Rounding Third Softball

Rebecca Arbino will be named assistant coach at Rhodes College RTS has learned. Arbino, a standout pitcher in her playing days at Texas A&M and San Diego State, had collegiate coaching stops with UNLV and Minnesota-Crookston before landing in Memphis. The California Native has spent the last few years in private instruction and coaching on the club level. Arbino will head up the pitching and catching staff for the Lynx.

Penn State has named Kent State assistant coach Arika Roush their new Director of Softball Operations. Roush spent the last three seasons on the coaching staff of the Golden Flashes. The former KSU letterwinner also worked in an operations capacity in MLB for the Cleveland Indians.

The world was watching…

This year Women’s College World Series (WCWS) was the most-viewed ever, averaging 1,203,000 viewers, up 10 percent over the 2019 WCWS. The three-game Championship Series between Oklahoma and Florida State averaged 1,840,000 viewers, up 15 percent over the 2019 Championship Series.

The opening day of the tournament was the most-watched opening day since 2009, averaging 755,000 average viewers per game. The day’s lineup was highlighted by unseeded James Madison’s historic upset of No. 1 seed, No. 1 ranked, and eventual national champion Oklahoma. The game averaged 620,000 viewers, up 20 percent over 2019’s Game 1. The game between the Sooners and Dukes was the most-viewed Game 1 on record.

Colorado Mesa has removed the interim tag from Mercedes Bohte naming her head coach of the program. Bohte was appointed to the interim position in March, subsequently guiding the Mavericks to a 39-5 record while winning the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Championship and advancing to the NCAA DII Postseason. She has been on the coaching staff with CMU since the 2013 season.

Boise State has named Justin Shults their new head coach. Shults spent the past three seasons as an assistant coach at Oregon helping rebuild the Ducks program. UO reached the NCAA Austin Regional championship game in 2021. In addition to his time in Eugene, he had stops on coaching staffs at Southwestern Oklahoma State, Miami (OH), and Fresno State.

Massachusetts has named alum Danielle Henderson their new head coach. The UMass Hall of Fame inductee, three-time All-American, and Olympic Gold Medalist returns to the Minutewomen after seven seasons leading the program at UMass Lowell. She joined the River Hawks as head coach after serving as associate head coach at Massachusetts in 2014.

As RTS reported early last month, Fresno State made official today in releasing that Linda Garza would be stepping down as head coach. Garza had taken what was termed as a “leave of absence” back in early April, and never returned to coach the Bulldogs. Garza led Fresno State for five seasons and compiled a record of 146-77.

To no surprise, the champs are No. 1. Oklahoma (56-4) is the unanimous No. 1 in the final USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Coaches Poll. The Sooners spent the last 13 weeks in the top spot and secured the programs fifth National Championship last week winning the WCWS.

Rank	School	Points	Record	Last Week
1	Oklahoma (32)	800	56-4	1
2	Florida State	764	49-13-1	8
3	Alabama	731	52-9	3
4	JMU	688	41-4	22
5	UCLA	683	47-7	2
6	Oklahoma State	636	48-12	7
7	Arizona	617	41-15	9
8	Georgia	546	34-23	RV
9	Florida	509	45-11	4
10	Washington	489	45-14	6
11	Arkansas	475	43-11	5
12	Texas	438	43-14	11
13	Missouri	398	42-17	14
14	Virginia Tech	370	37-15	21
15	LSU	346	35-22	16
16	Kentucky	306	43-16	19
17	Oregon	301	40-17	10
18	Clemson	225	44-8	13
19	Michigan	194	38-8	20
20	Duke	177	44-12	17
21	Arizona State	159	33-16	12
22	Louisiana	146	47-12	15
23	Tennessee	113	42-15	18
24	Wichita State	91	41-13-1	23
25	Liberty	57	44-15	25

New to Poll: No. 8 Georgia

Dropped Out: No. 24 Minnesota

Receiving Votes: Minnesota (37), UCF (28), Fresno State (18), Notre Dame (15), Ole Miss (14), USF (10), Auburn (5), Iowa State (5), Mississippi State (3), Miami (Ohio) (2), Stanford (2), Texas A&M (2).

The Ballad of Odicci Alexander continues… The James Madison Duke that grabbed the nations attention and quickly became a WCWS Legend with her story of grit and passion, is now turning her attention to the professional ranks. The USSSA Pride announced on Monday that the team had signed the former JMU Ace. Alexander finished her career with 81 wins, racking up 712 strikeouts in 640 innings of work. She threw 1057 pitches in 2021 WCWS, pitching JMU into the final four. Also an offense threat at the plate, Alexander will make her debut for the Pride in home series vs. Team Mexico in Viera, Florida beginning today.

RTS has received word Chris Steiner-Wilcoxson has moved on from Florida International. While no further details have come available at this time on the exact reasons for the departure, the coaching staff and directory page section on FIU’s Athletic Website has been completely cleared and replaced with “TBA”. It is a distinct possibility the Alabama Native could be filling one of the positions currently open further north in her home region. Steiner-Wilcoxson spent two seasons as head coach of the Panthers compiling a 22-35 record.