BATON ROUGE — One day after finishing ranked No. 11 in the final USA Today/NFCA Coaches poll, the LSU softball team did one better by finishing No. 10 in the last ESPN/USA Softball poll of the season.
The Tigers remained in the 10th position in the final poll after also closing out the regular season at No. 10, matching their highest position in the poll this season. LSU completed the 2006 campaign with a 55-14, recording the eighth 50-win season in 10 years, one of only two schools who have achieved that feat. In addition, the Tigers were 22-8 in the Southeastern Conference, finishing second in the Western Division and in a tie for third overall.
LSU entered the season out of the poll for the first time since the poll began in 2003, but moved back into the top 25 in the first regular season poll of the year on Feb. 14 and did not drop out the remainder of the season.
The Tigers have now been ranked in 54 of the 63 polls that have been released since the poll began on Feb. 25, 2003, making the Tigers ranked in 85.7 percent of the national polls. In addition, LSU has been ranked in the top 10 for 24 weeks in the poll’s history.
After sweeping through NCAA Regional play in Baton Rouge, including a pair of wins over in-state rival No. 16 Louisiana-Lafayette, the Tigers were sent to Tucson to play the second overall national seed Arizona.
LSU became the first team in history to knock off the Wildcats at home in a game that could have sent them to the Women’s College World Series. The Tigers forced a decisive third game before falling to the eventual national champion, who rattled off 20 wins in their final 22 games, with losses to only LSU and Tennessee.
The Tigers concluded the season with a 13-11 record against nationally ranked teams, including a 4-8 mark against teams ranked in the top 10.
The Tigers are one of four SEC teams ranked in the poll. Along with the Tigers, Tennessee is ranked No. 4, Alabama is No. 7 and Georgia is No. 13. Auburn is the top team receiving votes in the final poll to round out the league teams that were considered among the nation’s elite.