BATON ROUGE, La. — With a little over two weeks away from the start of the 2021 season, the LSU Softball team will begin the new campaign ranked fifth in both in the USA Today/NFCA DI Coaches poll and ESPN.com/USA Softball poll.
LSU, who has been ranked every week since the end of the 2014 season, ended the shortened 2020 season with a 21-3 overall record.
The Tigers return 21 players from the 2020 season that was shortened due to the pandemic. Sophomore Georgia Clark led the Tigers at the plate with a .425 batting average and four home runs last season. All-SEC performer Aliyah Andrews and All-American Shelbi Sunseri also return for the Tigers.
The Tigers earned a total of 644 points in the NFCA poll and 412 points in the ESPN.com/USA Softball poll. The Tigers are the highest ranked SEC team in both polls.
The Tigers kick off the 2021 season on February 11 with the Tiger Classic, playing host to McNeese State, Duke, Kansas and Central Arkansas.
For all of the latest news and information on Tiger softball, visit www.lsusports.net/softball. Fans can also follow the program on its social media outlets at www.Facebook.com/lsusoftball along with @lsusoftball and @BethTorina on Twitter and @lsusoftball on Instagram.
2021 USA Today / NFCA Division I
Top 25 Coaches Poll – Jan. 26 (Preseason)
Rank, School (First-Place Votes), Points, 2020 Record, Final 2020 Ranking
1, UCLA (32), 800, 25-1, 1
2, Washington, 748, 23-2, 2
3, Arizona, 717, 22-3, 4
4, Oklahoma, 708, 20-4, 6
5, LSU, 644, 21-3, 5
6, Texas, 611, 24-3, 3
7, Florida, 6-5, 23-4, 7
8, Alabama, 588, 14-8, 10
9, Louisiana, 565, 18-6, 8
10, Oregon, 481, 22-2, 9
11, Oklahoma State, 476, 19-5, 12
12, Florida State, 403, 17-7, 12
13, Kentucky, 359, 20-4, 11
14, Georgia, 352, 23-5, 14
15, Virginia Tech, 317, 21-4, 16
16, Arizona State, 295, 22-7, 17
17, Michigan, 264, 15-8, 18
18, Arkansas, 244, 19-6, 19
19, South Carolina, 227, 17-6, 15
20, Mississippi State, 180, 25-3, 20
21, UCF, 159, 21-5-1, 21
22, Baylor, 147, 19-5, 23
23, Missouri, 117, 19-7, 25
24, Minnesota, 114, 15-9-1, 22
25, Duke, 64, 23-4, RV
Receiving Votes: Fresno State (62), Tennessee (54), Stanford (33), Utah (13), Cal State Fullerton (12), Clemson (9), North Texas (8), Texas Tech (8), Northwestern (7), James Madison (6), Liberty (1), Notre Dame (1), San Diego State (1),
The 2021 USA Today / NFCA Division I Top 25 Coaches Poll is voted on by 32 NCAA Division I head coaches with one representing each of the NCAA’s Division I Conferences.
ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25
Rank, Team (First-Place Votes), 2020 Record, Points, 2020 Ranking
1, UCLA (19), 25-1, 492, 1
2, Washington (1), 23-2, 466, 2
3, Arizona, 22-3, 440, 4
4, Oklahoma, 20-4, 420, T6
5, LSU, 21-3, 412, 5
6, Florida, 23-4, 385, T6
7, Texas, 24-3, 357, 3
8, Alabama, 14-8, 351, 13
9, ULL, 18-6, 319, 9
10, Oklahoma State, 19-5, 313, 11
11, Oregon, 22-2, 296, 8
12, Florida State, 17-7, 272, 12
13, Kentucky, 20-4, 246, 10
14, Georgia, 23-5, 216, 14
15, Arizona State, 22-7, 183, T15
16, Virginia Tech, 21-4, 177, 18
17, Michigan, 15-8, 168, 19
18, Baylor, 19-5, 148, 17
19, South Carolina, 17-6, 125, T5
20, Minnesota, 15-9-1, 119, 22
21, Arkansas, 18-6, 111, 21
22, Mississippi State, 25-3, 105, 20
23, Tennessee, 14-9, 77, NR
24, Missouri, 19-7, 55, RV
25, UCF, 21-5-1, 51, 24
Others receiving votes: Fresno State (42), Northwestern (38), Duke (30), James Madison (15), Stanford (12), Texas A&M (12), South Florida (10), Oregon State (9), Ole Miss (6), Ohio State (6), Notre Dame (5), NC State (4), Auburn (2), North Texas (2), Texas Tech (2), Utah (2).
(Press release provided by LSU Athletics).