BATON ROUGE — After going 5-1 last week, the LSU Softball team dropped one place from a tie for fifth to sixth in the ESPN/USA Softball poll released Tuesday.
Last weekend, the Tigers went took a mid-week game from Louisiana-Monroe, 7-0, at Tiger Park. LSU then posted a 4-1 record at the Houston Crowne Plaza Invitational. The Tigers defeated Missouri State, Houston, Texas State and Indiana before falling to Southern Illinois, which is receiving votes in the poll.
LSU has been ranked in 56 of the 65 (.862) ESPN/USA Softball polls. The Tigers have now been ranked in the top 10 for 26 weeks in the poll’s history. LSU’s highest national ranking in school history was No. 2 in the ESPN/USA Softball poll on two occasions during the 2004 season.
SEC rival Tennessee remained at No.1 in the poll this week. Texas A&M continued its jump up the polls, moving to No. 2 after jumping from No. 13 to No. 4 last week. Arizona dropped to No. 3 in the poll, while Arizona remained at No. 4 and Alabama stayed at No. 5. Following LSU at No. 6, Oregon State, Stanford, UL-Lafayette and Oklahoma round out the Top 10.
The Pac-10 still leads the way with all eight teams ranked in the top 25, followed by the SEC and Big 12 with five ranked teams. Among the five SEC teams in the top 25, three are in the top 10, including Tennessee, Alabama and LSU. Georgia comes in at No. 18 and Florida is ranked 19th.
The Tigers return home this weekend to host the Easton Tiger Classic. LSU will take on Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Friday at 3:30 p.m. before facing Louisiana Tech at 5:45 p.m. The Tigers will continue play on Saturday against Troy at 1:30 p.m. and close out round robin play against Southern Miss at 3:45 p.m. Bracket play will begin on Sunday and conclude with the tournament championship game at 2 p.m.
The ESPN.com/USA Softball poll is voted on by NCAA Division I coaches representing 15 different Amateur Softball Association regions and 11 different collegiate conferences. The poll is also voted on by selected softball media members.