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Mississippi State’s softball team broke out of a late season slump, winning three of its last four games to end the regular season. The Bulldogs are now headed to the SEC Softball Tournament as the No. 6 seed and a higher ranking in the top 25 rankings.

The Bulldogs (33-17, 12-12 SEC) gained two spots in the ESPN.COM/USA Softball Top 25 poll and three in the USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Coaches Poll to be ranked No. 17 in both polls.

MSU will face 11th seeded South Carolina (33-21, 8-16 SEC) in the first round of the conference tournament at 7 p.m. Wednesday. The Bulldogs won their season series against South Carolina in April by with 6-0 and 4-0 victories before losing the final game 3-1. The winner will face No. 3 seed Texas A&M in the quarterfinals at 7 p.m. Thursday.

The following are the full polls:

(Rank, Team, Record, Points, Previous Ranking)

1. Texas (24), 45-6, 624, 1

2. Oklahoma State (1), 44-9, 586, 4

3. Tennessee, 40-9, 584, 3

4. Oklahoma, 46-6, 542, 2

5. Duke, 44-6, 528, 5

6. UCLA, 34-10, 500, 6

7. Florida, 43-12, 472, 9

8. Stanford, 42-12, 464, 7

9. LSU, 38-14, 396, 13

10. Texas A&M, 39-12, 374, 8

11. Washington, 31-12, 350, 10

12. Missouri, 40-14, 344, 15

13. Arkansas, 36-15, 317, 11

14. Georgia, 38-15, 308, 12

15. Virginia Tech, 39-11-1, 263, 18

16. Florida State, 41-13, 246, 14

17. Mississippi State, 33-17, 220, 19

18. Louisiana, 40-16, 208, 17

19. Arizona, 33-15-1, 186, 20

20. Alabama, 33-16, 167, 16

21. Clemson, 33-16, 98, 22

22. Oregon, 28-18, 97, 21

23. Northwestern, 33-10, 81, 23

24. Miami (Ohio), 45-7, 53, 25

25. Kentucky, 30-21, 30, 24

Others receiving votes:

California (27), Texas State (22), Boston U (19), Auburn (12), South Carolina (9), Baylor (5), Virginia (1), South Alabama (1)

(Rank, Team, Record, Points, Previous Ranking)

1. Texas (32), 45-6, 800, 1

2. Tennessee, 40-9, 747, 3

3. Oklahoma State, 44-9, 736, 4

4. Oklahoma, 46-6, 717, 2

5. Duke, 43-6, 664, 5

6. UCLA, 34-10, 636, 7

7. Stanford, 42-12, 622, 6

8. Florida, 43-12, 564, 11

9. Texas A&M, 39-12, 502, 8

10. LSU, 38-14, 483, 10

11. Missouri, 40-14, 480, 13

12. Washington, 31-12, 435, 9

13. Florida State, 41-13, 370, 12

14. Georgia, 38-15, 368, 14

15. Virginia Tech, 38-11-1, 349, 16

16. Arkansas, 36-15, 335, 15

17. Mississippi State, 33-17, 271, 20

18. Arizona, 33-15-1, 268, 18

19. California, 36-16, 232, 19

20. Alabama, 33-16, 203, 17

21. Louisiana, 40-16, 161, 21

22. Boston University, 49-4-1, 156, 22

23. Clemson, 33-16, 81, 23

24. Oregon, 28-18, 57, 25

25. Northwestern, 33-10, 46, NR

Others receiving votes:

Kentucky (36), Miami (32), Texas State (18), Baylor (9), Grand Canyon (9), South Carolina (9), Virginia (9), Auburn (1).

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