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Extra Inning Softball/JWOS College Power Rankings – Week 5 Sees A New #1!

Rachel Garcia of UCLA had a big weekend March 9-10 as she struck out 30 and picked up three wins. Photo: Don Liebig /UCLA Photography.

The craziness settled down a bit in week five, despite previous #1 Florida State starting the week off with its first loss of the season.

Alabama is the last undefeated team left standing on the year, while Tennessee turned a lot of heads with a series win over Florida that included a run-rule victory.

Thank to two losses by Florida State on the weekend, we have a new top team for the first time in 2019, the UCLA Bruins!

Tennessee also joins the Top 5 for the first time this season.

Here’s our weekly rankings as compiled by our college correspondent Justin McLeod, publisher of Justin’s World of Softball (JWOS).

*****

1. UCLA Bruins (22-1, last week: 2)
A perfect 5-0 showing on the week vaults the Bruins to the top spot in our rankings for the first time in 2019.

2. Oklahoma Sooners (20-2, last week: 3)
A spotless showing in their home tournament also earns the Sooners a promotion to their own highest ranking this season.

3. Florida State Seminoles (25-2, last week: 1)
The loss to Grand Canyon started the Seminoles’ week that included a series win over Arizona, but the ‘Noles took a run-rule loss to the Wildcats in the middle game of that series.

4. Alabama Crimson Tide (25-0, last week: 4)
Sitting as the last undefeated team in the nation, the Tide rolled over conference opponent Missouri with a three-game sweep, but were not without challenges, having to battle back from deficits to the Tigers.

Ally Shipman and the Tennessee Vols had a big week taking 3-of-4 against the Florida Gators. Photo: Maury Neipris / Tennessee Athletics.

5. Tennessee Lady Vols (18-3, last week: 6)
In Gainesville to begin conference play, the Lady Vols run-ruled the Gators in the first game of the series, then shut out their league foe to take the series before dropping the final game on Sunday.

6. Washington Huskies (22-3, last week: 7)
Six wins on the week tied the Huskies for the most wins in the PAC-12, while Gabbie Plain turned heads with a pair of no-hitters to help her team stay perfect on the week.

7. Florida Gators (22-4, last week: 5)
The Gators were utterly dominated in the first two games of their series against Tennessee, and a win over the Lady Vols to close out the series did little to remedy the exposed errors.

8. LSU Tigers (21-5, last week: 9)
An offensive outpouring at Davis Diamond gave the Tigers the series win over Texas A&M, while Amanda Sanchez led the Tigers with a .700 batting average in ten at-bats.

9. Texas Tech Red Raiders (24-1, last week: 13)
The Red Raiders stayed hot, and the loss to Washington at the Mary Nutter Classic remains their sole blemish on the year.

10. Georgia Bulldogs (23-3, last week: 8)
A surprising loss to Elon marred the Bulldogs’ opportunity to move up in our rankings, though a 5-1 week’s record kept UGA in the top ten.

11. Arizona Wildcats (18-7, last week: 10)
A series loss to Florida State wasn’t as tough of a pill to swallow considering how close the Wildcats came to being on the “W” side themselves. They run-ruled FSU in game two of the three-game series.

12. Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns (18-3, last week: 16)
Gerry Glasco’s Cajuns began conference play as expected, with a sweep over Texas State. After a mixed-result preseason, the Cajuns can’t afford a slip-up in Sun Belt play.

13. Oklahoma State Cowgirls (18-5, last week: 23)
Perhaps the most impressive and convincing result of the weekend was the Cowgirls’ sweep of Oregon in Eugene, a hard-fought series that gave Oklahoma State some major style points early and saw them take a large leap in our rankings.

14. Minnesota Golden Gophers (15-7, last week: 19)
The Gophers weren’t perfect in their trip to Texas, dropping a game to the Longhorns, but took the series and added a pair of wins over Texas Southern to show they’re not going anywhere as national contenders.

15. Indiana Hoosiers (21-3, last week: 14)
The Hoosiers took another puzzling loss to Furman, who beat ace pitcher Tara Trainer late in the game, but added four wins on the week as they get ready for Big Ten play.

16. Texas Longhorns (21-5, last week: 11)
The series loss to Minnesota was not horribly egregious, but proved that the Longhorns still have some growing to do to be seen as top-of-the-line contenders on a national level.

17. Wisconsin Badgers (21-3, last week: 17)
A loss to South Florida left the Badgers with a 4-1 record on the week, including a shutout win over UMass and a victory over upset-minded Furman.

18. Kentucky Wildcats (15-7, last week: 20)
After a sluggish start to the season, the Wildcats began SEC play in the exact opposite way, with an impressive series sweep over South Carolina in Columbia.

19. Auburn Tigers (22-4, last week: 21)
The Tigers posted a perfect 6-0 record on the weekend, including a pair of wins over Michigan State and a victory over Louisville.

20. South Carolina (18-5, last week: 12)
The Gamecocks’ hot streak was halted by the Wildcats of Kentucky, who came into Columbia and swept through a three-game series.

21. Boise State Broncos (18-2, last week: T25)
The Broncos kept up their hot start, posting another perfect weekend’s record that included a pair of wins over Sacramento State that drove the Broncos’ winning streak to seventeen games.

22. James Madison Dukes (11-5, last week: NR)
Another week in the desert saw the Dukes go to extra innings before pulling out a win over Michigan and losing to Arizona State, but leaving their final week in Arizona with a 4-1 weekend’s record.

23. Arkansas Razorbacks (19-5, last week: 15)
The Razorbacks’ hard-hitting lineup was held in check in a series loss to Ole Miss in Oxford, while ace pitcher Mary Haff was hit around by the Rebels; both raised questions about the Hogs’ chances in conference play.

24. Virginia Tech Hokies (18-4, last week: 24)
The Hokies began conference play with a series win over Georgia Tech, dropping one game to the Yellow Jackets.

25. Arizona State Sun Devils (19-7, last week: T25)
The Sun Devils dropped a game to Michigan, their sole loss on what was a 4-1 week’s showing and remain a mid-level team as the year progresses.

Dropped out: #18 Northwestern, #22 Stanford

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