Michigan Preseason No. 12 in USA Today/NFCA Top 25
1/24/2008 12:00:00 AM | Softball
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan softball program will launch its 2008 campaign with the No. 12 ranking in the USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 poll, which released its preseason listing Wednesday (Jan. 23).
Michigan, one of three Big Ten Conference programs mentioned in the top 25, will be tested early and often during their non-conference schedule, which includes matchups vs. No. 1 Arizona (March 21), No. 21 Cal State Fullerton (Feb. 15), No. 22 Texas (Feb. 16) and twice against No. 24 Louisiana-Lafayette (March 2, March 22). The Wolverines will square off against No. 23 Ohio State on April 18-19, and face No. 7 Northwestern in their final Big Ten home series of the season -- a doubleheader on April 27.
The Maize and Blue lineup will feature eight returning starters, including three All-Big Ten selections -- sophomore outfielder Angela Findlay (Lockport, Ill./East HS), a 2007 third team All-American; sophomore pitcher Nikki Nemitz(St. Clair Shores, Mich./Regina HS) and senior first baseman Samantha Findlay(Lockport, Ill./East HS) -- as well as senior outfielder Alessandra Giampaolo(Pasadena, Calif./Polytechnic HS), an NFCA Great Lakes All-Region first team pick. Key losses from Michigan's 2007 team that reached the NCAA Super Regional and fell just one game short of the program's ninth Women's College World Series berth include All-Big Ten second team picks pitcher Lorilyn Wilson (2004-07) and catcher Tiffany Worthy (2004-07).
The Wolverines begin another run to the WCWS with their season-opening tournament at the Kickoff Classic hosted by Florida Atlantic on Feb. 8-10 in Boca Raton, Fla. Michigan opens its season at 9 a.m. vs. Massachusetts at the FAU Softball Field.
2008 USA Softball/ESPN.com Preseason Top 25
Rank, Team Record Pts. LY 1. Arizona (27) 50-14 721 1 2. Texas A&M 46-14 581 7 3. Arizona State 54-17 575 8 4. Alabama 55-10 553 9 5. Oklahoma 55-8 522 11 6. Tennessee (1) 63-8 511 2 7. Northwestern 52-13 503 4 8. Baylor 51-16 486 5 9. Louisiana State 55-12 463 10 10. DePaul 47-13 462 6 11. Washington 42-19 436 3 12. MICHIGAN 47-12 400 13 13. Florida 50-22 386 14 14. UCLA (1) 37-18 381 18 15. Hawaii 50-13 343 12 16. Virginia Tech 49-16 306 17 17. Georgia Tech 54-16 210 19 18. Oregon State 35-21-1 201 15 19. Stanford 41-23 197 20 20. Oregon 44-19 165 22 21. Cal State Fullerton 38-23 163 16 22. Texas 35-20 115 24 23. Ohio State 40-18 111 23 24. Louisiana-Lafayette 46-18 84 RV 25. Missouri 40-24 76 25
Contact: Leah Howard (734) 763-4423
