Huskers Ranked Eighth in Preseason Poll

The Nebraska softball team was voted eighth in the 2004 ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate preseason poll released Wednesday morning. The Huskers earned 276 points in the poll and were just one point behind seventh-place Michigan.

The top six included defending national champion UCLA, California, Arizona, Oklahoma and Washington. In addition to OU and Nebraska, three other Big 12 Conference schools were ranked: No. 11 Texas, No. 18 Texas A&M and No. 22 Oklahoma State.

"It’s nice to be recognized among the nation’s elite programs, but it’s just on paper at this point in time," NU Coach Rhonda Revelle said. "We have a different team with a lot of new faces, and we’re going to have to come out prove that we belong.

"I feel good about what I’ve seen so far in that respect. The players came back from Christmas break with a single focus. Their drive to be the best team that we can be has already been obvious in individual workouts, and I think everyone is really excited to start practice next week."

The Huskers went 39-17 in 2003 and finished at No. 16 in the final USA Softball poll. NU returns 12 players from that squad, but suffered four key losses in lineup fixtures Amanda Buchhholz, Amber Burgess, Kim Ogee and Lisa Wangler. NU will feature two new starters in the outfield, as two-time All-Big 12 selection Nicole Trimboli is the only returnee. In the infield, the Huskers return first-team All-Big 12 second baseman Anne Steffan, but must replace four-year starters at catcher and shortstop.

The strength of the 2004 NU squad will be its pitching staff, where three-time All-Big 12 honoree Peaches James and sophomore Summer Tobias will be joined by Beatrice, Neb., native Ashley DeBuhr. James went 23-13 last year with a 1.55 ERA in 243.2 innings. James held opponents to a .171 average and produced six victories against top-25 teams. Tobias is coming off an impressive freshman season in which she posted a 15-4 record with a 1.51 ERA in 134.2 innings.

Nebraska will face one of the nation’s most difficult schedules that includes five games against 2003 Women’s College World Series participants.NU opens the season on Feb. 13 with a doubleheader against defending national champion UCLA and No. 14 DePaul. The Huskers also face Michigan twice, 20th-ranked Florida State and No. 19 Arizona State before entering the conference season. NU’s home opener is April 3 against Baylor at 2 p.m. at Bowlin Stadium.

ESPN.com/USA Softball Preseason Poll

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Team

Totals

2003 Record

Final 2003

1.

UCLA (18)

474

54-7

1

2.

<?xml:namespace prefix="st1" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"?>California (1)

442

49-20

2

3.

Arizona

436

56-7

3

4.

Oklahoma

412

47-14

6

5.

Washington

367

47-16-1

5

6.

Alabama

358

49-21

7

7.

Michigan

277

44-16

13

8.

Nebraska

276

39-17

16

9.

Louisiana Lafayette

268

47-11

8

10.

Georgia

258

57-14

14

11.

Texas

254

49-9

4

12.

Stanford

236

41-26

18

13.

Oregon

220

37-19

11

14.

DePaul

219

48-7-1

10

15.

LSU

199

50-18

17

16.

Cal State Fullerton

180

41-15

9

17.

Texas A&M

168

38-22

15

18.

Iowa

166

44-15

20

19.

Arizona State

145

32-25

22

20.

Florida State

139

46-11

21

21.

Fresno State

127

36-22

-

22.

Oklahoma State

96

39-15

12

23.

Oregon State

93

36-31

25

24.

Michigan State

62

40-19

19

25.

Tennessee

59

45-25

-

Others receiving votes ? South Carolina (47), Florida (37), Southern Illinois (35), Pacific (26), Northwestern (16), Massachusetts (15), Ohio State (14), Minnesota (9), Texas State (8), Baylor (8), Marshall (8), Notre Dame (4), South Florida (2), and Florida Atlantic (1).