JSU Softball Finishes in Both Top 25 Polls
6/10/2009 9:09:06 AM
JACKSONVILLE – Fresh off of the most successful season in program history, the Jacksonville State softball team earned a spot in both final Top 25 polls on Tuesday, finishing 21st in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Poll and 24th in the USA Today/NFCA Poll.
The Gamecocks (43-16, 19-2 Ohio Valley Conference) earned the program’s first appearance in either poll and joined JSU’s football program as the only two of the school’s teams to be voted in the Top 25 since it moved to Division I in the 1994-95 academic year. It adds to what is already a long list of goals that head coach Jana McGinnis has accomplished in her 16 seasons with the program, a stretch that has now seen her teams win 556 games and five conference titles.
“It is such an honor to be voted as one of the top 25 teams in the country,” McGinnis said. “It is something that has been a goal of ours for a long time. This season was special in so many ways, and I am very excited to see the hard work of our girls pay off down the stretch. This is a great reward for not only this year’s team, but for the teams that paved the way for us to be where we are today.”
JSU finished one spot ahead of North Carolina in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Poll and just ahead of 2008 College World Series participant Louisiana-Lafayette in the USA Today/NFCA Poll. Washington was the consensus No. 1 team in the country, while Florida, Alabama and Georgia occupied the rest of the top four spots in both polls.
In 2009, the Gamecocks capped their sixth 40-win season in the last seven years with the school’s first Division I at-large berth in the NCAA Tournament and went on to win the Knoxville Regional before falling to No. 3 Alabama in the Tuscaloosa Super Regional. Along the way, McGinnis earned her third OVC Coach of the Year honor while guiding a roster that featured nine players that earned All-OVC accolades. Senior Karla Pittman was named the league’s Pitcher of the Year and Prier the OVC Player of the Year to lead four First Team All-OVC selections.
ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25
1. Washington (20) 51-12
2. Florida 63-5
3. Alabama 54-11
4. Georgia 47-12
5. Michigan 47-12
6. Arizona State 47-19
7. Arizona 46-17
8. Missouri 50-12
9. Stanford 48-11
10. UCLA 45-11
11. Ohio State 47-11
12. California 38-20
13. Georgia Tech 46-15
14. UMASS 41-10
15. Baylor 40-22
16. Tennessee 40-18-1
17. Oklahoma 41-16
18. North Dakota State 38-20
19. LSU 34-18-1
20. Northwestern 31-15
21. Jacksonville State 43-16
22. North Carolina 47-13
23. DePaul 39-14
24. Louisville 48-11
25. Florida State 44-16
USA Today/NFCA Top 25
1 Washington (30) 51-12
2 Florida 63-5
3 Alabama 54-11
4 Georgia 47-12
5 Arizona State 47-19
6 Michigan 47-12
7 Arizona 46-17
8 Missouri 50-12
9 UCLA 45-11
10 Stanford 48-11
11 California 38-20
12 Ohio State 47-11
13 Georgia Tech 46-15
14 UMass 41-10
15 Baylor 40-22
16 Oklahoma 41-16
17 North Carolina 47-13
18 Northwestern 31-15
19 LSU 34-18-1
20 Tennessee 40-18-1
21 North Dakota State 38-20
22 Florida State 44-16
23 DePaul 39-14
24 Jacksonville State 43-16
25 Louisiana-Lafayette 45-13