Softball America Composite Rankings: Week 13

The rankings below are not indicative of the Softball America Top 25. The Softball America composite rankings average all major College Softball polls and the RPI and KPI rankings. All stats include games played from Monday to Monday each week and do not include Tuesday’s games.

Movers and Shakers of the Week

Oklahoma is back on top at No. 1 after its sweep of then-No. 2 Texas this past weekend. The Sooners have made it a clean sweep in their No. 1 overall ranking. Arkansas continues to climb this week after their series win over Texas A&M. Backed by National Player of the Year favorite Bri Ellis, this feels like the year that the Razorbacks could get to Oklahoma City. Finally, Clemson jumps up from No. 18 to No. 14. The Tigers have surpassed many expectations and will be dangerous in the postseason

Conversely, Texas took a tumble from No. 2 to No. 8. A strong finish for the Longhorns will be needed to cement their spot for a top-five seeding. Florida State is down slightly from No. 3 to No. 5. The human polls favor the Seminoles more than the metrics. With an SOS of 20 and only seven quad-one wins, they could end up being seeded lower than their overall value. Virginia and Georgia dropped from 24 and 25, respectively, to unranked this week. Both teams are fighting for positioning and to finish the regular season strong.

The Hits Heard Around the World

As this is the last regular season edition of the composite rankings, we wanted to highlight some of the best offenses of the year. It really has to begin with Ohio State. The Buckeyes lead the country in scoring, home runs (by 34!), and RBIs. Jasmyn Burns leads the charge with a .476 batting average, 22 home runs, and 69 RBIs Ohio State will be looking to blast their way to some postseason success.

When you think of Nebraska, obviously, the conversation always turns to Jordy Bahl. And, rightfully so, she leads the Cornhuskers in most offensive categories with a .468 batting average, and 17 home runs with 56 RBIs. The Cornhuskers are second in the nation in scoring at 8.19 runs per game and third in home runs with 93.

Lastly, Oregon is one of the more complete teams in the country. They don’t have the same power numbers as Ohio State and Nebraska, but they are third in scoring with a 7.96 per game average. Additionally, they are number five in the country in batting average as a team with .354 on the year. Most importantly, they are number four in the country in stolen bases, averaging three per game. Nearly 1/3 of the total comes from Kai Luschar, who has 49 swipes this year.

Strength in Numbers

In large part due to Karlyn Pickens, Tennessee leads the country in ERA at 1.68. Pickens comes in with a 1.02 ERA. But, the Lady Volunteers have a complete staff with Sage Mardjetko and Erin Nuwer, 2.69 and 2.07 ERAs, respectively. One key to how far the Lady Volunteers could advance this postseason is the ability to get quality starts from any not named Karlyn Pickens.

Texas Tech has been a little more reliant on reigning Player of the Year NiJaree Canady. Canady has a microscopic 0.88 ERA and has 220 strikeouts in 150.2 innings pitched this season. Chloe Riassetto and Samantha Lincoln have provided depth with mixed results. They have combined for a 3.10 ERA and a 14-5 record. It will be interesting to see how much trust coach Gerry Glasco has in those arms in a pivotal moment down the stretch.

Believe it or not, Grand Canyon is second in the country in team ERA at 1.89 for the season. The Lopes have more of a committee approach than that of the previous teams mentioned. Meghan Golden and Taryn Batterton have started 31 of the 46 games for Grand Canyon. Golden has a 12-0 record with a 1.05 ERA, and Batterton has a 1.72 ERA with a 16-1 record. Grand Canyon will likely face a high-octane offense such as Arizona, UCLA, or Oregon in Regional play, so the arms could be the difference in success.

Conference Tournament Season

We have our first conference tournament of the season getting started this week. The Southland tournament starts first-round play on Thursday this week. The format is interesting as they have split the eight teams into two brackets, with the winners coming together to meet in a Women’s College World Series style of a best-of-three championship series. Stay tuned next week as we will preview the rest of the conference tournaments.

Pitcher to Watch

Macie LaRue: Southeast Louisiana. LaRue is a part of a trio of effective pitchers for the Lions that has helped them to a 43-13 record. She is 17-2 with a 2.04 ERA for the season.

Hitter to Watch

Victoria Altamirano: Incarnate Word. Altamirano will need to be a critical part of the success for Incarnate Word if the No. 4 seed can make a run to the Southland Championship. She is hitting .447 on the season with 15 home runs and 37 RBIs

Prediction

Southeast Louisiana. The Lions dropped a pair to McNeese last weekend to slide down to the No. 2 seed. But, the Lions have the depth in the circle and should be able to do just enough offensively to fend off the field.

Position Power Rankings: P | C | 1B | 3B | 2B | SS
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