EUGENE – After a 3-2 opening weekend in the Kajikawa Classic, the University of Oregon softball team was tabbed No. 19 in both the ESPN.com- USA Softball and NFCA-USA Today polls announced Tuesday.

The Ducks were among seven conference teams sighted in the top 20 overall, and an eighth squad received votes.

Glancing at this week's polls, 12 Duck foes this season were ranked top 25 (USA Softball / NFCA) – No. 1/3 California, No. 2/2 Alabama, No. 5/6 Missouri, No. 6/5 Arizona State, No. 8/12 UCLA, No. 9/7 Washington, No. 10/9 Baylor, No. 12/8 Stanford, No. 16/16 Arizona, No. 18/15 Oklahoma State, No. 21/24 Nebraska and No. 25/- North Carolina.

Five other Duck opponents – BYU, New Mexico, Northwestern, Oregon State, and San Diego State - received votes in at least one poll.

Compared to last week, the Bears replaced Arizona State atop the USA Softball poll, and for comparison's sake, a complete list of the Pac-12's teams rankings from last week follows: California (3/4), Arizona State (1/1), Arizona (8/8), Stanford (10/9), UCLA (13/19) and Washington (14/12).

The other teams in the top five overall were No. 3/1 Florida and No. 4/4 Oklahoma as each team improved from last week's 2/4 and 6/5 pollings, respectively.

Oregon has now been ranked for 29 straight editions by USA Softball and 22 straight polls by the NFCA. UO's week-by-week USA SB/ NFCA rankings in that stretch follow: 2012 - Preseason 11th/16th. 2011 - Preseason 14th/14th, 2/15 14th/14th, 2/22 13th/13th, 3/2 13th/13th, 3/9 15th/14th, 3/16 16th/15th, 3/23 15th/16th, 3/30 14th/15th, 4/5 15th/16th, 4/12 17th/17th, 4/19 19th/21th, 4/26 16th/19th, 5/3 12th/17th, 5/10 11th/14th, 5/17 11th/12th, 6/15 14th/15th. 2010 - 3/8 25th/-; 3/15 25th/-; 3/22 21st/-; 3/29 21st/ RV; 4/5 17th/ RV; 4/12 17th/23rd; 4/19 18th/20th; 4/26 19th/20th; 5/3 20th/22nd; 5/5 20th/22nd; 5/10 21st-t/22nd; 6/15 14th/14th.

More information on the USA Softball and NFCA polls are available at the http://www.usasoftball.com/news.asp?uid=5398 and http://nfca.org/top25/index.php?cat_id=1 URL addresses.

Last weekend, UO split its pair of games on Friday vs. UC Santa Barbara (10-2 win (5 innings)) and New Mexico (7-6 loss) and Saturday vs. returning Super Regional advancer BYU (2-1 loss) and San Jose State (8-0 win (5)). On Sunday, Oregon ended a three-game losing streak to NCAA veteran San Diego State, thanks to a seventh-inning, two-run double by freshman pinch hitter Hannah Melick in the 5-4 win.

For the weekend, junior pitcher Jessica Moore climbed all-time UO lists for career strikeouts (second, 481), wins (eighth, 42) and complete games (10th, 33). Senior shortstop Kelsey Chambers likewise improved on career-wise in homers (sixth, 28) and RBI (10th, 100), and on all-time game bests with her marks vs. San Jose State (hits, second, 4; runs, sixth, 3; RBI, 10th, 5).

Overall for the five games, nine Ducks topped .300, including five over .400 - junior left fielder Allie Burger (.571, 4 H, 2 BB), Melick (.500, 3 H, 3 RBI), Ceo (.471, 8 H, 1 HR, 3 RBI), junior second baseman Kaylan Howard (.467, 7 H, 2 HR, 7 RBI) and Kelsey Chambers (.467, 7 H, 2 2B, 2 HR, 10 RBI, 3 BB).

