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This week’s Softball America DI Top 25. The Red River Rivalry owns the top.

Rank	School	Record	Last Week’s Record	Last Week’s Ranking
1	Oklahoma	14-0	5-0	1
2	Texas	12-1	5-1	2
3	Georgia	12-1	3-1	3
4	Duke	13-1	5-0	5
5	LSU	13-0	5-0	6
6	Oklahoma State	13-2	7-0	11
7	Stanford	10-4	5-0	10
8	Washington	12-2	6-1	4
9	Clemson	11-2	5-0	9
10	Alabama	16-0	6-0	12
11	Tennessee	8-4	4-2	7
12	Baylor	8-3	5-0	22
13	Missouri	13-2	3-2	8
14	Virginia Tech	12-3	5-1	23
15	Arizona	16-1	6-0	17
16	Florida	15-2	7-1	15
17	Florida State	11-3	6-0	16
18	Arkansas	13-3	5-1	14
19	Texas A&M	14-1	5-1	13
20	Kentucky	11-2	5-0	19
21	Mississippi State	11-3	3-2	18
22	Cal	15-1	5-0	21
23	UCLA	7-5	4-1	NR
24	South Carolina	13-2	5-1	20
25	Boston	13-1	3-1	NR

Dropped out of rankings: Auburn, Penn State

Received votes: Wichita State, McNeese

After finishing 6-44 in 2023, Tennessee Tech has started the 2024 season 6-2 matching their win total from last year in just week 3 of this season. The Golden Eagles, a previous Super Regional program that had fallen on hard times under previous regimes, have started fast under second year head coach Danielle Penner and her staff. TTU returned 14 players from last year’s squad while bringing in 8 freshmen and transfers.

RTS will be in the Sunshine State tomorrow for the start of the South Florida Showdown. Host USF welcomes nationally ranked Oklahoma State and Washington to Tampa Bay. Action starts at 1:30 pm EST as No. 11 Oklahoma State and No. 4 Washington face-off. South Florida then plays the Cowgirls at 4 pm EST. The nightcap will have the Bulls facing the Huskies at 6:30 pm EST. Check back here and on all RTS Social Media platforms for live in-game updates from Tampa.

The University of Michigan has received a $10.8 million bequest from the estate of Robert H. Kaiser to endow scholarships for Wolverine Athletes. One of those endowments will include the softball program. A native of Adrian, Michigan, Roby is a 1972 graduate of Michigan’s College of Pharmacy. He also funded a scholarship endowment for softball back in 2016.

The Softball America DI Top 25 is out. Oklahoma and Texas keep hold of the top spots while an on-fire Georgia team comes in at three.

Rank	School	Record	Last Week’s Record	Last Week’s Ranking
1	Oklahoma	9-0	5-0	1
2	Texas	7-0	2-0	2
3	Georgia	9-0	4-0	4
4	Washington	6-1	3-0	8
5	Duke	8-1	4-0	5
6	LSU	8-0	3-0	11
7	Tennessee	4-2	1-2	3
8	Missouri	10-0	5-0	13
9	Clemson	6-2	2-1	6
10	Stanford	5-4	2-2	9
11	Oklahoma State	6-2	1-2	10
12	Alabama	10-0	5-0	15
13	Texas A&M	9-0	5-0	19
14	Arkansas	8-2	4-1	12
15	Florida	8-1	4-0	22
16	Florida State	5-3	1-2	7
17	Arizona	10-1	5-1	NR
18	Mississippi State	8-1	4-1	NR
19	Kentucky	6-2	2-1	18
20	South Carolina	8-1	3-1	21
21	Cal	10-1	5-0	NR
22	Baylor	3-3	3-1	16
23	VIrginia Tech	7-2-1	3-2	17
24	Auburn	4-1-1	3-0	25
25	Penn State	7-0	2-0	NR

Dropped out of rankings: Utah, Oregon, Louisiana, Indiana

Received votes: Boston

California Baptist Coach Mike Smith picked up his 1,000th Career Coaching Victory today in a 5-2 win over Cal State Bakersfield. Smith is in his second stint with the Lancers after winning a National Championship with the program in 2009 during his first tenure. He has also had coaching stops at UC Riverside, Biola, McNeese State, and Ole Miss while compiling an overall record of 1,000-397.

Florida A&M will rename their softball field after their longtime former head coach Veronica Wiggins. On March 2 during alumni weekend the playing facility will officially be dedicated as Veronica Wiggins Field. Wiggins coached the Rattlers for 29 seasons amassing 726 wins and winning 13 MEAC Championships.

As the country mourns what unfolded in Kansas City yesterday, the tragic event hits very close to the World of Softball this morning. The person who lost their life at the shooting during the victory celebration yesterday was Lisa Lopez-Galvan. The beloved local DJ, radio personality, and mother of two is the aunt of William Jewell College Softball Athlete Sophia Lopez. Lopez is a senior on the squad from Lee’s Summit, MO. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the Lopez and Galvan Families during this unimaginable time.

The most visible and popular collegiate player in 2023 won’t see anymore action in 2024.

Nebraska Pitcher Jordy Bahl will be out the rest of the year after an ACL Injury suffered the first weekend of the season. The star transfer made headlines last year helping lead the Oklahoma Sooners to a third consecutive National Championship. She returned to her home state to join the Cornhuskers last offseason.

The injury took place last weekend in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. It’s unclear if field conditions at the third-party event played a part in the injury. Said conditions were described as less than ideal by coaches, athletes, and media outlets at the event.

RTS has learned from sources that former Wallace State-Hanceville Head Coach Carson Owens has joined the staff at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Owens departed the position at Wallace State-Hanceville less than two weeks ago right before the season opener. He had won 52 games in his lone season with the Lions in 2023. Owens exact role at UAB has been described as being involved in player development/analytics.