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USF having a good softball team is about as surprising as the sun rising in the east every morning. Ken Eriksen always has a good team. He’s up to 863 career wins at USF, and last year the Bulls made their 12th NCAA Tournament appearance in his 21 seasons as coach.
This season is starting off even better than most. On Tuesday the Bulls found out they are ranked in both major preseason college softball polls - tied for #24 in the ESPN.com media poll, and #25 in the NFCA coaches’ poll. (Defending champion Oklahoma is the unanimous #1 in both polls.) This is the first time USF has appeared in either preseason poll since 2013, the year after their trip to the Women’s College World Series.
As you know, softball is one of the sports this blog cares about unconditionally. We’ll be at media day for both bat and ball sports next Tuesday, and don’t look now, but softball season begins February 10 with the annual USF-DeMarini Tournament at the USF Softball Stadium. Included in its always strong field are Michigan and Florida, both ranked in the preseason top ten.