Ryan ChartrandThe USA Today/NFCA softball top-25 rankings are unquestionably flawless and a precise representation of the upper-echelon softball squads…NOT!
Even our Kazakh friend Borat can figure that one out. Cal Poly, despite marquee wins against No. 7 Northwestern, No. 11 Washington and No. 13 Stanford, garnered one, count’em one, vote in the USA Today/NFCA top-25 poll last week.
The latest poll was released this morning and ought to tell a different story, but the lack of respect given to Cal Poly’s program the last two years is ridiculous.
On the other hand, pollsters saw fit to give undeserving UC Santa Barbara four votes. The Gauchos beat No. 3 Arizona State 8-7, but have yet to notch another top-25 win. The only other game the Gauchos have played against a top-25 opponent was a 2-0 loss to No. 23 California.
To their credit, the Gauchos did win against then-No. 18 Massachusetts, but the Minutemen have since dropped completely from top-25 talk with an 8-8 start.
In contrast, Cal Poly was 3-3 against top-25 teams before voters cast their ballots one week ago. The Mustangs have clearly played a tougher schedule than the Gauchos. Yet the Gauchos have more votes than Cal Poly – conspiracy theorists, it’s your time to shine.
Did the wins against Northwestern and Stanford go unnoticed by (nearly) every voter in the land? Any men’s basketball team with wins of Cal Poly’s caliber would, at the absolute least, take home one vote – by golly, they might even crack the top-25.
Admittedly, the argument is rather petty – the difference between four votes and one. However, this small example is indicative of the small amount of respect Cal Poly softball receives.
Cal Poly is off to a tremendous start, its best since 1997 when the squad rose to No. 7 in the USA Today/NFCA top-25 poll with a 20-4 record (somehow the Mustangs were snubbed again that year). Over the weekend, the Mustangs won the National Invitation Tournament, routing the likes of Iowa, Connecticut, Iowa State, Eastern Illinois and Charlotte.
At 18-6, Cal Poly seems poised to finally find that elusive NCAA Tournament bid and might not have to sweat it out this year. As Big West play nears, Cal Poly has its eyes set on a conference championship. The Mustangs were picked second in the preseason coaches poll behind Cal State Fullerton, but Cal Poly has played just as well up to this point as its rivals in Southern California.
Led by do-it-all center fielder Lisa Modglin and a “Fab Four” pitching staff of Robyn Kontra, Helen Pe¤a, Jenna Maiden and Emily Hively, Cal Poly is chasing its first Big West title in program history.
In case you haven’t heard enough about Modglin after reading today’s cover story, the senior leadoff hitter is absolutely crushing the ball. Think Barry Bonds on a softball field without the steroids and standing 5-feet-4 and you’ve got Modglin. She leads the team with 11 home runs (one every 7.45 at-bats, a statistic that would beat the best home run hitters in Major League Baseball), 31 runs, 28 RBI, an off-the-charts slugging percentage of 1.024-percent, six stolen bases and a .599 on-base-percentage. Oh yeah, she’s hitting .500 24 games into the season. Basically, she’s better than Superman. Modglin doesn’t crumble to kryptonite.
As for pitching, Kontra, Pe¤a, Maiden and Hively have combined for an anemic 2.04 ERA.
The Mustangs are long overdue for an NCAA Tournament invitation. Win the Big West and there’s nothing to worry about – now if they could only get some respect in the polls.
A date with No. 12 UCLA is looming. The Bruins will travel to San Luis Obispo on March 25 in what could be an eye-opening series for voters across the nation.