac-12) also fell four spots to No. 20 after dropping a series at unranked Utah.

The Top 25 teams remain unchanged this week as no new teams entered or dropped out of the poll.

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.