Rounding Third Softball

Six Pennsylvania schools and their athletic programs could soon be no more. The Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education released a 400-page report outlining its plan to merge six of its state colleges into two starting next fall as a cost cutting measure. The plan calls for Bloomsburg, Mansfield and Lock Haven universities to become one school, while California, Clarion and Edinboro universities would become another. All six institutions sponsor softball and are Division II members of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference.

The National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) has announced the Top 30 for the Schutt Sports/NFCA Division I National Freshman of the Year. The award honors outstanding athletic achievement among Division I freshmen softball student-athletes. The winner will be announced prior to the start of the 2021 NCAA Women’s College World Series in Oklahoma City.

The list includes:

Addison Barnhard, Wichita State University

Hannah Becerra, California State University, Fullerton

Alyssa Brito, University of Oregon

Valerie Cagle, Clemson University *

Erin Coffel, University of Kentucky

Jayda Coleman, University of Oklahoma

Matalasi Faapito, New Mexico State University *

Shaylon Govan, Stephen F. Austin State University *

Cameron Fagan, Virginia Tech *

Cylie Halvorson, South Dakota State University *

Sarah Harness, Southern Illinois University at Carbondale *

Jazmine Hill, Arizona State University *

Hannah Hughbanks, Dixie State University *

Alissa Humphrey, James Madison University

Tiare Jennings, University of Oklahoma

Lexi Kilfoyl, University of Alabama *

Tori Kniesche, South Dakota State University

Olivia Lackie, University of South Alabama

Jenna Laird, University of Missouri

Shelby Lowe, Auburn University

Janelle Meoño, University of Arizona *

Devon Miller, Fordham University *

Kiki Milloy, University of Tennessee *

Sharlize Palacios, University of Arizona *

Taylor Pleasants, Louisiana State University

Karli Spaid, Miami University *

Ashley Trierweiler, Santa Clara University *

Alana Vawter, Stanford University *

Grace Vesco, Saint Francis University *

Jenna Wildeman, University of Central Arkansas *

(*Denotes Second Year)

RTS will be in Athens starting tomorrow for the SEC Series between No. 5 ranked Alabama (36-7, 12-6) and No. 21 Georgia (29-14, 7-11). First pitch in Game 1 of the series between the Crimson Tide and Bulldogs is set for 6 pm EST at Jack Turner Stadium. Follow RTS on Twitter @Rounding3rdSB for real-time in-game updates.

Texas Lutheran (27-4) is the new No. 1 in this weeks NFCA Division III Top 25 Coaches Poll. The defending national champions from 2019 garnered all eight first-place votes. The Bulldogs have won 23 of their last 24 games while outscoring their opponents by a whopping 254-58 margin this season.

Rank	Team	2021 Record	Points	Previous
1	Texas Lutheran (8)	27-4	200	2
2	Virginia Wesleyan	31-5-1	192	1
T3	Birmingham-Southern	28-4	184	6
	Eastern Connecticut State	20-0	184	3
5	DePauw	25-2	168	7
6	Belhaven	27-8	160	8
7	East Texas Baptist	23-5	152	4
8	Linfield	31-5	144	5
9	Moravian	18-0	136	T10
10	Emory & Henry	23-5	128	9
11	Berry	25-8	120	T10
12	St. John Fisher	22-2	112	13
13	Salisbury	21-7	104	12
14	Christopher Newport	24-10	95	14
15	Wartburg	22-6	86	16
16	Randolph-Macon	14-7-1	70	T17
17	St. Scholastica	29-3	64	T19
18	The College of New Jersey	15-3	56	T19
19	Mount Union	26-6	44	15
20	Concordia (Wis.)	25-5	43	24
21	Rowan	23-5	42	21
22	St. Olaf	17-3	31	T22
23	Williams	9-0	23	NR
24	Milwaukee School of Engineering	25-5	18	T17
25	Rochester	23-6	16	RV

Others receiving votes:  Saint Benedict 10, Alvernia 9, Misericordia 5, Aurora 4, Coe 4, Trine 4.

Dropped out: Alfred, Cortland, Kean, Mount St. Joseph, Southern Maine and Transylvania.

University of Arizona Coach Mike Candrea will join the Italian National Team as senior coach assisting Head Coach Federico Pizzolini in preparation for the upcoming European and Tokyo Olympic Games. Candrea led the U.S. National Team as head coach winning a Gold Medal in the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens and a Silver in the 2008 Beijing Games.

Augustana (32-4) stayed in the top spot in this week’s NFCA Division II Top 25 Coaches Poll. This was the fourth straight week at No. 1 for the Vikings which picked up 12 of the 16 first-place votes. No. 2 Valdosta State (32-3) received three first-place votes while No. 4 North Georgia (33-5) got one.

