Washington stands pat, Louisiana drops one, Oregon State in the mix
The USA Today/NFCA Coaches Power Ranking is out and hierarchies are starting to set in. Most teams stayed pretty close to where they were ranked last week, with no movement in the top seven.
Washington, who fell two spots last week, steadied the ship, going 4-1 and staying at No. 7 in the nation. Gabbie Plain made brief appearances in two games before pitching seven innings on the way to a 6-1 victory against UNLV Gabbie dominated, facing an average of 4.3 batters per inning, and clocking up 13K's against the Rebels.
Louisiana who went 2-2 on the week, fell one spot in the standings thanks to a pair of losses to LSU, who moved up one place to take over their spot on the rankings. Kandra Lamb went 1-1 in three appearances on the week, clocking up 12K's in 5 innings against Central Connecticut before falling to LSU 2-5 in their final game of the week.
Oregon State put themselves on the national radar, going 5-0 for the week and extending their winning streak to 14. During this streak they defeated Tennessee, Baylor, San Diego and Iowa - all prolific sporting colleges. This was enough to earn them two points in the voting process. Tarni Stepto has been dominant for the Beavers, both starting and icing games through the season. On the week she pitched two of the five games, and was almost un-hittable, striking out 24 and walking one, and only allowed a solitary run in thirteen innings of pitching. The strength of their schedule is still ahead of them, and if they can continue to perform at their current level, they deserve a spot on the national list.
