BATON ROUGE — With the start of the 2005 season three days away, the LSU softball team moved up one spot to No. 7 in the ESPN/USA Softball poll released Wednesday.
The Tigers began the season ranked No. 8 and moved up after Oklahoma dropped eight spots from No. 4 to No. 12 after opening the season 2-3.
LSU has now been ranked in every ESPN/USA Softball poll since its inception on Feb. 25, 2003, which now stands at 32 consecutive weeks. The Tigers have also been ranked in the top 10 of the poll for 15 consecutive weeks.
LSU travels to Las Vegas to open the season in the UNLV Louisville Slugger Desert Classic this weekend. The Tigers will take on Central Florida and No. 8 Washington on Friday before facing Illinois and Louisville, which are both receiving votes in the poll, on Saturday.
LSU will open the home schedule next weekend in the Tiger Classic. The Tigers will host Indiana, Grambling and Southern in the three-day tournament.