COLUMBIA, Mo. — The LSU softball team received a preseason ranking of No. 8 in the USA Today/National Fastpitch Coaches Association Top 25 which was released by the NFCA on Wednesday morning.
The poll is voted on by 27 Division I softball coaches representing all regions of the nation.
Along with the Tigers, the SEC was represented by No. 5 Alabama, No. 18 South Carolina and No. 23 Mississippi State. Florida (32nd) also received votes for the Preseason Top 25.
UCLA received 13 first-place votes and the preseason No. 1 ranking, while defending national champion Oklahoma came in at No. 2 with 10 first-place votes. Arizona received four first-place votes and the No. 3 ranking. Washington, Alabama, Arizona State, California, LSU, Fresno State and DePaul wrapped up the Top 10.
In 2000, LSU came back from the loser’s bracket and beat Southern Miss, 1-0, in 13 innings to force an elimination game in the finals of the NCAA Regional in Baton Rouge. However, the Tigers lost, 1-0, in nine innings and just missed their first trip to the Women’s College World Series.
The 2000 Tigers won the Southeastern Conference regular season title outright (59-13, 26-4 SEC), one game better than eventual WCWS qualifier Alabama (66-14, 25-5 SEC). LSU lost in the SEC Tournament Championship game on an unearned run, 1-0, to South Carolina in eight innings after out-hitting the Lady Gamecocks, 8-3.
First-year head coach Yvette Girouard comes to LSU after 20 seasons and 758 career victories at Louisiana-Lafayette (formerly Southwestern Louisiana) to lead the Tigers in 2001. Girouard was the Division I National Coach of the Year in 1990 and 1993, and she led her teams to postseason play in 10 of the past 11 seasons.
LSU, which has won four straight SEC Western Division titles to go with back-to-back outright league titles, returns 11 players from last season’s squad and adds three transfers and four freshmen to complete the 2001 team.
The 2001 season opens Feb. 9-11 when the Tigers travel to Phoenix, Ariz., to take part in the Fiesta Bowl Classic. The Tigers will face No. 3 Arizona, No. 4 Washington, No. 6 Arizona State, Massachusetts (RV), Wisconsin (RV) and UNLV.
LSU opens its home schedule with a double-header on Feb. 19 against East Tennessee State beginning at 5:30 p.m. at Tiger Park. Season tickets and individual game tickets are available now at the LSU Ticket Office or by calling 225-578-2184.
School Record Points LY 1. UCLA (13) 46-12-1 655 2 2. Oklahoma (10) 66-8 642 1 3. Arizona (4) 59-9 632 3 4. Washington 61-9 541 5 5. Alabama 66-14 535 6 6. Arizona St. 43-20 523 10 (tie) 7. California 49-25 484 7 8. LSU 59-13 465 9 9. Fresno St. 54-14 455 10 (tie) 10. DePaul 40-22 412 8 11. Michigan 45-16-1 362 13 12. Nebraska 52-21 353 14 13. Iowa 46-15 301 15 14. CS-Fullerton 45-15 295 19 15. Stanford 45-18 270 18 16. Oregon State 40-21-1 261 12 17. Florida State 51-27 210 17 18. South Carolina 40-28 169 22 (tie) 19. Notre Dame 47-14 157 24 20. Oregon 35-29 145 16 21. Southern Miss 63-13 137 4 22. Long Beach St. 39-23 125 NR 23. Mississippi St.44-27 108 21 24. Texas 30-27-1 94 NR 25. Utah 42-23 67 20
Others Receiving Votes: Florida Atlantic (56), Illinois-Chicago (35), Hofstra (32), Massachusetts (32), Oklahoma State (31), Louisiana Lafayette (27), Florida (23), Texas A&M (23), Penn State (21), Central Michigan (20), Cal State Northridge (16), Hawaii (13), New Mexico (10), Wisconsin (8), North Carolina (7), Northwestern (6), Virginia Tech (6), South Florida (2). Three other schools (totaling 9 points) were mentioned on only one ballot and are not included among others receiving votes.