EUGENE – After a 5-1 trip to the Citrus Classic last weekend, the University of Oregon softball team (13-3) climbed three positions to No. 15 in the ESPN.com-USA Softball poll, and remained No. 18 in the NFCA-USA Today edition announced Tuesday.
The Ducks were among seven conference teams sighted in the top 20 overall - three of which earned top-five slots for the third straight week.
Glancing at this week's polls, 11 Duck foes this season were ranked top 25 (USA Softball/ NFCA) – No. 1/2 California, No. 2/1 Alabama, No. 3/4 Washington, No. 5/5 Arizona State, No. 10/10 Stanford, No. 12/12 Missouri, No. 13/13 Arizona, No. 16/15 Baylor, No. 18/17 UCLA, No. 23/24 North Carolina and No. -/23 New Mexico.
Five other Duck opponents – BYU, Nebraska, Oklahoma State, Oregon State and Utah - received votes in at least one poll.
Compared to last week, Cal and Alabama remained first in the USA Softball and NFCA editions for the fourth and second straight weeks, respectively, and No. 4/3 Florida rounded out the top five.
For comparison's sake, a complete list of the Pac-12's teams rankings from last week follows: No. 1/2 California, No. 2/1 Alabama, No. 3/4 Washington, No. 5/5 Arizona State, No. 10/11 Stanford, 14/15 Arizona and No. 16/14 UCLA.
Oregon has now been ranked for 32 straight editions by USA Softball and 25 straight polls by the NFCA. UO's week-by-week USA SB/ NFCA rankings in that stretch follow: 2012 - Preseason 11th/16th, 2/14 19/19, 2/21 21/19, 2/28 18/18, 3/6 15/18. 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 in the Citrus Classic in Orlando, Fla., Oregon went 5-1 with wins over No. 24 North Carolina (5-4), Illinois State (5-2), Pittsburgh (3-2), Purdue (8-1) and Virginia (6-2), while its only loss came to World Series returnee and No. 10 Baylor (2-1).
The Tar Heel win raised UO's season record vs. top-25 teams to 3-1, and its win over the Redbirds gave it a 5-2 mark against 2011 NCAA tourney advancers.
Senior shortstop Kelsey Chambers knocked in Oregon’s first three game-winning RBI, and junior second baseman Kaylan Howard socked a two-run, seventh-inning game-winning homer in the finale vs. No. 24 UNC.
Junior outfielder Allie Burger added the other GW-RBI with her three-run triple vs. UVa, and led UO in batting for the six games (.500, 4H). Two other outfield starters topped .300 - junior Samantha Pappas (.412, 7H) and freshman Janie Takeda (.368, 7H). Sophomore first baseman Kailee Cuico hit her third homer of the season vs. Purdue, and led UO on the trip in RBI (6) and walks (5).
In the circle, junior pitcher Jessica Moore (9-3) went 3-1 with wins over No. 24 UNC, Pitt and UVa, and topped the Ducks in ERA (0.94), complete games (4), strikeouts (26) and opponent batting average (.191). Frosh Karissa Hovinga (4-0) won both of her starts vs. Illinois State and Purdue, and in her 11.1 innings, struck out seven and walked none.
This week, the Ducks look ahead to their final early season tournament in the Bayer Cropscience Classic at Fresno State, March 9-11. UO has games against two returning NCAA tourney qualifiers in Fresno State and San Diego State, and another foe, Purdue, was a postseason advancer two seasons ago. More event tourney information is located at the www.GoBulldogs.com website.
Afterwards, the Ducks’ home opener follows immediately after against returning World Series qualifier and No. 1 Alabama, Tuesday, March 13 at 5 p.m.
NATIONAL POLLS (3/6) – Poll #4
ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25
http://www.usasoftball.com/folders.asp?uid=3208
Rk Team Record Totals Prev
*1. California (16) 16-0 496 1
2. Alabama (4) 17-0 478 2
*3. Washington 19-1 456 3
4. Florida 19-1 439 4
*5. Arizona State 20-2 420 5
6. Texas 17-1 403 6
7. Georgia 18-2 376 7
8. Oklahoma 14-3 357 9
9. Tennessee 14-3 350 8
*10. Stanford 18-3 314 10
11. Louisiana-Lafayette 17-0 289 12
*12. Missouri 10-3 280 13
*13. Arizona 16-4 260 14
14. Michigan 15-5 217 15
>15. Oregon 13-3 195 18
*16. Baylor 14-5 192 11
17. Louisville 15-0 183 19
*18. UCLA 14-6 159 16
T19. Auburn 16-3 146 17
T19. Hawai’i 17-0 146 22
21. Texas A&M 14-7 93 21
22. Florida State 17-3 59 20
*T23. North Carolina 14-5 43 24
T23. Syracuse 9-6 43 RV
25. South Florida 13-4 38 23
Dropped Out: Georgia Tech (25)
New to Poll: Syracuse (RV)
Others Receiving Votes: *New Mexico (30); DePaul (19); Arkansas (3); Georgia Tech (3); Kentucky (3); *BYU (2); Mississippi State (2); *Oregon State (2); Kansas (1); SC Upstate (1); UMass (1); *Utah (1)
Parenthesis denotes first place votes.
* 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 Alabama (24) 17-0 742 1
*2 California (6) 16-0 726 2
3 Florida 19-1 681 3
*4 Washington 19-1 661 4
*5 Arizona St. 20-2 626 5
6 Texas 17-1 606 6
7 Georgia 18-2 564 7
8 Oklahoma 14-3 536 8
9 Tennessee 14-3 503 9
*10 Stanford 18-3 470 11
11 La.-Lafayette 17-0 439 12
*12 Missouri 10-3 417 13
*13 Arizona 16-4 365 15
14 Michigan 15-5 320 16
*15 Baylor 14-5 312 10
16 Louisville 15-0 309 17
*17 UCLA 14-6 288 14
>18 Oregon 13-3 260 18
19 Hawai‘i 17-0 223 22
20 Auburn 16-3 168 19
21 Texas A&M 14-7 159 21
22 Florida St. 17-3 127 20
*23 New Mexico 17-3 87 24
*24 North Carolina 14-5 38 RV
25 DePaul 11-4 27 RV
Dropped Out: No. 23 Oklahoma St., No. 24 Nebraska
Others Receiving Votes: Syracuse 17, *Oregon St. 6, USF 14, Arkansas 12, Georgia Tech 12, *Oklahoma St. 10, *Utah 9, S.C. Upstate 3, LSU 1, *Nebraska 1, Pacific 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
- www.GoDucks.com -
