BATON ROUGE, La. – After winning four of five in the Texas Invitational, the LSU softball team moved up three spots to No. 4 in the USA Today/NFCA Coaches Poll released Wednesday.
“I think this No. 4 ranking shows that hard work can pay off, but with the schedule we have, it could end soon if we do not show up to play everyday,” said head coach Glenn Moore. “The perspective that we are taking now is that there are three spots ahead of us, so we have to play our best.”
This is the highest the Tiger Softball team has been ranked throughout the four-year tenure of the team. Two other Southeastern Conference schools are also in the top 25, Alabama No. 20 and South Carolina No. 22.
After two weekends of action, the Tigers are now 9-1 for the season. LSU began the season hosting the Tiger Classic where they went 5-0, shutting out their opponents.
The Tigers went 4-1 for the weekend at the Texas Invitational in Austin, Texas where they split with Washington, which moved from No. 2 to No. 1 in this ranking. LSU defeated Washington 4-2 on Friday and lost 4-1 in the championship game on Sunday. The Tigers also defeated Texas and South Florida in the tournament.
The Tigers will take on No. 10 Southern Miss. this weekend at the Purple and Gold Challenge at Tiger Park. Baylor and Alabama A&M will also be present.
| USA Today/NFCA Coaches | ||
| Division I Top 25 | ||
| February 23, 2000 | ||
| School | Record | Pts. |
| 1. Washington 13-1 | 657 | |
| 2. UCLA 14-3 | 644 | |
| 3. Arizona | 8-1 | 617 |
| 4. LSU | 9-1 | 554 |
| 5. Fresno State | 8-2 | 548 |
| 6. Arizona State | 12-1 | 526 |
| 7. Oklahoma | 7-0 | 492 |
| 8. California | 13-0 | 475 |
| 9. Michigan | 3-2 | 459 |
| 10. Southern Miss. | 10-6 | 399 |
| 11. Stanford | 11-1 | 379 |
| 12. Oregon State | 5-1-1 | 331 |
| 13. Louisiana-Lafayette | 1-1 | 320 |
| 14. Iowa | 5-0 | 265 |
| 15. DePaul | 0-0 | 224 |
| 16. Cal State Fullerton | 11-1 | 213 |
| 17. Hawai’i | 4-2 | 200 |
| 18. Illinois-Chicago | 12-6 | 191 |
| 19. Long Beach State | 7-5 | 179 |
| 20. Alabama | 12-1 | 165 |
| 21. Nebraska | 5-6 | 130 |
| 22. South Carolina | 3-4 | 122 |
| 23. Massachusetts | 0-4 | 107 |
| 24. Michigan State | 2-3 | 91 |
| 25. Oklahoma State | 10-2 | 82 |
| 25. Oregon | 7-3 | 82 |