BATON ROUGE — After going 5-0 last week, including a pair of wins over then No. 10 Oklahoma, the LSU softball team moved up to No. 13 in the ESPN/USA Softball poll this week.
The Tigers (21-3) have tied their best start to a season in school history, matching the 1998 and 2004 teams through 24 games. LSU opens Southeastern Conference play this weekend at Ole Miss. The Tigers have won five league titles in the nine-year history of the conference.
LSU moved up six places in the poll after coming in at No. 19 last week. The Tigers entered the poll at No. 25 three weeks ago after receiving votes in the preseason poll, and have now been ranked for four consecutive weeks and 43 weeks overall since the poll began in 2003.
LSU’s three losses on the season come to teams with a combined ranking of No. 17 and an average ranking less than No. 6 — No. 4 UCLA, No. 5 Stanford and No. 8 Oregon State. The Tigers have also posted a pair of wins over a pair of nationally ranked teams, No. 14 Oklahoma and No. 15 Washington.
LSU is one of six SEC teams ranked in the poll. Along with the Tigers, Tennessee is tied for No. 2, Alabama is No. 7, Georgia is No. 11, Auburn is No. 20 and Mississippi State is No. 24.