LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Florida (21-0) received all but one first place vote as it continued its perfect start and strengthened its hold of the top spot in this week’s USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Poll, announced Tuesday by the Association. The top four spots remained the same, but undefeated LSU joined the party as it moved up two spots to No. 5.
The Gators received 27 first place votes and a total of 699 points after a 5-0 week, which included a 3-0 win over No. 2 Oregon at the San Diego Classic I and a 2-1 nailbiter at home versus No. 17 UCF. In the highly anticipated game between the top two teams, UF’s Delanie Gourley held the high-powered Duck offense to just two hits, did not walk a batter and struck out eight. During Florida’s undefeated week, the pitching staff surrendered just two runs, posted three shutouts, struck out 41 (3 walks) and held opponents to a .117 average (12-103) in 31 innings.
The Ducks (16-1) remained at No. 2 (655 points) and received the other first-place vote, but saw their hold dwindle down to just two points over No. 3 Michigan. Alabama stayed at No. 4, while the other 21-0 team, LSU, made its way into the top 5 for the first time this season. Oregon went 2-1 on the weekend picking up an 8-6 victory over St. John’s and a 7-3 triumph over host San Diego State at the rain-shortened San Diego Classic I.
Michigan (653 points) continued to knock of nationally-ranked programs on the road as it extended its winning streak to 18 games. The Wolverines’ (18-1) 5-0 weekend saw them knock off then-No. 21 Arizona State twice, 7-5 and 6-2 while also cruising past Toledo twice (20-5 / 15-0) and Binghamton (9-0). Michigan’s offense launched 20 home runs, including six in one inning in the first game against Toledo, batted .442 and scored 58 runs at the ASU Louisville Slugger Invitational.
In another top-5 matchup, the Crimson Tide (15-4) took two-of-three at home from then-No. 5 Louisiana Lafayette. Alabama opened the series with a 5-1 win, but the final two contest were one-run affairs as the Tide were edged, 2-1 in the Saturday night cap before topping the Ragin’ Cajuns’ 3-2 Sunday on a walk-off sacrifice fly.
The newcomer to the top-five is LSU (21-0). The Tigers continue their program-record start as they picked up five wins hosting the Purple and Gold Challenge. LSU’s offense scored 57 runs as the Tigers run-ruled for of their five opponents this week, defeating Stephen F. Austin twice (9-0 / 14-0), Ball State (7-3), RV Florida Atlantic (12-4) and Northwestern State (15-1).
There were no new members to the top-10. Oklahoma (14-3) stayed at No. 6 in a weather-shortened week as it swept PFW (5-0 / 9-0). Louisiana Lafayette (15-2) dropped from No. 5 to No. 7 after going 1-2 at Alabama. Georgia (17-2) posted five victories at the Citrus Classic, Baylor (12-2) did not play and Kentucky swept a road twinbill at Tennessee Tech (5-1 / 10-0) to remain in the final three spots and round out the top 10.
Kansas (17-1) is off to a great start and moves into the top-25 at No. 25 following a 3-0 showing at the weather-shortened UNF Tournament. Texas moves out of the Top-25 to make room for the Jayhawks.
The USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Poll is voted on by 32 NCAA Division I head coaches, one representing each conference. Current 2015 records are shown and first-place votes are in parentheses.
USA Today/NFCA Division I Softball Poll – March 3, 2015
Rank
Team
2015 Record
Totals
Prev. Rank
1
Florida (27)
21-0
699
1
2
Oregon (1)
16-2
655
2
3
Michigan
18-1
653
3
4
Alabama
15-4
594
4
5
LSU
21-0
557
7
6
Oklahoma
14-3
550
6
7
Louisiana Lafayette
15-2
538
5
8
Georgia
17-2
490
8
9
Baylor
12-2
451
9
10
Kentucky
13-3
449
10
11
Tennessee
11-3
408
11
12
Florida State
13-5
382
12
13
Arizona
17-3
367
15
14
Auburn
21-1
335
16
15
UCLA
17-5
309
14
16
California
17-1
298
19
17
Minnesota
14-4
224
13
UCF
14-3
224
17
19
Washington
19-4
209
18
20
Texas A&M
17-4
149
22
21
Missouri
10-3
142
20
22
Arizona State
15-7
123
21
23
Notre Dame
12-6
120
23
24
South Alabama
15-3
88
24
25
Kansas
17-1
37
RV
New to Poll: No. 25 Kansas
Dropped out: No. 25Texas (13-7)
Others Receiving Votes: South Carolina (10), Texas (10), James Madison (7), Virginia Tech (6), Mississippi State (5), Fresno State (4), UAB (3), Florida Atlantic (1), North Carolina State (1), Stanford (1), Cal State Fullerton (1), Utah (1).