Utah State Head Coach Steve Johnson walked off the field for the final time over the weekend a winner with a 7-2 victory over San Jose State. Johnson has announced the 2023 season would be his last in softball as he will be retiring from coaching. He spent 27 years in the sport, with the last 10 coming at USU. Johnson also had stops at Auburn, UNC Pembroke, and South Dakota State.
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Saginaw Valley Repeats As GLIAC Champs
Saginaw Valley State won its second consecutive Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Championship Sunday to punch their ticket to the NCAA Postseason. The Cardinals downed Wisconsin-Parkside 12-2 in five innings in the championship final.
MGA Dominates SACC Title Game
Middle Georgia State won the program’s first Southern States Athletic Conference Championship on Saturday downing University of Mobile to punch their ticket to the NAIA Postseason. The No. 16 ranked Knights dominated the No. 13 ranked Rams 11-0 in five innings in the championship final behind a combined two-hit shutout by Madison Riggins and Beth Eddins. MGA didn’t miss a beat with their 42nd win of the season rolling through the SSAC Tournament undefeated even without their head coach Becca Hewitt who was suspended last week by the institute.
Matson Steps Down At Montreat
After 11 seasons Heather Maston has stepped down as head coach at Montreat College. Maston won 117 games at the NAIA institute, 56 of those those in conference. The 2023 Cavaliers squad finished 10-39.
Grimes Resigns At Ouachita Baptist
Derrick Grimes has resigned as head coach at Ouachita Baptist University. Grimes spent three seasons coaching the Tigers. He compiled a 51-84 overall record at the DII program.
Decker Sports Official Sponsor For RTS Postseason Coverage
Rounding Third Softball is pleased to announce that Decker Sports will be the official sponsor of all 2023 postseason coverage. Decker was founded in 1994 in Omaha, Nebraska and is a national brand uniform, softball, and apparel company.
“Rounding Third Softball Postseason Coverage Powered By Decker” will start next week during Division I Conference Tournament week, continue through NCAA Regional and Super Regional action, highlight the Division II National Championship event, and conclude next month on the grandest stage in softball at the Women’s College World Series in Oklahoma City.
Final Regular Season NAIA Top 25
Oregon Tech (43-6) remains atop the final NAIA Top 25 Coaches’ Poll of the regular season. The Owls garnered 17 of the 19 first-place votes, while No. 2 Our Lady of the Lakes (42-4) received two votes.
| RANK | LAST WEEK | SCHOOL [1st Place Votes] | RECORD | FINAL POINTS |
| 1 | 1 | Oregon Tech [17] | 43-6 | 528 |
| 2 | 2 | Our Lady of the Lake (Texas) [2] | 42-4 | 512 |
| 3 | 3 | Cumberlands (Ky.) | 42-3 | 496 |
| 4 | 4 | Southern Oregon | 40-9 | 472 |
| 5 | 5 | Oklahoma City | 40-8 | 464 |
| 6 | 8 | College of Idaho | 43-6 | 429 |
| 7 | 7 | Baker (Kan.) | 41-7 | 419 |
| 8 | 11 | Georgia Gwinnett | 37-9 | 400 |
| 9 | 10 | Marian (Ind.) | 42-6 | 396 |
| 10 | 9 | Science & Arts (Okla.) | 34-13 | 392 |
| 11 | 6 | Texas A&M Texarkana | 31-8 | 358 |
| 12 | 12 | Northwestern (Iowa) | 43-6 | 336 |
| 13 | 15 | Mobile (Ala.) | 36-11 | 326 |
| 14 | 16 | Ottawa (Kan.) | 40-7 | 304 |
| 15 | 17 | Central Methodist (Mo.) | 34-10 | 281 |
| 16 | 13 | Middle Georgia State | 38-12 | 268 |
| 16 | 20 | Indiana Wesleyan | 39-11 | 268 |
| 18 | 21 | Coastal Georgia | 37-10 | 233 |
| 19 | 23 | Campbellsville (Ky.) | 28-14-1 | 226 |
| 20 | 17 | Southeastern (Fla.) | 31-14 | 196 |
| 21 | 14 | Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) | 24-11 | 175 |
| 22 | 19 | William Carey (Miss.) | 38-12 | 173 |
| 23 | 22 | Hope International (Calif.) | 36-12 | 140 |
| 24 | 24 | Eastern Oregon | 31-17 | 123 |
| 25 | 25 | Mount Vernon Nazarene (Ohio) | 31-14 | 94 |
Dropped from the Top 25: N/A
Others Receiving Votes: Reinhardt (Ga.) 80, Indiana Tech 63, Cottey (Mo.) 59, Friends (Kan.) 58, Missouri Baptist 29, Mount Mercy (Iowa) 23, Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) 21, Truett McConnell (Ga.) 16, Midland (Neb.) 12, St. Francis (Ill.) 11, Bellevue (Neb.) 11, Mid-America Christian (Okla.) 4, Grand View (Iowa) 4, Arizona Christian 3, Oklahoma Wesleyan 3, Indiana Southeast 3.
NCAA DI RPI Showing The Path To Postseason
As we enter the final week of the regular season, the latest Rating Percentage Index (RPI) can show where your team stacks up this season. The RPI is utilized by the NCAA Committee as one of their metrics in selection of teams for postseason play. https://www.ncaa.com/…/soft…/d1/ncaa-womens-softball-rpi
U of Mary Leadership Change
University of Mary Head Coach Dre Frantz has resigned. The former UM All-American led the DII program for just two seasons. During that time the Marauders went 14-77.
This Week’s Top 25 Poll
This week’s D1 Softball Top 25 has Oklahoma (45-1), UCLA (47-4), Florida State (43-8), Tennessee-Knoxville (39-6), and Texas (39-9-1) featured in the Top 5.
| Rank | Team | Overall Record | Record Last Week | Previous Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oklahoma | 45-1 | 3-0 | 1 |
| 2 | UCLA | 47-4 | 4-0 | 2 |
| 3 | Florida State | 43-8 | 4-0 | 4 |
| 4 | Tennessee | 39-6 | 2-1 | 3 |
| 5 | Texas | 39-9-1 | 0-0 | 5 |
| 6 | Georgia | 38-10 | 1-0 | 7 |
| 7 | Oklahoma State | 41-9 | 2-1 | 8 |
| 8 | Stanford | 38-10 | 4-0 | 10 |
| 9 | Duke | 43-9 | 3-1 | 9 |
| 10 | Clemson | 45-8 | 1-3 | 6 |
| 11 | Washington | 35-10 | 2-0 | 11 |
| 12 | Arkansas | 36-14 | 2-1 | 13 |
| 13 | Auburn | 37-15 | 2-1 | 15 |
| 14 | Alabama | 36-16 | 2-1 | 16 |
| 15 | LSU | 38-13 | 1-2 | 12 |
| 16 | Oregon | 35-11 | 4-0 | 17 |
| 17 | Northwestern | 33-10 | 3-0 | 19 |
| 18 | Wichita State | 43-8 | 3-0 | 20 |
| 19 | Central Arkansas | 36-9 | 3-0 | 23 |
| 20 | Baylor | 36-15 | 2-2 | 14 |
| 21 | Utah | 30-13 | 1-3 | 18 |
| 22 | Florida | 34-16 | 2-3 | 21 |
| 23 | Texas A&M | 32-18 | 3-1 | 22 |
| 24 | Louisville | 35-14 | 3-0 | 25 |
| 25 | Minnesota | 33-16 | 5-0 | NR |
| Dropped Out | ||||
| Kentucky | 28-18-1 | 1-3 | 24 | |