BATON ROUGE – For the fourth straight week, the LSU softball team ranks in the top 10 of both national polls on Tuesday, moving up to No. 8 in both the NFCA and USA Softball Poll.
The Tigers, who are 19-2 on the year, earned 583 total points in the poll from the coaches, while earning 358 points in the USA Softball rankings. LSU has been ranked every week since the end of the 2014 season.
LSU begins SEC action this weekend, hosting 10th-ranked Auburn Friday-Sunday. The opener will take place at 6 p.m. on Friday with Saturday’s game slated for 7:30 p.m. and Sunday’s game scheduled for 4 p.m. Friday’s contest will broadcast on SECN+ while Saturday’s will air on SECN and Sunday’s on ESPN2.
USA Today/NFCA Division I Coaches Poll – March 6
Rank, Team, Points, 2018 Record, Last Poll
1. Washington (29), 795, 23-0, 1
2. Florida (1), 760, 19-1, 2
3. UCLA (2), 747, 19-0, 3
4. Tennessee, 681, 21-1, 5
5. Oklahoma, 671, 13-2, 4
6. Oregon, 626, 18-4, 6
7. Texas A&M, 605, 18-3, 7
8. LSU, 583, 19-2, 10
9. Arizona, 534, 15-2, 9
10. Auburn, 485, 23-2, 12
11. Georgia, 463, 18-1, 14
12. Baylor, 450, 11-3, 8
13. Alabama, 395, 12-5, 11
14. Arizona State, 375, 16-2, 16
15. Florida State, 360, 15-6, 13
16. Ohio State, 276, 11-1, 19
17. California, 262, 18-3, 15
18. South Carolina, 256, 19-1, 20
19. Ole Miss, 249, 13-3, 17
20. Louisiana, 167, 12-5, 18
21. Long Beach State, 157, 16-4, 22
22. Michigan, 123, 13-6, 25
23. Kentucky, 79, 14-3, 24
24. USC Upstate, 62, 18-0, NR
25. McNeese State, 52, 16-5, 23
Dropped Out: No. 21 Minnesota
Receiving Votes: Minnesota (33), James Madison (31), Mississippi State (29), Arkansas (27), Oklahoma State (19), Louisville (13), Texas State (13), Hofstra (7), Texas (7), Nebraska (4), Houston (3), Wichita State (1).
ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 – March 6
Rank, Team, Record, Points, Previous Ranking
1. Washington (17), 23-0, 495, 1
2. Florida (1), 19-1, 470, 2
3. UCLA (2), 19-0, 467, 3
4. Tennessee, 21-1, 431, 4
5. Oregon, 18-4, 406, 4
6. Oklahoma, 13-2, 400, T6
7. Texas A&M, 18-3, 370, T6
8. LSU, 19-2, 358, 10
9. Arizona, 15-2, 353, 8
10. Auburn, 23-2, 307, 12
11. Georgia, 18-1, 282, 14
12. Baylor, 11-3, 277, 9
13. Alabama, 12-5, 259, 11
14. Arizona State, 16-2, 250, 15
15. Florida State, 15-6, 221, 13
16. California, 18-3, 159, 16
17. South Carolina, 19-1, 151, 21
18. Ole Miss, 13-3, 150, 18
19. Ohio State, 11-1, 143, 19
20. Louisiana, 12-5, 127, 17
21. Michigan, 13-6, 97, 23
22. Kentucky, 14-3, 86, 22
23. Mississippi State, 16-3, 42, 25
24. Oklahoma State, 14-6, 41, 24
25. USC Upstate, 18-0, 38, RV
Dropped Out: Minnesota (20)
New to Poll: USC Upstate (RV)
Others receiving votes: Long Beach State (36), Minnesota (27), James Madison (26), Arkansas (12), Oregon State (11), Utah (4), Louisville (3), Ball State (1)
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 @lsusoftball on Instagram.