Softball | 1/20/2015 11:38:00 AM

Rank Team 2014 Record Totals Final 2014 Rank 1 Florida (20) 55-12 699 1 2 Oregon (8) 56-9-1 694 3 3 Alabama 53-13 648 2 4 Oklahoma (1) 51-13 613 5 5 Florida State 55-9 571 7 6 Kentucky 50-19 565 6 7 UCLA 52-8 536 9 8 Michigan 47-15 493 10 9 Louisiana 49-10-1 481 8 10 Baylor 49-16 475 4 11 Washington 37-15 411 11 12 Georgia 49-15 402 13 13 Tennessee 46-12 401 12 14 Arizona 44-16 356 14 15 Minnesota 44-12 298 15 16 Arizona State 46-12-1 267 17 17 Missouri 43-18 240 19 18 Nebraska 44-18 213 16 19 LSU 38-24 205 21 20 Auburn 42-19-1 204 20 21 Tulsa 53-9 175 18 22 Notre Dame 41-13 133 22 23 South Alabama 42-14 100 23 24 Texas A&M 37-22 71 25 25 DePaul 44-11 40 24

-- RaginCajuns.com --

After making their sixth trip to the Women's College World Series in 2014, the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns softball program was picked ninth in the USA Today/National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Division I Preseason Top 25 poll.Under the direction of 13-year head coach and the 2014 Sun Belt Conference Coach of the Year, Louisiana returns 22 letterwinners from last season as the Cajuns went 49-10-1 and 19-1 in Sun Belt Conference play. The Cajuns swept the Sun Belt Conference regular season and tournament titles before taking down Texas Southern, Texas and Arizona in postseason action to reach Oklahoma City for the first time since 2008."The ranking is basically based on last year's success of going to the Women's College World Series," Lotief said. "This team understands the high expectations for this season, and we embrace it and continue to work extremely hard day by day. However, we understand the challenges in front of us – we have to get healthy, we need some of our younger players to develop and contribute, and we have to develop chemistry like we had last year."Among those returning in 2015 for the Cajuns are NFCA All-American senior pitcherand junior catcher. Hamilton posted a 29-4 record in 2014, tying for 13in the nation in wins to be named the SBC and Louisiana Sports Writers Association (LSWA) Pitcher of the Year. Hamilton paced the Cajuns through postseason, picking up all five wins to also be named to the NFCA All-Central Region First Team.One of the nation's top hitters in 2014, Elkins joined Hamilton on the NFCA All-Central Region First Team and was tabbed the SBC Player of the Year after hitting .388 with 73 hits, 74 RBI and 41 runs. She was second in the nation with 24 home runs, fifth in RBI and 11with an .835 slugging percentage. Elkins was named the LSWA Hitter and Newcomer of the Year to add to her accolades in her first season with the Cajuns.Other top returners for the Cajuns in 2015 include NFCA All-Central Region Second Team and All-SBC First Team selectionand all-SBC selections(First Team) and(Second Team).The reigning NCAA champion, Florida, topped the poll at No. 1, receiving 699 points and 20 first-place votes. A 2014 WCWS semifinalist, Oregon comes in at No. 2 with 694 points and eight first-place votes. Alabama was picked No. 3 in the poll with 648 points while Oklahoma was No. 4 with 613 points and one first-place vote. Florida State rounded out the top five with 571 points.Kentucky was selected No. 6 with 565 points while UCLA was No. 7 with 536. Michigan (493 pts), Louisiana (481) and Baylor (475) finished off the top 10. Louisiana will take on three of the top-10 teams in the preseason poll in Oregon (Apr. 24-25), Alabama (Feb. 27-Mar.1) and Baylor (Apr. 10-11) in non-conference action this season. The Cajuns will travel to both Oregon and Alabama while facing Baylor inside the friendly confines of Lamson Park."Every year is unique unto itself," Lotief said. "The measure of this year's team success will not be based on last year but will be a product of how we come together as a team and handle the adversity and failures the game puts in front of us. This team has talent and experience, but more is required than that to win championships."The Cajuns were joined by South Alabama (No. 23) as the two Sun Belt schools to appear in the NFCA poll.Louisiana will open the season with the 2015 Louisiana Classic on Feb. 6 against North Carolina State, who received 14 votes in the NFCA preseason poll.James Madison (36), USC Upstate (21), Wisconsin (16), UCF (16), Texas (16), North Carolina State (14), Northwestern (3), Stanford (3), South Carolina (3), Hofstra (2), Louisville (2), Cal State Fullerton (2).