Oregon Softball: First Place Ducks Up in Both National Polls

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Last week, Oregon Softball swept Arizona and Portland(doubleheader) and are winding down the regular season schedule as May approaches. Oregon faces Oregon State and Arizona, starting next weekend(Friday May 3rd).  More from the Press Release from the University of Oregon:

EUGENE – This week, the Pac-12 leading University of Oregon softball team (38-6, 13-2) improved a position in both the USA Softball and NFCA national polls released Tuesday.

The No. 4 Ducks logged their highest ranking ever in the USA Softball poll after they matched their previous best from last week and their preseason position.

In the NFCA edition, UO also climbed a spot to No. 6 – its second-best of the season behind its preseason No. 5 slot.

No. 4/6 UO was one of three top-10 ranked teams in the Pac-12 with a pair of fellow WCWS returnees – No. 5/5 Arizona State and No. 10/10 California.

Overall, Oregon was one of seven league members that ranked top 25 nationally in the USA SB/NFCA polls this week with No. 13/13 Washington, No. 15/17 Stanford, No. 16/16 UCLA and No. -/23 Arizona.

For comparison’s sake, a complete list of Pac-12 rankings from the previous USA SB/NFCA edition follows: No. 2/2 Arizona State, No. 5/7 Oregon, No. 8/9 California, No. 13/14 Washington, No. 15/16 Stanford, No. 21/19 UCLA and No. 22/17 Arizona.

Six other Duck non-conference foes in 2013 were also tabbed top 25 this week by USA SB/NFCA – No. 1/1 Oklahoma, No. 3/2 Florida, No. 9/9 Michigan, No. 12/12 LSU, No. 16/20 Nebraska and No. 20/14 Hawai’i.

Altogether, No. 1/1 Oklahoma remained atop the national rankings, and the remaining top five teams included No. 2/3 Tennessee, No. 3/2 Florida, No. 4/6 Oregon, No. 5/5/ Arizona State and No. 6/4 Alabama.

The past four seasons, Oregon has now been ranked for 55 straight polls by USA Softball and 50 by the NFCA, and its week-by-week USA SB/ NFCA rankings in that stretch follow: 2013 (12 weeks-USA SB / 12 weeks-NFCA) – Preseason 6/5, 2/12 7/9, 2/19 9/11, 2/26 12/10, 3/5 8/9, 3/12 9/10, 3/19 10/10, 3/26 10/10, 4/2 9/10, 4/9 6/7, 4/16 5/7, 4/23 4/6. 2012 (16/16) – Preseason 11th/16th, 2/14 19/19, 2/21 21/19, 2/28 18/18, 3/6 15/18; 3/13 14/17; 3/20 15/17; 3/27 16/17; 4/3 17/18; 4/10 15/19; 4/17 14/18; 4/25 15/16; 5/2 12/13; 5/9 12/13; 5/16 12/12; 6/12 5/5. 2011 (16/16) – Preseason 14th/14th, 2/15 14th/14th, 2/22 13th/13th, 3/2 13th/13th, 3/9 15th/14th, 3/16 16th/15th, 3/23 15th/16th, 3/30 14th/15th, 4/5 15th/16th, 4/12 17th/17th, 4/19 19th/21th, 4/26 16th/19th, 5/3 12th/17th, 5/10 11th/14th, 5/17 11th/12th, 6/15 14th/15th. 2010 (11/6) – 3/8 25th/-; 3/15 25th/-; 3/22 21st/-; 3/29 21st/ RV; 4/5 17th/ RV; 4/12 17th/23rd; 4/19 18th/20th; 4/26 19th/20th; 5/3 20th/22nd; 5/10 21st-t/22nd; 6/15 14th/14th.

In this week’s NCAA RPI rankings, UO held steady at fourth overall. Oregon stood tops in the Pac-12, ahead of #8 Washington, #12 California, #13 Arizona State, #18 Stanford, #21 UCLA, #28 Arizona, #36 Oregon State and #61 Utah.

This week, UO heads to 11-time national champion and No. 19 UCLA (30-15, 7-11) for a three-game set at Easton Stadium on Friday-Sunday, April 26-28.

Next week, Oregon returns home for its final home action of the regular season.

The Ducks first host Seattle for a doubleheader on Wednesday, May 1 at 1p.m., then welcome Oregon State, Friday-Sunday, May 3-5.

All three games from the Civil War series will be televised live by the Pac-12 Network, and the 1 p.m. finale will feature a special pre-game Senior Day ceremony.

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