BATON ROUGE, La. – Following a semifinal appearance in the 2016 Women’s College World Series last week, the LSU softball team puts a cap on the 2016 season by being one of the highest ranked sides in the final national polls, with the Tigers ranking third in the USA Today/NFCA Division I Softball Coaches Poll and fourth in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 the organizations announced today.
The third-place ranking within the NFCA poll places the Tigers where they finished last year, while only being one spot lower in the USA Softball poll from where the team started the campaign. With the finish, the program was in the top 10 of both polls for all but six weeks of the season, never falling out of the top 15 on the year.
It’s the third time and ties the highest finish for an LSU softball team with the No. 3 final ranking within the NFCA poll, matching the 2001 and 2003 sides, while for the second straight season the Tigers are within the top five of the USA Softball poll and third time overall finishing the season in the top five.
The Tigers finished the year with 52 wins, tied for the ninth-most in program history, as it’s the 11th time LSU has won 50-plus games in a season and first time since 2006 and 2007 to win 50 wins in back-to-back seasons. It’s the first time that LSU has earned consecutive trips to the Women’s College World Series and third time in the last five years LSU has ended the season in Oklahoma City.
In 2017, LSU will return five positional starters, all three of its starting pitchers and 15 total letterwinners to the squad.
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.
2016 USA Today/NFCA Division I Softball Coaches Poll
Final | June 13, 2016
Rank, Team, Totals, 2016 Record, Last Poll
1, Oklahoma (32), 800, 57-8, 3
2, Auburn, 767, 58-12, 5
3, LSU, 709, 52-18, 10
4, Florida State, 699, 55-10, 7
5, Michigan, 680, 52-7, 2
6, Alabama, 625, 51-14, 6
7, Georgia, 607, 46-20, 15
8, Florida, 580, 56-7, 1
9, UCLA, 553, 40-16-1, 14
10, Oregon, 507, 48-10, 4
11, James Madison, 489, 50-6, 8
12, Louisiana-Lafayette, 441, 46-9, 9
13, Washington, 409, 39-15, 12
14, Arizona, 381, 40-21, 18
15, Missouri, 368, 42-16, 17
16, Utah, 313, 36-21, 25
17, Tennessee, 267, 43-16, 11
18, Kentucky, 243, 46-14, 13
19, Texas A&M, 210, 39-20, 16
20, Minnesota, 195, 43-14, 19
21, Baylor, 173, 45-14, 21
22, Fresno State, 105, 42-12-1, 20
23, Notre Dame, 93, 43-13, 23
24, Florida Atlantic, 62, 51-9, 22
25, USF, 43, 45-16, 24
Dropped Out: None
Receiving Votes: UCF (23), Cal State Fullerton (15), Ole Miss (15), South Carolina (13), Jacksonville State (5), California (4), Oregon State (3), Oklahoma State (2), McNeese State (1).
ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25
2016 Season – Final – June 14, 2016
Rank, Team, Record, Points, Previous Ranking
1., Oklahoma (20), 57-8, 500, 3
2., Auburn, 58-12, 480, 5
3., Florida State, 55-10, 445, 7
4., LSU, 52-18, 429, 12
5., Michigan, 52-7, 426, 2
6., Georgia, 46-20, 399, 19
7., Alabama, 51-14, 387, 6
8., Florida, 56-7, 353, 1
9., UCLA, 40-16-1, 347, 13
10., James Madison, 50-6, 297, 8
11., Oregon, 48-10, 274, 4
12., Missouri, 42-16, 254, 16
13., Washington, 39-15, 253, 14
14., Louisiana-Lafayette, 46-9, 250, 9
15., Arizona, 40-21, 217, 22
16., Utah, 36-21, 188, RV
17., Kentucky, 46-14, 183, 11
18., Tennessee, 43-16, 164, 10
19., Minnesota, 43-14, 155, 15
20., Texas A&M, 39-20, 113, 20
21., Baylor, 45-14, 103, 17
22., Fresno State, 42-12-1, 67, 18
23., Florida Atlantic, 51-9, 43, 21
24., Ole Miss, 41-22, 38, RV
25., Notre Dame, 43-13, 32, 23
Records reflect play through Wednesday, June 8
Parenthesis denotes first place votes.
Dropped Out: South Florida (24), Texas (25)
New to Poll: Utah (RV), Ole Miss (RV)
Others receiving votes: Texas (22), Cal State Fullerton (20), South Florida (20), Ohio State (10), UCF (7), USC Upstate (6), Arizona State (5), Nebraska (5), Louisville (3), California (2), South Carolina (2), North Dakota State (1)