It wouldn’t be the final Softball America poll of the regular season without a shakeup to the Top 10.
While Oklahoma and Nebraska remain at the top, Arkansas jumps up with a series win over Texas, and Tennessee climbs back in after taking down Alabama and securing the series win over Missouri.
Florida drops out after losing the series to Georgia, and the Oregon Ducks find themselves at No. 9 after tallying two major wins against UCLA, just ahead of the Big Ten Tournament.
Check out the Top 10 and visit Softball America for the full Top 25 rankings.
Softball America Top 10 Rankings
- Oklahoma (Previous Rank:1)
- Nebraska (Previous Rank: 2)
- Texas Tech (Previous Rank: 4)
- Alabama (Previous Rank: 3)
- Arkansas (Previous Rank: 7)
- Tennessee (Previous Rank: 11)
- Florida State (Previous Rank: 8)
- Texas (Previous Rank: 6)
- Oregon (Previous Rank: 13)
- UCLA (Previous Rank: 5)
Tennessee Lady Vols
The Lady Vols have had a rough middle part of the season, but they are slowly but surely working back to the success they began with. Downing rival Alabama to secure the series win early in the week was just the momentum the team needed to win two out of three over Missouri.
Sage Mardjetko was the star of game one against Alabama when she fired a one-hit complete-game shutout, the first time the Crimson Tide has been held scoreless all season.
Ace Karlyn Pickens was dominant in the final game against the Crimson Tide, throwing 11 strikeouts and allowing just one run on three hits in her five innings of relief.
Oregon Ducks
With the Big Ten Tournament on the horizon, the Ducks are peaking at the perfect time. A thrilling 13-11 slugfest win over UCLA on Saturday allowed Oregon to secure its 16th straight conference series.
Though the Bruins put up five homers, offensive threats like Stefini Ma’ake, Amari Harper, and Katie Flannery marched back to victory. Ma’ake went 4-for-5, driving in three runs, while Harper was 3-for-4 with a homer, and Flannery added a two-run home run.
Arkansas Razorbacks
The Razorbacks jump into the top five after a statement series win over the Longhorns. Saturday’s 4-3 victory was thanks to a four-run fifth inning, along with four no-hit innings of relief and seven strikeouts from freshman Saylor Timmerman.
The win marked the second time this season that Timmerman pitched four or more innings while allowing no earned runs and collected seven-plus strikeouts. The Razorbacks have now won 20 conference road series dating back to 2021, which is the most among all SEC programs in that span.
This article was originally published on www.si.com/onsi/softball as Softball America Reveals Final Top 25 Poll Ahead of Postseason.
