Lady Jackets Back to No. 3 (May 4, 2005)

BILLINGS, MT – After slipping one spot in last week’s NCAA West Region softball poll, Montana State-Billings is back up to the third spot in this week’s rankings, the final of the regular season before the tournament selection on May 9.  The Yellowjackets have completed their regular season and will wait for Monday’s NCAA Tournament announcement.

MSU Billings went 6-0 last week, including a four game sweep of conference and West Region foe Western New Mexico.  San Francisco State, ranked third last week, split their four games for the week including a pair of losses to No. 6 Cal State-Chico.  That was enough to allow the Jackets to climb back above the Gators in this week’s poll. 

San Francisco State has also completed its season.  The only team ranked in the top six with games remaining is No. 2 Cal State-Dominguez Hills, which hosts Grand Canyon on Friday.  Seventh-ranked Seattle University has four games remaining this weekend as the Redhawks try to unseat Cal State-Chico as the No. 6 seed.  If the Yellowjackets hold at No. 3, they will face the No. 6 seed in the first round.  Humboldt State has been the presumed No. 1 seed for most of the season, and Dominguez Hills has had a strong hold on the No. 2 spot.  The top two seeds receive first round byes. 

NCAA West Region Softball (through games of 5/1/05)
 1. Humboldt State (59-3, previous rank: 1)
 2. Cal State-Dominguez Hills (42-9, previous rank: 2)
 3. Montana State-Billings (34-12, previous rank: 4)
 4. San Francisco State (36-18, previous rank: 3)
 5. Hawaii-Hilo (31-9, previous rank: 5)
 6. Cal State-Chico (30-14, previous rank: 6)
 7. Seattle University (27-14, previous rank: 7)
 8. Cal State-Bakersfield (32-22, previous rank: 8)
 9. Hawaii Pacific (31-15, previous rank: 9)
 10. Western Washington (20-17, previous rank: n/a)