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Softball Ranked No. 2 Heading Into SEC Tournament

by LSUsports.net (@LSUsports)
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Softball Ranked No. 2 Heading Into SEC Tournament

BATON ROUGE — Despite a week off after claiming their fifth SEC Championship in six seasons, the LSU softball team moved up two spots to No. 2 nationally in the USA Softball/ESPN.com poll released on Tuesday.

The No. 2 national ranking is the highest for the Tigers in the program’s eight-year history. LSU spent one week at No. 2 in the ESPN poll earlier this season. The Tigers were also ranked No. 5 in last week’s NFCA/USA Today poll, which is released every Wednesday.

LSU tops the list of six Southeastern Conference teams that are currently ranked in the top 25 by ESPN. The Tigers are followed by Tennessee at No. 10, Georgia at No. 11, Alabama at No. 13, Auburn at No. 14 and Florida at No. 21.

In 22 games against nationally ranked teams this season, LSU boasts a 14-8 record, including an 8-4 record against teams ranked in the top 10. The Tigers own wins over current top 10 teams No. 3 California, No. 5 Florida State, No. 8 Washington and No. 10 Tennessee.

LSU returns to action in the SEC Tournament this weekend. The Tigers will open tournament play against South Carolina, which is receiving votes in the current poll, on Thursday at 5 p.m. If LSU wins, they will take on the winner of the Auburn-Alabama game on Friday at 7:30 p.m. With a loss, the Tigers will face the loser of the AU-UA game at 5 p.m. Tournament play will continue through the weekend and conclude with the championship game on Sunday at 1 p.m.

LSU has won three of the last five SEC Tournament titles and has advanced to the championship game each of the five seasons. The three championships are the most of any SEC program as the Tigers boast a league-best 23-7 (.767) record in tournament play.

No. School Pts. Record Last Week
1. Arizona (20) 51-3 500 1.
2. LSU 46-8 457 4.
3. California 43-11 454 5.
4. UCLA 36-9 437 3.
5. Florida State 53-8 435 2.
6. Michigan 50-9 399 7.
7. Stanford 41-15 387 6.
8. Washington 35-15 349 8.
9. UL-Lafayette 52-6 346 9.
10. Tennessee 49-12 318 11.
11. Georgia 48-14 289 12.
12. Oregon 37-17 277 10.
13. Alabama 41-16 258 13.
14. Auburn 39-14 221 16.
15. Nebraska 38-15 215 14.
16. Fresno State 46-17 176 15.
17. South Florida 55-10 164 18.
18. Oregon State 40-23 161 17.
19. Long Beach State 45-11 149 19.
20. Oklahoma 37-17-1 123 20.
21. Florida 40-16 103 21.
22. Baylor 44-13 95 T-22.
23. Texas A&M 31-18 68 24.
24. Georgia Tech 41-15 43 T-22.
25. Notre Dame 46-16 19 25.
Others receiving votes: Florida Atlantic (16), Southern Illinois (11), Tulsa (6), Southern Mississippi (4), Northwestern (3), Massachusetts (3), Seton Hall (3), Pacific (2), South Carolina (2), Iowa (1).