Week 2: ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll & USA Softball Player of the Week

Reigning NCAA National Champion Florida State (11-0) has jumped to the No. 1 spot in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll.

The Seminoles, who captured 12 first-places votes, were a perfect 6-0 on the week including four wins over Top 25 ranked opponents.  Florida State is now one of seven teams who are undefeated in the Top 25.

No. 2 UCLA (9-0) collected the remaining eight first-place votes while No. 3 Florida (11-0), No. 4 Oklahoma (9-1) and No. 5 Washington (8-1) close out the Top 5.

1. Florida State (12), 11-0, 492 pts
2. UCLA (8), 9-0, 487 pts
3. Florida, 11-0, 455 pts
4. Oklahoma, 9-1, 434 pts
5. Washington, 8-1, 415 pts
6. Alabama, 10-0, 405 pts
7. LSU, 9-2, 359 pts
8. Tennessee, 8-2, 345 pts
9. Georgia, 9-1, 333 pts
10. Texas, 7-1, 307 pts
11. Louisiana, 11-0, 303 pts
12. Arkansas, 8-1, 296 pts
13. Arizona, 6-4, 247 pts
14. South Carolina, 7-2, 228 pts
15. Arizona State, 8-2, 201 pts
16. Oklahoma State, 7-3, 164 pts
17. Oregon, 7-2, 144 pts
18. James Madison, 3-2, 124 pts
19. Indiana, 9-0, 103 pts
20. Kentucky, 6-5, 98 pts
21. Auburn, 7-3, 90 pts
22. Baylor, 7-4, 87 pts
23. Texas A&M, 8-3, 67 pts
24. Illinois, 7-2, 47 pts
25. Texas Tech, 10-0, 39 pts
    

*Records reflect play through February 17

Parenthesis denotes first place votes.

Dropped Out: Michigan (15), Ohio State (23), Notre Dame (24)
New to Poll: Indiana (RV), Illinois (RV), Texas Tech

Others receiving votes: Virginia Tech (38), Michigan (33), Oregon State (32), North Carolina (26), Northwestern (20), Ole Miss (18), Texas State (10), Mississippi State (9), Ohio State (8), Minnesota (7), Wisconsin (6), Cal State Fullerton (5), Notre Dame (5), Coastal Carolina (4), Missouri (4), New Mexico State (3), California (2), Nebraska (2)

The ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll is voted on by coaching representatives of

10 Division I Conferences in the 10 USA Softball Regions as well as members of the National and Local media who consistently cover Division I Softball across the country.

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Tournament-leading performance lands Florida State’s Zoe Casas USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Week

After leading the Florida State Seminoles at the plate during the St. Pete/Clearwater Elite Invitational, senior outfielder Zoe Casas (Rialto, Calif.) has earned Week 2 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Week.

Announced today by USA Softball, Casas helped guide the Seminoles to a perfect 6-0 record in Clearwater resulting in the team jumping to the No. 1 spot in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll.

“This weekend was huge for us as a program, but we didn’t let the weekend get bigger than ourselves,” said Casas.  “We went out there and attacked pitch by pitch and made adjustments when we needed to. We grew a lot as team, and to watch younger players step up in big moments was absolutely amazing! Being where our feet are is a big part of us being present in every pitch and it allowed us to have big opportunities defensively and offensively all weekend long.”

Casas opened the St. Pete/Clearwater Elite Invitational with a pair of 1-for-3 outings at the plate against then-No. 23 Ohio State and then-No. 3 Oklahoma.  Casas’ hit streak continued in their second day of competition as she helped guide her squad to their third win over a ranked opponent as she went 1-for-2 against No. 7 LSU.  Casas closed out the day by going a perfect 3-for-3 at the plate with a home run, two RBI and three runs scored in a win over Minnesota.

At the final day of the St. Pete/Clearwater Elite Invitational, Casas continued her hot-hitting ways with another multi-hit performance against Florida Atlantic, including her second home run of the tournament.  She finished the tournament with a single and RBI in a win over then-No. 6 Tennessee.

“This coaching staff couldn’t be more proud of Zoe, as she has grown tremendously, both on and off the field, during her four years at Florida State,” said Florida State Head Coach, Lonni Alameda.

“She represents our program so well because she is one of the hardest working players that has bought into the program and the system. She’s an amazing team player and leader of our family.”

For the week, Casas hit .556 (10-for-18) with seven runs scored, six RBI, two home runs and a .944 slugging percentage.  This marks the first USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Week honor for Casas and the first for an athlete from Florida State since Week 9 of the 2018 season when teammate Sydney Sherrill earned the honor.

2019 USA Softball National Collegiate Players of the Week

• Week 1 (Feb. 7-10): Kassidy Wilbur – Stephen F. Austin – Freshman – Pitcher – Bridge City, Texas
• Week 2 (Feb. 11-17): Zoe Casas – Florida State – Senior – Outfield – Rialto, Calif.