BATON ROUGE, La. – The LSU softball team moved further into the top 10 this week as the Tigers moved up two places to No. 8 in the major national polls.
Winners of the last nine games, LSU improved its record to 31-7 overall and 7-2 in the SEC. LSU will take that winning streak into a top 15 matchup this weekend against No. 12/11 Alabama in Tuscaloosa.
The showdown starts Friday at 6:30, with game two set for 8 p.m. Saturday and the finale on Sunday at 2 p.m. Game one will be on SEC Network+, with game two on the SEC Network and Sunday’s game three on ESPN2.
USA Today/NFCA Division I Coaches Poll – April 4
Rank, Team, Totals, 2017 Record, Last Poll
1, Florida State (20), 781, 35-1-1, 1
2, Oregon (8), 766, 33-0, 3
3, Florida (1), 732, 33-2, 2
4, Arizona (3), 725, 37-1, 4
5, Auburn, 663, 31-5, 5
6, Texas A&M, 644, 31-3, 7
7, Minnesota, 595, 30-3, 6
8, LSU, 529, 31-7, 10
9, UCLA, 498, 26-9, 13
10, Washington, 496, 27-8, 8
11, Oklahoma, 480, 31-7, 12
12, Alabama, 451, 32-6, 9
13, Baylor, 414, 32-6, 14
14, James Madison, 410, 30-5, 11
15, Utah, 357, 24-7, 15
16, Louisiana, 309, 26-5, 17
17, Tennessee, 290, 31-5, 19
18, Michigan, 265, 26-7-1, 20
19, Georgia, 222, 27-10, 18
20, Kentucky, 218, 24-8, 16
21, Ole Miss, 114, 24-11, 24
22, BYU, 97, 23-10, 25
23, Arizona State, 65, 23-12, 21
24, Missouri, 59, 20-14, RV
t25, Arkansas, 50, 22-12, 23
t25, Ohio State, 50, 22-7, RV
Dropped Out: No. 22 Wisconsin (23-6).
New to Poll: No. 24 Missouri, t-No. 25 Ohio State
Receiving Votes: Wisconsin (33), California (24), North Carolina (20), Marshall (11), South Carolina (8), Florida International (8), Illinois (4), Oklahoma State (4), Cal Poly (3), Tulsa (3), Florida Atlantic (1), Nebraska (1).
ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 – April 4
Rank, Team, Record*, Points, Previous Ranking
1., Oregon (15), 33-0, 494, 1
2., Florida State (3), 35-1-1, 470, 3
3., Arizona (2), 37-1, 462, 4
4., Florida, 33-2, 451, 2
5., Texas A&M, 31-3, 416, 5
6., Auburn, 31-5, 393, 7
7., Minnesota, 30-3, 376, 6
8., LSU, 31-7, 349, 10
9., Oklahoma, 31-7, 312, 12
10., Washington, 27-8, 308, 8
11., Alabama, 32-6, 284, 9
12., UCLA, 26-9, 280, 14
13., James Madison, 30-5, 270, 11
14., Baylor, 32-6, 266, 13
15., Utah, 24-7, 211, 15
16., Michigan, 26-7-1, 208, 18
17., Tennessee, 31-5, 189, 19
18., Georgia, 27-10, 154, T16
19., Louisiana, 26-5, 137, 20
20., Kentucky, 24-8, 123, T16
T21., California, 21-11, 56, 22
T21., Ohio State, 22-7, 56, 25
23., BYU, 23-10, 44, RV
24., Arizona State, 23-12, 38, 23
25., Missouri, 20-14, 34, RV
*Records reflect play through Sunday, April 2, 2017.
Parenthesis denotes first place votes.
Dropped Out: Wisconsin (21), Arkansas (24)
New to Poll: BYU (RV), Missouri (RV)
Others receiving votes: Ole Miss (28), Oklahoma State (22), Arkansas (15), North Carolina (14), Tulsa (12), Illinois (9), USC Upstate (8), Wisconsin (8), Cal Poly (2), Mississippi State (1)