Rank	School	Points	2021 Record	Last Poll
1	Augustana (12)	392	32-4	1
2	Valdosta State (3)	387	32-3	2
3	UT Tyler	366	31-5	3
4	North Georgia (1)	356	33-5	4
5	Indianapolis	332	34-3	5
6	Oklahoma Christian	316	33-5	10
7	Lincoln Memorial	306	36-6	7
8	Young Harris	271	29-8	9
9	Texas A&M-Commerce	264	25-12	6
10	West Texas A&M	238	30-10	12
11	Auburn Montgomery	235	32-5	19
12	Concordia Irvine	202	22-11	11
13	Central Oklahoma	197	29-9	16
14	Grand Valley State	191	31-7	14
15	Rollins	178	16-2	8
16	Colorado Mesa	173	30-2	17
17	Minnesota State	152	28-7	18
18	UAH	141	27-10	13
19	Saint Anselm	136	20-4	15
20	Winona State	97	28-7	20
21	Southern Arkansas	68	20-7	21
22	West Florida	50	27-12	22
23	Angelo State	44	29-11	23
24	Biola	38	19-13	RV
t25	Northwest Nazarene	18	24-9	RV
t25	Texas A&M-Kingsville	18	24-11	24

New to Poll: No. 24 Biola, t-No.25 Northwest Nazarene.

Dropped Out: No. 25 Charleston

Receiving Votes: Kutztown (14), Southeastern Oklahoma State (7), Georgian Court (6), Shepherd (5), Central Missouri (1), Tampa (1).

Even with their first defeat of the season, the Sooners roll on. Oklahoma (37-1) is the unanimous No. 1 ranked team in the nation for the ninth straight week in the USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Coaches Poll.

Rank	School	Points	Record	Last Week
1	Oklahoma (32)	800	37-1	1
2	UCLA	768	28-3	2
3	Florida	720	35-7	3
4	Alabama	698	36-7	5
5	Washington	674	35-9	4
6	Florida State	606	33-7-1	7
7	Texas	564	35-6	9
8	Oregon	559	30-10	6
9	Arizona	535	31-8	10
10	Arkansas	514	37-7	8
11	Oklahoma State	497	36-5	11
12	Arizona State	473	28-11	12
t13	Clemson	376	37-4	16
t13	Louisiana	376	35-9	13
15	Missouri	335	34-10	18
16	LSU	310	28-15	17
17	Kentucky	300	32-12	14
18	Tennessee	251	35-8	19
19	Michigan	201	24-5	20
20	Virginia Tech	182	28-11	15
21	Georgia	179	29-14	21
22	Duke	159	34-10	22
23	Minnesota	82	25-7	24
24	James Madison	61	27-1	t25
25	UCF	49	34-12-1	t25

New to Poll: None

Dropped Out: No. 23 Wichita State

Receiving Votes: No. 23 Wichita State (43), Fresno State (24), Liberty (15), Texas State (12), Notre Dame (10), Ole Miss (8), Miami University (5), USF (5), Auburn (4), BYU (2), Illinois State (2), Cal State Fullerton (1).

There must have been something in the water this past weekend at several Division II Conference Championship Tournaments. As Tusculum cut through the South Atlantic Conference Championship as their tournaments No. 6 seed, upstart Emmanuel College did the same in equally impressive fashion at the Conference Carolinas Tournament. The Lions seeded No. 8 out of eight teams ran through the tournament defeating the No. 1, 2, and 5 seeds to take home the programs first ever conference championship and punch their ticket to the DII NCAA Regionals.

The NCAA Division II Championship Committee has chosen their predetermined regional sites for the 2021 Division II Softball Championship. Each site will host eight team regionals as DII had chosen earlier this year to eliminate their Super Regional round due to pandemic concerns. Due to the ever popular “health and safety protocols surrounding the pandemic”, it was seemingly necessary to conduct all competitions at predetermined sites and pack eight teams into those sites instead of the usual 16, four team regional sites then advancing to eight, two team Super Regional sites. It’s worth noting that Division I did not eliminate their Super Regional round this year and kept their four team regional/two team Super Regional format indicating the move by Division II could be more about cost cutting than safety. The DII Softball Regional Championship will be held May 19-21.

The eight sites chosen are:

Southeast Region, University of North Georgia, Dahlonega, GA

Atlantic Region, Kutztown University, Kutztown, PA

Central Region, University of Central Oklahoma, Edmond, OK

East Region, Saint Anselm College, Manchester, NH

Midwest Region, Grand Valley State University, Allendale Charter Township, MI

South Central Region, Texas A&M University-Commerce, Commerce, TX

South Region, Valdosta State, Valdosta, GA

West Region, Concordia University Irvine, Irvine, CA

Tusculum University entered this past weekend’s South Atlantic Conference Championship as the No. 6 seed after finishing in the same position during the regular season. On Sunday, the Pioneers left as tournament champions punching their ticket to the NCAA DII Regionals. Tusculum had an offensive surge through the championship held at their home facility Red Edmonds Field scoring 26 runs in three games downing the No. 1, 2, and 3 seeds. This included defeating regular season champion and No. 7 nationally ranked Lincoln Memorial.