Linfield Coach Jackson Vaughan picked up his 700th career coaching victory in a doubleheader split with Lewis & Clark on Saturday. Vaughan has coached the current DIII No. 1 ranked Wildcats for 20 seasons amassing a 700-174-2 record.
Garza Takes Leave of Absence from Fresno State
Sources have confirmed to RTS that Fresno State Head Coach Linda Garza has taken a leave of absence. The same sources confirm the “leave of absence” seemingly stems and involves student-athlete treatment and welfare within the program. Garza did not make the trip to Colorado State for the Bulldogs conference series this weekend. Fresno State is currently 22-7 on the season and 8-1 in Mountain West Conference play tied for first-place.
NCAA Memo Outlines Pre-Selected Postseason Sites
RTS has obtained the NCAA Memo sent out to Division I member institutes on the pre-selection processes that will now take place for the regional and super regional postseason rounds. While baseball has been pre-selecting their regional sites for sometime now, this is new to softball. The pre-selection of the 16 regional sites wouldn’t seem to cause any issue with a team bidding and then not being selected to postseason while still being required to host. The eight super regional sites however could be a different dynamic where two teams could play at a neutral site if the hosting team does not advance past the regional round. While the “safety” of student-athletes seem to be the rallying cry for NCAA in making this move to create a “bubble” for a hosting site, it seems to be a safety issue for just Division I. No such pre-selection process option has been given to Division II and III at this time. That’s even more peculiar as DII and DIII have eliminated their super regional rounds this year due to pandemic concerns and will host only regional rounds with 6-8 teams per-site with the winner advancing to their respective eight team National Championship round. NCAA seems to be taking many more “safety” protocols for DI through this pre-selecting of sites for four team regional rounds and two team super regional rounds.
Longtime Coach Cole Out at Gardner-Webb
Gardner-Webb has announced that longtime head coach Tom Cole has stepped down. Cole coached the Bulldogs for 20 seasons and is the program’s winningest head coach with 417 victories. With the odd timing of the departure, Associate Head Coach Lani Ries will lead the program for the remainder of the 2021 season.
Vanover Resigns at Montevallo
University of Montevallo Head Coach Lindsay Vanover has resigned effective immediately. Vanover was the first coach in program history dating back to its launch in 2015. Sources have come forward saying the resignation stems from internal issues within the program and among the staff. Montevallo is currently 11-16 on the season including a 6-11 Gulf South Conference record. Assistant Coach Whitney Hawkins is still listed as an assistant on the coaching staff roster, while Associate Athletic Director Erik Maas has been labeled as “administrative oversight”.
Chance Scores 700th Victory at Butler CC
Butler Community College Coach Doug Chance earned his 700th career coaching win on Tuesday. The milestone came in a doubleheader sweep of Labette Community College. Chance is in his 17th season coaching the Grizzlies.
Linfield Stays at No. 1 for Third Straight Week
For the third straight week Linfield (22-2) has stayed No. 1 in the NFCA Division III Top 25 Coaches Poll. The Wildcats saw their 18-game winning streak end last weekend, but still maintained the top spot.
| Rank | Team | 2021 Record | Points | Previous |
| 1 | Linfield (8) | 22-2 | 200 | 1 |
| 2 | Virginia Wesleyan | 21-3-1 | 192 | 2 |
| 3 | Texas Lutheran | 20-4 | 184 | 3 |
| 4 | East Texas Baptist | 16-3 | 176 | 5 |
| 5 | Salisbury | 14-4 | 168 | 6 |
| 6 | Christopher Newport | 18-8 | 160 | 4 |
| 7 | Eastern Connecticut State | 14-0 | 152 | 12 |
| 8 | Kean | 12-0 | 144 | 8 |
| 9 | Birmingham-Southern | 23-3 | 136 | 9 |
| T10 | Belhaven | 20-6 | 128 | 10 |
| DePauw | 17-2 | 128 | 7 | |
| 12 | St. John Fisher | 7-1 | 110 | 11 |
| 13 | Berry | 16-5 | 100 | 14 |
| 14 | Wartburg | 17-4 | 97 | 16 |
| 15 | Moravian | 8-0 | 89 | 15 |
| 16 | Milwaukee School of Engineering | 16-1 | 82 | 17 |
| 17 | Emory & Henry | 13-3 | 62 | 19 |
| 18 | Transylvania | 13-7 | 57 | 13 |
| 19 | Saint Benedict | 10-2 | 50 | 24 |
| 20 | Randolph-Macon | 8-3-1 | 39 | T22 |
| T21 | Cortland | 6-2 | 36 | T22 |
| Mount Union | 17-3 | 36 | 20 | |
| 23 | Dubuque | 12-4 | 33 | 18 |
| 24 | Alvernia | 12-2 | 30 | 21 |
| 25 | Westminster (Pa.) | 18-0 | 7 | NR |
Others receiving votes: Misericordia 4, St. Scholastica 4, McMurry 1, Millikin 1, Stevenson 1, Trine 1.
