Arkansas softball lands at No. 14 nationally in NFCA/Go Rout D1 Coaches preseason poll

FAYETTEVILLE – Arkansas softball earned its fourth top-15 national preseason ranking by checking in at No. 14 in the NFCA/GoRout D1 Preseason Coaches Poll on Tuesday morning.

The Razorbacks are among 11 SEC programs to garner a spot in the poll, the most by any conference. Three other conferences represented the rest of the poll – the Atlantic Coast Conference and Big 10 with five each and the Big 12 with four.

Arkansas enters the 2025 season as a consensus top-15 team nationally after previously being ranked No. 10 in the D1 Softball Preseason Poll and No. 13 in both the ESPN/USA Softball and Softball America preseason polls.

The No. 14 ranking was the Hogs’ fourth top-15 ranking in the NFCA/GoRout D1 Top 25 Preseason Coaches Poll in program history and first since 2023 when they checked in at No. 7. They also garnered top 15 rankings in 2022 (No. 8) and 2019 (No. 14).  It marked the seventh straight year that Arkansas has garnered a Top 25 rankings in the NFCA preseason poll.

The Razorbacks have been ranked in the last 72 editions of the NFCA Top 25 Coaches Poll, dating back to the start of the 2020 season. Arkansas is just one of eight programs to garner a top-25 ranking in each of the previous 72 weeks, joining Oklahoma, Florida, UCLA, Oklahoma State, Alabama, Florida State and Washington.

Arkansas opens the 2025 campaign in San Marcos, Texas, at the Texas State Tournament (Feb. 6-8). The Razorbacks will face tournament host Texas State on Feb. 6 at 5 p.m. in the season opener. Arkansas will then return the following day to face Lipscomb (1:15 p.m.) and Bradley (3:30 p.m.) before concluding the tournament slate with Bradley (10 a.m.) and San Deigo (12:15 p.m.) on Feb. 8.

The Razorbacks have won two of the last four regular season SEC titles. They are coming off a 37-18 mark in 2024, which featured their seventh-consecutive NCAA Tournament berth in 2024 and fifth national seed, all of which have come under head coach Courtney Deifel’s guidance.

Arkansas returns 262 total starts from a year ago, headlined by junior left-handed pitcher Robyn Herron (19 starts, 1.62 ERA, 12-9, 143 K), senior first baseman Bri Ellis (55 starts, .322 avg., 14 HR, 47 RBI, .444 OBP) and junior center fielder Reagan Johnson (55 starts, .380 avg., 73 H, 12 SB, 35 R, .426 OBP).

Photo courtesy of Razorbacks Communications