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Ten teams have advanced through the Opening Regional Round and will now vie for the NAIA National Championship. The title will be decided May 27-June 2 in Columbus, Georgia.
NAIA World Series Participants by seed:
No. 1 Southern Oregon
No. 2 Oregon Tech
No. 3 Olivet Nazarene
No. 4 College of Idaho
No. 5 Ottawa-Kansas
No. 6 Madonna
No. 7 Mount Mercy
No. 8 Milligan
No. 9 Bethany
No. 10 Houston-Victoria
St. Cloud State Head Coach Paula U’Ren is calling it a career. The longtime coach is retiring after 26 years leading the Huskies program. The winningest coach in program history leaves with a 768-509-1 record in her run at SCSU.
The National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) has announced eight finalists for the 2021 Schutt Sports/NFCA Division II National Freshman of the Year award. Each finalist represents one of NFCA’s eight DII regions. The award honors the outstanding athletic achievement among freshman softball student-athletes throughout NCAA Division II.
The eight finalist list includes:
Atlantic – Brianna Hughes, Kutztown University of Pennsylvania
Central – Torri Chute, Augustana University
East – Alyssa Herrera, Georgian Court University
Midwest – Kenzee Smith, University of Indianapolis
South – Ali Shenefield, Rollins College
South Central – Shelby Robb, Metropolitan State University of Denver
Southeast – Caitlyn Canady, Columbus State University
West – Sidney Booth, Northwest Nazarene University
USA Softball announced today the three finalists for their collegiate player of the year. The USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award recognizes the outstanding athletic achievement by Division I players across the country. The winner of the award will be announced on June 1 prior to the Women’s College World Series in Oklahoma City.
The USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Finalists are:
Jocelyn Alo, Senior, Oklahoma
Rachel Garcia, Senior, UCLA
Gabbie Plain, Senior, Washington
As the Division III Regional Championships begin in just a few days, a new No. 1 has appeared atop the NFCA Division III Top 25 Coaches Poll. DePauw (34-2) has checked into the top spot in the last regular season poll collecting all eight first-place votes.
| Rank | Team | 2021 Record | Points | Previous |
| 1 | DePauw (8) | 34-2 | 200 | T2 |
| T2 | Texas Lutheran | 28-4 | 192 | 1 |
| Virginia Wesleyan | 37-5-1 | 192 | T2 | |
| 4 | Eastern Connecticut State | 30-2 | 176 | 6 |
| 5 | Birmingham-Southern | 29-5 | 168 | 5 |
| 6 | Moravian | 30-1 | 160 | 4 |
| 7 | East Texas Baptist | 30-5 | 152 | 7 |
| 8 | Linfield | 36-7 | 144 | 8 |
| 9 | Salisbury | 24-7 | 136 | 9 |
| 10 | The College of New Jersey | 23-3 | 128 | 14 |
| 11 | Christopher Newport | 28-12 | 115 | 11 |
| 12 | Belhaven | 30-10 | 109 | 13 |
| 13 | Berry | 25-10 | 98 | 10 |
| 14 | Rochester | 31-8 | 91 | 20 |
| 15 | Emory & Henry | 26-7 | 88 | 15 |
| 16 | St. John Fisher | 28-5 | 67 | 12 |
| 17 | Alfred | 31-9 | 44 | NR |
| 18 | Mount Union | 32-7 | 41 | 16 |
| 19 | Randolph-Macon | 14-7-1 | 34 | 17 |
| T20 | Millikin | 31-11 | 33 | RV |
| St. Thomas (Minn.) | 28-8 | 33 | NR | |
| 22 | Trine | 30-8 | 32 | 22 |
| 23 | Milwaukee School of Engineering | 33-8 | 31 | RV |
| 24 | St. Olaf | 24-6 | 30 | 21 |
| 25 | Coe | 24-13 | 28 | 19 |
Others receiving votes: Mount St. Joseph 21, Concordia (Wis.) 18, Rowan 16, York (Pa.) 11, Saint Benedict 6, Benedictine 5, Stevens Institute of Technology 3, Southern Maine 3, Tufts 2, and Wisconsin-Oshkosh 1.
Dropped out: Misericordia, Transylvania and Wartburg.
The National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) has announced six finalists for the 2021 Schutt Sports/ NFCA NAIA National Freshman of the Year award. Each finalist represents one of NFCA’s six NAIA regions. The award will be announced on June 8 and honors the outstanding athletic achievement among freshman softball student-athletes throughout NAIA.
The six finalist list includes:
Region I – Bryce Peacock, College of Coastal Georgia
Region II – Emily Loveless, Reinhardt University
Region III – Emily Prai, Midland University
Region IV – Makenzee Stone, Valley City State University
Region V – Courtney Hardin, Aquinas College
Region VI – Chloe Tragesser, Indiana Wesleyan University
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.