Rounding Third Softball

Breaking news and BIG. It is expected that the NCAA will allow 100% capacity for attendance of the Women’s College World Series in Oklahoma City if local and state guidelines allow for the move.

Georgia Southern Coach Kim Dean has stepped down to pursue other professional opportunities. Dean lead the Eagles for four seasons compiling an 82-89 record. Assistant coach Dani Price will serve as the interim coach for GSU.

Multiple sources have confirmed to RTS that Louisiana Tech is planning to reopen the search for a head coach for their program. Current interim head coach and program alum Bianca Duran was named to lead the program last August after an initial search. She guided La Tech to a 22-30 season and was 10-10 in Conference USA play. While Duran could still be considered a permanent replacement, new athletic director Eric Wood was hired in October and the administrative shift could mean new leadership for the Lady Techsters and not just an automatic removal of the interim tag for Duran.

Georgia State has announced it will not renew the contract of head coach Roger Kincaid. The Panthers finished the 2021 season 16-30 and 3-18 in Sun Belt Conference play. Kincaid was 304-274 overall in his 11 seasons in Panthersville.

The NCAA Division III Championship Committee announced the selections for the DIII Postseason on Monday. Eight regional sites will host six team double elimination tournaments May 20-23. With the elimination of the Super Regional Round due to pandemic concerns, the winner of each regional will advance straight to the Division III Championship Finals in Salem, Virginia May 27-June 1.

Decatur Regional

Geneva (36-5)

Calvin (28-8)

Millikin (31-11)

Belhaven (30-10)

DePauw(34-2)

Mt. St. Joseph (30-8)

Marshall Regional

Salisbury (24-7)

Ohio Northern (23-18)

Birmingham Southern (27-6)

Redlands (13-5)

East Texas Baptist (30-5)

Eastern Nazarene (24-5)

Bangor Regional

Babson (15-1)

Tufts (17-5)

Brandeis (13-1)

Eastern Connecticut State (30-2)

Husson (27-1)

Endicott (19-2)

Seguin Regional

Emory & Henry (26-7)

Bridgewater State (17-9)

Christopher Newport (28-12)

Emmanuel (MA) (20-4)

Texas Lutheran (28-4)

Cedar Crest (17-3)

Erie Regional

SUNY Geneseo (16-8)

Stevens (22-8)

Rochester (NY) (31-8)

Penn State-Behrend (28-6)

St. John Fisher (28-5)

York (PA) (18-9)

Eau Claire Regional

Alfred (31-9)

Piedmont (22-11)

Linfield (36-7)

Southern Maine (31-4)

Wisconsin-Oshkosh (24-11)

Illinois College (25-12)

Virginia Beach Regional

TCNJ (23-3)

Gettysburg (11-3)

Moravian (29-1)

Farmingdale St. (17-5)

Virginia Wesleyan (37-5)

Penn College (18-3)

Waverly Regional

St. Thomas (MN) (27-8)

Webster (20-10)

MSOE (33-8)

Coe (24-13)

St. Olaf (24-5)

Wisconsin-Superior (22-14)

The National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) announced Tuesday the 15 student-athletes that have been selected as finalists for the 2021 Schutt Sports/NFCA Division II National Player and Pitcher of the Year awards. The award honors the outstanding athletic achievements among softball student-athletes throughout NCAA Division II. The winners will be announced following the conclusion of the 2021 NCAA DII Softball Championship.

The 15 finalist list includes: Tatum Brummitt, Sr., University of North Carolina at Pembroke

Bailey Byers, Sr., Malone University

Hannah Rose Corbin, So., Columbus State University

Kendall Cornick, Sr., Augustana University

Sydni Hawkins, Jr., Missouri Western State University

Alyssa Herrera, Fr., Georgian Court University

Hannah Marsteller, So., Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania

Shanna McBroom, Grad., West Texas A&M University

Nicole Pennington, Jr., Valdosta State University

Morgan Perry, Sr., Saint Anselm College

Ellie Smith, So., Colorado Mesa University

Kenzee Smith, Fr., University of Indianapolis

Kylee Smith, Sr., University of North Georgia

Mackenzie Ward, Jr., Minnesota State University, Mankato

Faith Willenbrock, Sr., Millersville University of Pennsylvania

Unanimous once again. For the 12th straight week Oklahoma (45-2) sits atop the final USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Coaches Poll of the regular season. Heading into postseason play the Sooners picked up all 32 first-place votes.

Rank	School	Points	Record	Last Week
1	Oklahoma (32)	800	45-2	1
2	UCLA	767	41-4	2
3	Alabama	735	45-7	3
4	Florida	706	42-9	4
5	Arkansas	629	40-9	6
6	Washington	606	41-11	5
7	Oklahoma State	594	42-9	9
8	Florida State	557	39-10-1	7
9	Arizona	552	36-13	8
10	Oregon	469	37-15	11
11	Texas	457	39-11	10
12	Arizona State	439	32-14	12
13	Clemson	399	42-6	13
14	Missouri	375	38-15	15
15	Louisiana	362	44-10	14
16	LSU	331	32-19	16
17	Duke	283	42-10	21
18	Tennessee	278	41-13	19
19	Kentucky	273	39-13	17
20	Michigan	242	36-6	18
21	Virginia Tech	165	33-13	20
22	JMU	114	34-1	22
23	Wichita State	83	39-11-1	24
24	Minnesota	72	29-11	23
25	Liberty	49	42-13	25

New to Poll: None

Dropped Out: None

Receiving Votes: Georgia (14), Notre Dame (12), Miami University (8), Ole Miss (7), Mississippi State (6), Fresno State (5), Boston University (5), USF (3), UCF (2), Stanford (1).

Christie Koschke has resigned after nine season as head coach at Colorado State University Pueblo. Koschke joined the Thunderwolves for the 2013 season. She went 178-226 overall with a 151-160 record in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) play.

RTS has confirmed from sources close to the situation that the University of the Incarnate Word has parted ways with head coach Joe DiPietro. UIW hired DiPietro in the summer of 2017. The Cardinals struggled during his four season tenure going 47-117 overall.

Boise State has made the surprising announcement that head coach Maggie Huffaker has resigned. Huffaker spent just three seasons with the Broncos, but lead the squad to the NCAA Postseason in 2019. She leaves BSU with a record of 70-52.