Alabama Softball Tops the Preseason Polls
The Alabama Softball team is starting out the season in the same place they ended up last season – On Top! The Tide received 25 of the 31 votes for first place with the two teams Alabama had to get past for their 1st National Championship (Oklahoma and California) getting the remaining votes. The USA Today/NFCA preseason poll was released this afternoon where they dubbed Alabama as the No. 1 team for the 2013 season.
The defending national champs practiced for the first time on Jan. 16 in the hitting facility at Rhoads Stadium. Alabama returns 14 players from the 2012 squad that brought home the SEC’s first softball title and the Tide’s third SEC championship. NFCA All-Americans Jackie Traina and Kaila Hunt are back the season and welcomes four freshmen to the team (Kallie Case, Andrea Hawkins
, Leona Lafaele and Haylie McCleney). Head coach Patrick Murphy “We aren’t trying to reinvent the wheel here. It was all about fundamentals”. Alabama will also feature UT-San Antonio transfer, Molly Fichtner this season.
The Crimson Tide will open up the 2013 campaign at the UNI Dome Tournament in Cedar Falls, Iowa. First pitch will be Feb. 8, at 3 p.m., when Alabama faces Illinois.
The USA Today Top 10 Preseason Poll:
| Rank | Team | 2012 Record | Totals | 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 |
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