Jan. 22, 2013

BERKELEY - California, which is coming of a 58-7 season and back-to-back trips to the Women's College World Series, is ranked third in the USA Today/NFCA preseason softball poll released Tuesday. The Bears earned one first-place vote and trail only Alabama and Oklahoma in the ratings.

Once again, the Pac-12 is well represented with seven schools among the top 25. After Cal, Arizona State is fourth, Oregon fifth, Arizona 13th, Washington 16th, UCLA 19th and Stanford 21st. The Bears spent a majority of the 2012 season top the rankings, captured the Pac-12 title and tied for third at the WCWS.

Last year, Cal held the fourth spot in the preseason USA Today/NFCA poll.

The Bears are led by senior Jolene Henderson, a two-time first-team All-American and two-time Pac-10/12 Pitcher of the Year. She is a combined 78-12 inside the circle over the past two years, including a 38-4 record, a 1.29 ERA and 332 strikeouts in 282.1 innings last season. Also back for the 2013 campaign are 2012 Pac-12 All-Freshmen honorees Cheyenne Cordes, Danielle Henderson and Breana Kostreba.

Cal opens the season at the Kajikawa Tournament in Arizona Feb. 8-10.

The USA Today/NFCA poll is voted on by 31 NCAA Division I head coaches, one representing each conference. Final 2012 records are shown and first-place votes are in parentheses.

Team               2012 Record   Pts   Final 2012 Poll
1. Alabama (25)           60-8   765   1
2. Oklahoma (5)          54-10   745   2
3. California (1)         58-7   704   3
4. Arizona State         53-11   684   4
5. Oregon                45-18   635   5
6. Tennessee             52-14   626   6
7. Texas                 47-13   534   9
8. Missouri              47-14   496   11
9. Georgia               45-17   490   10
10. LSU                  40-25   475   7
11. Louisiana Lafayette   53-6   429   12
12. South Florida        50-14   423   8
13. Arizona              38-19   406   13
14. Florida              48-11   342   18
15. Michigan             42-17   326   15
16. Washington           39-19   316   14
17. Texas A&M            41-18   296   19
18. Louisville            55-5   255   17
19. UCLA                 36-20   216   20
20. Hofstra              42-15   203   16
21. Stanford             40-19   183   21
22. North Carolina       43-15   102   24
23. Hawai'i               44-9    89   22
24. Baylor               34-22    80   RV
25. Florida State        47-16    58   RV

Others Receiving Votes:  Notre Dame (43), Georgia Tech (29), Syracuse (27), Kentucky (23),
Oregon State (22), Texas Tech (12), Virginia Tech (11), DePaul (10), Northwestern (5), BYU (4),
Houston (3), Tulsa (2), Mississippi State (2), Illinois State (2), South Alabama (2).