LSU Makes Program History, Climbs to No. 1 in 2015 USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Poll

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – LSU’s historical climb to the No. 1 ranking in the USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Poll was capped off when the Tigers (27-1) took two of three from previously undefeated and top ranked Florida in Gainesville last weekend, announced Tuesday by the Association. It marks LSU’s first No. 1 ranking in program history after matching its previous high of third last week. The Tigers received 23 first-place votes and a total of 787 points.

“There have been so many great players in this program’s history who have truly helped in building LSU softball and paving the way for this ranking and the success of this year’s team,” said head coach Beth Torina. “We have a special group of young women, that truly understand the team concept and have worked hard to accomplish everything they have done so far this season. We are honored by the respect we have been shown for our accomplishments to this point; however, we have a clear understanding that there is still a long way to go in the 2015 season.” 

In the clash of the last two undefeated teams in Division I, the Tigers bounced back from a walk-off 4-3 defeat on Friday to defeat the Gators, 14-10, in dramatic fashion on Saturday thanks to Kellsi Kloss’ two-out seventh-inning grand slam. Her slam came after UF rallied from a 9-0 first-inning hole and tied the game in the bottom half of the sixth on Taylore Fuller’s third home run of the game, a two-out grand slam of her own. In the rubber match, the Tigers scored 10 unanswered runs over the final three innings to claim their first series win over the Gators since 2006 and first time in Gainsville since 2005.

The series defeat to LSU dropped Florida (28-2), which received three first-place votes (754 points), from the top spot for the first time this season to third following its first two losses of the season. Prior to the losses, the Gators started the season with a program-record 28 consecutive wins.

Following a sweep of in-state Pac-12 foe Oregon State, Oregon received six first-place votes and 756 points to stay at No. 2. The Ducks (23-3) put up 42 runs in the series posting three run-rule victories and two shutouts over the Beavers – 10-0, 23-12 and 9-0.

Michigan drops to No. 4 after a 2-1 series win over Kent State. The Wolverine (24-4) were shut out by the Flashes, 3-0 in the opener, but rebounded with 10-1 and 4-1 victories in their lone games of the week.

Alabama did not move from its No. 5 position after taking a tightly contested SEC road series from No. 8 Georgia. Weather played havoc and forced the teams to play a twinbill on Saturday which was split. The home-standing Bulldogs (22-5) won 7-4 in nine innings and the Crimson Tide (20-6) took the nightcap, 7-6. On Sunday, Alabama claimed the series with a 4-2 triumph.

Oklahoma, Louisiana-Lafayette and Georgia did not move from their sixth, seventh and eight spots. The Sooners (22-3), hosting Iowa and East Carolina, put on a four-game offensive show (21 home runs), scoring 23 runs twice and finishing the weekend with 65 runs to extend their winning streak to 12 games as of Sunday. In addition, head coach Patti Gasso earned her 1,000^th win after a 23-1 victory over East Carolina.

The Ragin’ Cajuns (20-3) swept their Sun Belt series from UT Arlington, allowing just one run and outscoring the Mavericks 30-1.

Rounding out the top 10 is newcomer Auburn and Florida State. The Tigers (28-2) earn their first-ever top-10 ranking won three road contests last week as they have won four straight and 15 of their last 16. They blanked Troy, 2-0 before taking the first two at Ole Miss (14-3, 7-3). The Seminoles (22-6) went 4-1 after handing FAU (RV) a 12-0 home loss, edging out USC Upstate, 2-0 and topping Notre Dame (RV) in the first two of a three-game ACC series. Their lone loss was 12-0 defeat to the Irish in the series finale.

Dropping out of this week’s poll are South Alabama (23) and North Carolina State (t-25), making way for Mississippi State to slip in at No. 24. The Bulldogs rallied in game three to defeat then-No. 19 Texas A&M, 7-5 and take the SEC series, 2-1.

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 17, 2015

Rank

Team

2015 Record

Totals

Prev. Rank

1

LSU (23)

27-1

787

t3

2

Oregon (6)

23-3

756

2

3

Florida (3)

28-2

754

1

4

Michigan

24-4

679

t3

5

Alabama

20-6

665

5

6

Oklahoma

22-3

650

6

7

Louisiana Lafayette

20-3

602

7

8

Georgia

22-5

537

8

9

Auburn

28-2

516

12

10

Florida State

22-6

495

10

11

UCLA

27-5

487

13

12

California

22-3

425

11

13

Kentucky

18-5

392

14

14

Tennessee

17-5

364

9

15

Minnesota

23-4

352

16

16

Baylor

19-6

343

15

17

Arizona

23-7

298

18

18

Washington

26-5

267

17

19

Missouri

19-3

250

21

20

UCF

26-5

210

20

21

Arizona State

20-9

142

22

22

Kansas

24-2

110

23

23

Texas A&M

21-7

106

19

24

Mississippi State

20-6

48

RV

25

UAB

21-5

44

t25

New to Poll: No. 24 Mississippi State

Dropped out: No. 24 South Alabama (17-6), No. t-25 North Carolina State (14-9). 

Others Receiving Votes: South Alabama (32), South Carolina (26), Virginia Tech (25), James Madison (14), Notre Dame (9), North Carolina State (5), Texas (5), USC Upstate (3), McNeese State (1), Cal State Northridge (1).