BATON ROUGE – The LSU softball program received a No. 16 and No. 18 final ranking Tuesday as the ESPN.com/USA Softball and USA Today/NFCA Top 25 released its final polls for the 2013 season.
The Tigers spent the entire season ranked inside the Top 20 for the first time since 2010 and have been ranked in 110 of the previous 119 editions of both polls going back to the start of the 2006 season.
Joining LSU from the SEC in the final rankings is Women’s College World Series runner-up Tennessee (No. 2/No. 2) and WCWS participant Florida (No. 5/5). Alabama (No. 10/10), Missouri (No. 11/11), Texas A&M (No. 13/13), Kentucky (No. 14/No. 12) and Georgia (RV/No. 22) gave the SEC a nation’s best seven teams ranked between the two polls.
LSU met Michigan (No. 6/6), Oregon (No. 9/9), Florida State (No. 14/15), Louisiana-Lafayette (No. 15/12), South Alabama (No. 18/17), UCLA (No. 19/21) and Louisville (No. 22/19) in non-conference action during the 2013 season. The Tigers finished with a No. 13 RPI rating and were one of 11 programs to collect double digit victories over Top 25 RPI opponents.
LSU finished its second season under head coach Beth Torina with the program’s 15th 40-win season since softball was reinstated in 1997. The Tigers are slated to return 16 letterwinners sparked by A.J. Andrews, an NFCA All-America Third-Team and All-SEC First-Team selection, along with Bianka Bell and Jacee Blades, a pair of 2013 All-SEC Second-Team picks.
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.
2013 USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Final Poll – June 11
Rank, Team, Record, Points, Last Poll
1, Oklahoma, 57-5, 775, 1
2, Tennessee, 52-12, 744, 5
3, Texas, 51-10, 707, 6
4, Washington, 45-17, 672, 11
5, Florida, 58-9, 650, 2
6, Michigan, 51-13, 615, 7
7, Arizona State, 50-12, 595, 4
8, Nebraska, 45-16, 571, 17
9, Oregon, 50-11, 509, 3
10, Alabama, 45-15, 471, 9
11, Missouri, 38-14, 452, 8
12, Louisiana-Lafayette, 47-15, 419, 21
13, Texas A&M, 42-18, 406, 13
14, Kentucky, 41-21, 368, 19
15, Florida State, 44-19, 315, RV
16, UAB, 40-19, 269, NR
17, South Alabama, 48-9, 256, 15
18, LSU, 42-16, 233, 10
19, Louisville, 48-13, 189, 12
20, Baylor, 42-17, 177, 23
21, UCLA, 40-20, 160, 16
22, Stanford, 39-21, 127, 14
23, California, 38-19, 109, 18
24, Hawaii, 45-13, 82, 20
25, Hofstra, 46-13, 62, RV
Dropped Out: No. 22 South Florida (45-16), No. 24 Tulsa (42-16-1), No. 25 Wisconsin (44-13)
Others Receiving Votes: South Florida 43, Wisconsin 28, Virginia Tech 26, Georgia 14, Arkansas 13, North Carolina State 6, Western Kentucky 6, Tulsa 5 and South Carolina 1.
2013 ESPN.com/USA Softball Division I Top 25 Final Poll – June 11
1, Oklahoma, 57-5, 500, 1
2, Tennessee, 52-12, 480, 5
3, Texas, 51-10, 445, 7
4, Washington, 45-17, 427, 9
5, Florida, 58-9, 419, 2
6, Michigan, 51-13, 403, 8
7, Arizona State, 50-12, 390, 4
8, Nebraska, 45-16, 362, 16
9, Oregon, 50-11, 342, 3
10, Alabama, 45-15, 304, T-10
11, Missouri, 38-14, 300, 6
12, Kentucky, 41-21, 237, 17
13, Texas A&M, 42-18, 234, 20
14, Florida State, 44-19, 223, 19
15, Louisiana-Lafayette, 47-15, 192, RV
16, LSU, 42-16, 160, T-10
17, UAB, 40-19, 150, NR
18, South Alabama, 48-9, 130, 15
19, UCLA, 40-20, 127, T-13
20, Baylor, 42-17, 126, 18
21, Stanford, 39-21, 113, T-13
22, Georgia, 40-21, 91, 21
23, Louisville, 48-13, 79, 12
24, California, 38-19, 63, 22
25, Hawaii, 45-13, 37, 23
Dropped Out: – No. 24 Arkansas, No. 25 South Florida
Others receiving votes: Arkansas 34, Hofstra 31, South Florida 22, North Carolina State 18, Virginia Tech 17, Wisconsin 16, Arizona 13, USC Upstate 9, Tulsa 3, South Carolina 2 and Western Kentucky 1.