Arizona softball drops to No. 13 in NFCA/USA Today poll

After a 2-3 weekend at the TaxAct Clearwater Invitational, Arizona softball took a dip in the latest NFCA/USA Today coaches poll. The Wildcats dropped from No. 10 to No. 13 this week.

Arizona started the season 5-0 with five run-rule victories at home but ran into trouble in Florida. The Wildcats dropped their first three games by a total of six runs.

Arizona bounced back the final two days, getting a Top 10 win over then-No. 8 Virginia Tech by the score of 6-2 and run-ruling Indiana in five innings by the score of 10-1.

The most significant move in the poll was by another Pac-12 team. UCLA jumped Oklahoma to take over at No. 1 after the Sooners finally dropped a game to a Baylor team that was unranked at the time. Oklahoma had a close call in the second game the season, beating an unranked Liberty team 1-0 in eight innings. The Bears were able to get the job done to hand the Sooners an early loss.

Washington moved up four spots to No. 8 and Stanford moved up three to No. 19. Oregon went from No. 24 to No. 22. Arizona State is first on the “others receiving votes” list after dropping from No. 22.

Arizona is now in Fayetteville, Ark. preparing to play three games against the No. 7 Razorbacks and two against Drake.