Helmer’s College Softball Top 25 for Week 8
College softball is almost at the midway point, and things are really heating up. Here’s this week’s edition of the Top 25.
1. Oklahoma – Again, there’s no signs of any kind of slip up. The Sooners annihilated Iowa State in their initial conference series, sweeping a Saturday doubleheader with a pair of run-rules for the sweep. That sets up one of the series that will decide the Big 12 race, with Texas coming to town for the Red River Showdown, starting in Oklahoma City.
2. Oklahoma State – The Cowgirls kept pace and swept a tough Baylor team in Stillwater. They rallied from a 5-0 deficit in the opener and dominated from there on out. Next up is a mid-week game against Tulsa and then a pair of contests in San Antonio against Incarnate Word that should be no problem.
3. Tennessee – The Vols took two of three from Alabama, losing only the middle game of the set. They’re off to a 5-1 start in SEC play. They collected a Tuesday win against East Tennessee State and will head to College Station to take on a gritty Texas A&M team this upcoming weekend.
4. UCLA – UCLA responded very nicely after a series opening loss at Oregon. It won the next two by 7-4 and 6-2 counts. Next up is a monster three-game series with Stanford in Westwood.
5. Clemson – The Tigers just keep on winning. They’ve run-ruled their opponent three of the last four games, including twice in a three-game sweep of Georgia Tech and a Tuesday contest against rival South Carolina. They head to Boston College next.
6. Stanford – As mentioned, the Cardinal are headed south down the coast to Los Angeles. It’ll first take on Cal State Fullerton, before embarking on that series with UCLA. I’ve been very high on Stanford from quite some time, and here’s a chance for it to take the next step. Recently having its 21-game winning streak come to a close, Stanford got right back to work with a wiping of Oregon State this past weekend.
7. Florida State – All Florida State did was go to Durham and take two of three from a feisty Duke squad. It’s only one game back in the loss column from first-place Clemson. It shouldn’t have any issues this week, welcoming Georgia Tech to town.
8. Georgia – The Bulldogs are lurking and making a charge at the Top 5. Their latest statement was a pair of victories by a combined 13-0 score over Mississippi State—the third game was canceled—after a mid-week shutout of Kennesaw State. It’ll face off against Kentucky at home here in a couple days.
9. Washington – Washington walked off Arizona in the final two contests on home runs by Madison Huskey and Baylee Klingler, part of three close wins. It held Arizona’s electric offense at bay. That’s even while retiring star second baseman Allie Skaggs only once all series. The Huskies improved to 25-6 overall and are set to head to Tempe, Ariz., to face the Arizona State Sun Devils next.
10. Texas – Ascending into the Top 10 are the Longhorns, who rallied twice to defeat Texas Tech, then polished off a sweep with an impressive 8-3 victory Sunday. They’ve won seven in a row. And they couldn’t be in a better spot as they head into a road version of the Red River Showdown.
11. Arkansas – Arkansas might be starting to really stabilize after a pretty rough patch. It was once inside my Top 5, and it’s getting back to that form lately. The Razorbacks throttled Florida 14-1 in five innings to grab a two games to one series win. They’re 5-4 in the SEC and look to improve upon that when they head to Starkville, Miss., to battle the Mississippi State Bulldogs.
12. LSU – After the Tigers won 21 of their first 22 games, they dropped five out of six SEC games. The Tigers did respond by winning their latest two and capturing a series win at Ole Miss. They’re 26-6 and host BYU, Louisiana Tech and N.C. State for the Purple & Gold Challenge this weekend.
13. Duke – For the first time all season last weekend, the Blue Devils lost a series. But it’s hardly an indictment, as that came against the aforementioned Florida State Seminoles. Their bounce back effort won’t be easy, though, as Virginia Tech is looming.
14. Texas A&M – It’s harder to find a team that’s bounced around more than Texas A&M. The latest is a series win over Kentucky that sends it back in the right direction. The Aggies have compiled a 20-11 record to this point.
15. Kentucky – Speaking of Big Blue, it’s just behind at No. 15. It has also moved around some, and is down six spots this time around. It’s an in-state rivalry against Louisville on Wednesday, which precedes that trip to Athens against Georgia.
16. Florida – The Gators are a really hard team to get a read on. On one hand, they were playing some really good softball before last weekend. On the other hand, there’s just not a lot there on the resumé. Dropping two of three to Arkansas drops it five places.
17. Virginia Tech – The Hokies surprisingly fell to a pesky Charlotte team last Tuesday. They’ve since responded with four consecutive victories, including three against Chattanooga and one vs. Liberty. It’s on to Duke, with Virginia Tech playing host.
18. Utah – Utah hasn’t had a chance to step on the field in 10 days, and it’ll be 12 when it next does so at California. Games against Boise State, Weber State twice and Utah Valley were all canceled because of inclement weather. The Utes are putting together a very solid season at 21-5.
19. Oregon – So close, the Ducks were to winning a crucial Pac-12 series against UCLA. Instead, they had to settle for just the game one victory. They’ll look to get back on the board against rival Oregon State on the road.
20. Alabama – This is probably still lower than most have the Crimson Tide, and perhaps I should reward them more for winning even a game against a Tennessee team that I truly think could compete for the national championship. However, I continue to have major concerns about the depth of the pitching staff behind Montana Fouts. This isn’t a strong Alabama team, by any means.
21. Northwestern – Talk about a team that’s definitely starting to hit its groove. Northwestern stepped foot in Oklahoma City and has played like a Women’s College World Series team since. It’s won eight streak since that loss to Oklahoma, including a 20-1 shellacking of DePaul Tuesday on the heels of a three-game sweep of Minnesota. The next task is at Iowa.
22. Arizona – The Wildcats were just on the wrong side of it last weekend in Seattle. Sometimes it’s just like that in softball, and especially in a matchup between two quality teams. It’s a fate that has Arizona sitting at 3-5 in the Pac-12 as it steps out of league play briefly for a couple of contests each against Georgetown and San Diego in the Bear Down Fiesta.
23. Baylor – The bigger story right now aside from wins and losses is the loss of Aliyah Binford for the season due to a knee injury. That really weakens a pitching staff that looked quite formidable, given what Dariana Orme’s been able to accomplish. After getting swept at Oklahoma State, Baylor run-ruled UTSA 8-0 Tuesday, and it heads to Texas State Wednesday, before Kansas comes to Waco.
24. Wichita State – The Shockers took two of three at UCF in their opening series in the American Athletic Conference. They’ll welcome in Omaha Wednesday, before South Florida comes to Wichita over the weekend. Wichita State is 26-7.
25. Louisiana – The Ragin’ Cajuns step in as the final team in this week’s poll. They defeated Appalachian State twice, but the Mountaineers salvaged the series with a 5-3 decision Sunday. Louisiana travels to James Madison this weekend.
Just missed: Auburn, California, Indiana, Maryland, Texas Tech
