Jan. 25, 2005
WACO, Texas -- Baylor softball received a preseason ranking of No. 18, according to the ESPN.com/USA Softball Preseason Top 25 poll released Tuesday. The ranking is the highest in school history for the Lady Bears, who finished last season ranked No. 19 in both national polls following a school-best record of 48-17.
Baylor is one of five Big 12 Conference schools ranked in the preseason poll as the Lady Bears join Oklahoma (No. 4), Texas (No. 6), Nebraska (No. 20) and Texas A&M (No. 23) in the first poll of the season.
California, which finished last season as the national runner-up, opens the year as the top ranked team in the country. The Bears are followed by Arizona, UCLA, Oklahoma and Stanford to round out the top five.
By Conference, the Pac 10 leads the way with seven of its eight schools ranked in the Top 25 and five of the seven ranked in the top 10. The Big 12 Conference ranks just behind the Pac 10 Conference with five schools in the preseason poll. SEC has four representatives with two from the East (Georgia and Tennessee) and two from the West (LSU and Alabama). The ACC and Big 10 each have two schools in the preseason poll.
The ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 poll is voted on by NCAA Division I coaches representing 15 different ASA regions and 11 different collegiate conferences. The poll is also voted on by selected softball media members. First-place votes are in parentheses.
Baylor returns seven starters, including all-conference selections Carrie Leerberg, Kelly Osburn and Harmony Schwethelm, as well as both pitchers, Lisa Ferguson and Cristin Vitek, from last year's squad that became the first in school history to qualify for the NCAA Softball Championships.
Baylor opens the season when the Lady Bears host Louisiana-Monroe on Friday, Feb. 4, at 2:30 p.m. to open the Getterman Classic. Illinois, ranked No. 25 in the preseason poll, and Centenary round out the four-team field for the fourth annual Getterman Classic.
ESPN.com/USA Softball Preseason Top 25 Poll
1. California (10)
2. Arizona (8)
3. UCLA (2)
4. Oklahoma
5. Stanford
6. Texas
7. Louisiana Lafayette
8. LSU
9. Washington
10. Georgia
11. Florida State
12. Michigan
13. Tennessee
14. Oregon
15. Alabama
16. Oregon State
17. Fresno State
18. Baylor
19. Long Beach State
20. Nebraska
21. Georgia Tech
22. South Florida
T23. Texas A&M
T23. Southern Illinois
25. Illinois
Parenthesis Denotes first place votes.
Others receiving votes: Pacific (34), Massachusetts (28), Auburn (26), Iowa (23), Hofstra (23), Florida (22), Arizona State (14), Notre Dame (13), Northwestern (10), Mississippi State (9), Florida Atlantic (8), Louisville, (7), South Carolina (6), Missouri (6), Oklahoma State (3), North Carolina (3), Seton Hall (3), Creighton (3), DePaul (1), Tulsa (1).
