With a perfect 3-0 record over the weekend, the Oregon Ducks (37-5, 11-1 Pac-12) were a unanimous No. 1 in the nation in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 the Amateur Softball Association (ASA) of America and USA Softball announced today.  The Ducks received all 20 first place votes after outscoring its in-state rival Oregon State 38-7 in a three-game sweep in Corvallis.

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

The UCLA Bruins (35-4, 9-3 Pac-12) moved up one spot to No. 2 with a one-win week defeating Cal State Fullerton 5-2 while Alabama (37-7, 15-3 SEC) fell to No. 6 after suffering back-to-back losses to Mississippi State.  The offense of the No. 3 Michigan Wolverines (33-6, 12-0 Big 10) exploded over the weekend as they recorded four victories, three of which were five-inning run-rule wins.  Posting 39 runs to their opponents one run, they remain perfect in the Big Ten Conference heading into a big upcoming series against No. 13 Minnesota (32-6, 10-3 Big 10).

No. 10 Kentucky (36-8, 10-5 SEC) moved one spot forward with five-win weekend including three run-rule victories and a sweep of Ole Miss. The defending National Champion No. 12 Oklahoma Sooners (32-9, 9-1 Big 12) nabbed two wins against Big 12 Conference foe Baylor (30-9, 4-3 Big 12) who landed at No. 14 this week.

The Louisiana Lafayette Ragin Cajuns (30-7-1, 11-1 Sun Belt) jumped three spots to No. 17 earning two wins against a now No. 20 South Alabama (32-8, 9-4 Sun Belt).  They opened the weekend at home with a 6-2 win, then fell later that evening 4-8 before returning on Sunday with a 5-1 victory thanks to the bat of Lexie Elkins (Victoria, Texas) who hit a tiebreaking, two-run home run in the third inning.

LSU (23-18, 5-9 SEC) re-enters the poll at the No. 24 slot after defeating a then No. 18 Georgia in back-to-back come back victories.  A 5-4 (8 inning) battle on Saturday, Jacee Blades (Baton Rouge, La.) connected for a triple in the bottom of the eighth inning to knock in the winning, walk-off run.  Then on Sunday, the Tigers exploded for a seven-run sixth inning performance that propelled the squad to a 13-11 victory.

Dropping out of this week’s poll is Northwestern (23-11, 6-6 Big 10) who lost 2-of-3 match ups to Minnesota.

Leading the Top Ten is the Pac-12 and Southeastern Conferences with four teams a piece while the Big 10 and Atlantic Coast Conferences each have one representative.

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.

ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25

2014 Season – Week 10 – April 15, 2014

Rank	Team	Record	Points	Previous Ranking
1.	Oregon (20)	37-5	500	1
2.	UCLA	35-4	472	3
3.	Michigan	33-6	441	4
4.	Tennessee	35-6	434	5
5.	Arizona State	38-6	417	6
6.	Alabama	37-7	414	2
7.	Florida	37-8	383	8
8.	Florida State	39-6	358	7
9.	Arizona	34-9	340	9
10.	Kentucky	36-8	318	11
11.	Washington	24-11	305	10
12.	Oklahoma	32-9	270	13
13.	Minnesota	32-6	236	14
14.	Baylor	30-9	233	12
15.	Missouri	32-10	219	18
16.	Tulsa	38-5	205	15
17.	Louisiana-Lafayette	30-7-1	181	20
18.	Georgia	35-8	152	17
19.	Nebraska	30-13	141	19
20.	South Alabama	32-8	135	16
21.	Notre Dame	25-9	90	23
22.	Texas A&M	28-14	78	22
23.	Auburn	31-12-1	44	21
24.	LSU	23-18	39	RV
25.	USC Upstate	39-5	36	24

 

Parenthesis denotes first place votes.

New to Poll: LSU

Dropped Out: Northwestern

Others receiving votes: Northwestern (23), Houston (14), NC State (6), Stanford (4), Lipscomb (3), Louisville (3), USF (2), McNeese State (2), Virginia Tech (1), Texas (1)