BATON ROUGE, La. – A little over a week away from the start of the 2017 season, the LSU softball team learned on Tuesday that the team will begin the new campaign ranked in the top five of both major national polls as the NFCA has LSU tied for fourth, while USA Softball has the Tigers at No. 5.
LSU, who has been ranked every week since the end of the 2014 year, ended the 2016 season with a 52-18 overall record after finishing as a semifinalist at the Women’s College World Series for the second consecutive season.
The Tigers earned 671 total points in the NFCA poll, tying with Florida for the fourth spot, while the team earned 401 total points to take sole possession of the fifth spot in the USA Softball poll. LSU is one of nine total SEC teams ranked in each poll that features Auburn, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Missouri and Kentucky.
LSU returns 15 letterwinners back into the fold this season, with five positional starters and all three starting pitchers among the group coming back. Among the returning group are All-Americans in Carley Hoover, Sahvanna Jaquish, Bailey Landry and Allie Walljasper. Other starters include infielders Constance Quinn and Amber Serrett, outfielder Emily Griggs and pitcher Sydney Smith.
The Tigers also welcomed seven newcomers to the fold in Aliyah Andrews, Michal Cunningham, Nicky Dawson, Amanda Doyle, Maribeth Gorsuch, Sydney Springfield and Claire Weinberger.
LSU will open the 2017 season on Friday, February 10 against the Oklahoma State Cowgirls in the Tiger Classic at Tiger Park.
For all of the latest news and information on Tiger softball, visit www.lsusports.net/softball. Fans can also follow the program on its social media outlets at www.Facebook.com/lsusoftball along with @lsusoftball and @BethTorina on Twitter and @lsusb on Instagram.
NFCA Top 25 Poll – Preseason
Rank, Team, Points, Pvs. Record, Pvs. Ranking
1, Oklahoma (32), 800, 57-8, 1
2, Auburn, 745, 58-12, 2
3, Florida State, 683, 55-10, 4
t4, Florida, 671, 56-7, 8
t4, LSU, 671, 52-18, 3
6, Michigan, 655, 52-7, 5
7, Alabama, 633, 51-14, 6
8, UCLA, 534, 40-16-1, 9
9, Oregon, 484, 48-10, 10
10, Arizona, 466, 40-21, 14
11, Louisiana-Lafayette, 444, 46-9, 12
12, Georgia, 435, 46-20, 7
13, Washington, 430, 39-15, 13
14, James Madison, 418, 50-6, 11
15, Tennessee, 331, 43-16, 17
16, Minnesota, 295, 43-14, 20
17, Missouri, 271, 42-16, 15
18, Utah, 266, 36-21, 16
19, Texas A&M, 258, 39-20, 19
20, Kentucky, 250, 46-14, 18
21, Baylor, 171, 45-14, 21
22, Notre Dame, 121, 43-13, 23
23, Florida Atlantic, 87, 51-9, 24
24, Fresno State, 65, 42-12-1, 22
25, USF, 47, 45-16, 25
Dropped Out: None
Receiving Votes: Oregon State (23), Oklahoma State (22), Texas (17), South Carolina (13), Ole Miss (12), Nebraska (12), UCF (10), Tulsa (7), California (6), Cal State Fullerton (5), Arizona State (3), Northwestern (3), North Carolina (2), Ohio State (2), BYU (1), USC Upstate (1).
USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 – Preseason
Rank, Team, Pvs. Record, Points, Pvs. Ranking
1., Oklahoma (20), 57-8, 500, 1
2., Auburn, 58-12, 462, 2
3., Florida, 56-7, 436, 8
4., Florida State, 55-10, 429, 3
5., LSU, 52-18, 401, 4
6., Michigan, 52-7, 398, 5
7., Alabama, 51-14, 394, 7
8., UCLA, 40-16-1, 338, 9
9., Oregon, 48-10, 299, 11
10., Georgia, 46-20, 289, 6
11., Louisiana-Lafayette, 46-9, 278, 14
12., Arizona, 40-21, 273, 15
13., Washington, 39-15, 269, 13
14., Minnesota, 43-14, 227, 19
15., Tennessee, 43-16, 213, 18
16., James Madison, 50-6, 211, 10
17., Utah, 36-21, 178, 16
18., Texas A&M, 39-20, 171, 20
19., Missouri, 42-16, 155, 12
20., Kentucky, 46-14, 138, 17
21., Baylor, 45-14, 122, 21
22., Notre Dame, 43-13, 80, 25
23., Florida Atlantic, 51-9, 58, 23
T24, California, 33-24-1, 25, RV
T24, South Florida, 45-16, 25, RV
Dropped Out: None
New to Poll: None
Others receiving votes: Ole Miss (24), Texas (20), Oklahoma State (17), Nebraska (14), FIU (12), Arizona State (11), Fresno State (10), Ohio State (10), North Dakota State (9), Cal State Fullerton (8), Louisville (5), North Carolina (4), UCF (2), Oregon State (1), Tulsa (1), Virginia Tech (1)