Looking ahead, the Ducks have a week off this week before they compete in the Cathedral City Classic near Palm Springs, Friday-Sunday, February 24-26. More tourney information will be available at host Oregon State's www.OSUbeavers.com website.

Afterwards, UO’s 32-game preseason slate also includes tournaments in Orlando, Fla. (ESPN Rise Tournament, March 2-4) and Fresno, Calif. (Bayer Cropscience Classic, March 9-11). The Ducks home opener follows immediately after against returning World Series advancer Alabama, Tuesday, March 13.



NATIONAL POLLS (2/14) – Poll #1

 
ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25

http://www.usasoftball.com/folders.asp?uid=3208
Rk    Team    Record    Totals    Prev
*1.    California (14)    4-0    491    3
*2.    Alabama (3)    4-0    476    2
3.    Florida (3)    5-0    455    4
4.    Oklahoma    5-0    431    6
*5.    Missouri    0-0    402    5
*6.    Arizona State    5-2    389    1
7.    Tennessee    5-1    379    9
*8.    UCLA    4-0    341    13
*9.    Washington    5-0    314    14
*10.    Baylor    4-1    305    7
11.    Michigan    4-0    294    T16
*12.    Stanford    4-1    292    10
13.    Texas    5-0    253    19
14.    Georgia    4-1    231    12
15.    Texas A&M    3-2    211    15
*16.    Arizona    3-3    191    8
17.    Houston    5-0    162    22
*18.    Oklahoma State    4-1    159    T16
>19.    Oregon    3-2    147    11
20.    Georgia Tech    4-1    139    23
21.    La.-Lafayette    3-0    79    24
*22.    Nebraska    3-3    62    T20
23.    Louisville    5-0    50    RV
24.    Kentucky    1-3    40    18
*25.    North Carolina    4-0    35    RV

Parenthesis denotes first place votes.

Dropped Out: LSU (T20); Notre Dame (25)
New to Poll: Louisville (RV); North Carolina (RV)

Others Receiving Votes: LSU (26); Notre Dame (24); South Florida (21); Syracuse (20); Florida State (19); Auburn (18); *BYU (18); Ohio State (9); Hawai'i (6); Tulsa (4); Mississippi State (3); *San Diego State (3); Virginia Tech (1)

* Denotes Duck opponents in 2012


 
USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Poll 

http://nfca.org/top25/index.php?cat_id=1
Rk    Team    Record    Totals    Prev
1.    Florida (16)    5-0    726    2
*2.    Alabama (3)    4-0    709    3
*3.    California (10)    4-0    706    4
4.    Oklahoma    5-0    654    5
*5.    Arizona St. (1)    5-2    583    1
*6.    Missouri    0-0    562    6
*7.    Washington    5-0    524    12
*8.    Stanford    4-1    497    9
*9.    Baylor    4-1    481    7
10.    Tennessee    5-1    457    14
11.    Michigan    4-0    426    15
*12.    UCLA    4-0    414    19
13.    Texas    5-0    392    18
14.    Georgia    4-1    381    10
*15.    Oklahoma St.    4-1    360    11
*16.    Arizona    3-3    315    8
17.    Houston    5-0    302    20
18.    Texas A&M    3-2    259    17
>19.    Oregon    3-2    176    16
20.    La.-Lafayette    3-0    164    23
21.    Louisville    5-0    132    25
22.    Kentucky    1-3    110    13
23.    Georgia Tech    4-1    108    RV
24.    Nebraska    3-3    98    21
24.    LSU    2-2    47    22

Dropped Out: No. 24 Tulsa

Others Receiving Votes: *North Carolina 35, Hawai‘i 34, Florida St. 21, Tulsa 21, *New Mexico 12, *Northwestern 8, Mississippi St. 7, New Mexico St. 6, Syracuse 6, *Oregon St. 4, Auburn 3, *BYU 3, McNeese St. 3, USF 3, Notre Dame 1

-The USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Poll is voted on by NCAA Division I head coaches representing each conference. First-place votes are in parentheses.

* Denotes Duck opponents in 2012