Dropped out: Aurora, Geneseo and Luther.
Augustana New DII No. 1
Division II has a new No. 1 in this week’s NFCA Top 25 Coaches Poll. Augustana (17-3) has taken the top spot receiving 10 of the 16 first-place votes. Former No. 1 North Georgia (18-2) comes in second with four votes, while Valdosta State (22-3) and Texas A&M-Commerce (21-8) followed each with one vote.
| Rank | School | Points | 2021 Record | Last Poll |
| 1 | Augustana (10) | 389 | 17-3 | t2 |
| 2 | North Georgia (4) | 383 | 18-2 | 1 |
| 3 | Valdosta State (1) | 365 | 22-3 | 4 |
| 4 | Texas A&M-Commerce (1) | 351 | 21-8 | t2 |
| 5 | UT Tyler | 331 | 21-5 | 5 |
| 6 | Rollins | 315 | 10-1 | 6 |
| 7 | Indianapolis | 307 | 21-2 | 9 |
| 8 | Lincoln Memorial | 303 | 25-4 | 7 |
| 9 | Young Harris | 264 | 21-6 | 11 |
| 10 | West Texas A&M | 261 | 21-7 | 10 |
| 11 | Winona State | 239 | 16-3 | 13 |
| 12 | Texas A&M-Kingsville | 220 | 21-6 | 12 |
| 13 | Oklahoma Christian | 190 | 23-5 | 14 |
| 14 | Concordia Irvine | 174 | 12-7 | 8 |
| 15 | UAH | 172 | 20-7 | t17 |
| 16 | Saint Anselm | 153 | 5-1 | 16 |
| 17 | Grand Valley State | 145 | 16-4 | 15 |
| 18 | Central Oklahoma | 134 | 21-7 | t17 |
| 19 | Colorado Mesa | 110 | 19-1 | 19 |
| 20 | Minnesota State | 95 | 13-4 | 20 |
| 21 | West Florida | 83 | 21-10 | 22 |
| 22 | Rogers State | 62 | 18-10 | 21 |
| 23 | Kutztown | 40 | 18-4 | 24 |
| 24 | Southern Arkansas | 32 | 13-6 | 25 |
| 25 | Saint Leo | 26 | 13-6 | 23 |
New to Poll: None.
Dropped Out: None.
Receiving Votes: Western Washington (15), Lubbock Christian (13), Texas A&M International (10), Biola (9), Auburn Montgomery (3), Southeastern Oklahoma State (3), Northwest Nazarene (2), Anderson (1).
Japan’s Ueno Down with Injury
Some possible concerning news out of Japan over the weekend in relation to the host countries possible run at Gold in the upcoming Summer Olympic Games. Japanese Softball Ace Yukiko Ueno was injured in the opening weekend of the Japanese Softball League. Ueno’s team Bic Camera Bee Queen was pitching against Team Mexico and former Arizona State All-American Dallas Escobedo and her Toyota Shinning Vega team when the injury occurred. Ueno was hurling a three-hit shutout going into the ninth inning, when she felt pain in her right “flank” and was pulled out of the game. She is expected to miss at least three weeks and will be re-evaluated during that time. The softball portion of the Tokyo Olympic Games start July 21. Team Japan, the 2008 Gold Medal Winners, are expected to give World No. 1 USA the biggest challenge on the host countries home turf in Tokyo with Ueno in the circle. The Team Japan Veteran is considered by many as the top pitcher currently in the world.
Oklahoma Still Reigning at No. 1
Oklahoma (28-0) reigns No. 1 for the sixth straight week in the USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Coaches Poll. The Sooners have outscored Big 12 opponents through their first six conference games 71-14.
| Rank | School | Points | Record | Last Week |
| 1 | Oklahoma (32) | 800 | 28-0 | 1 |
| 2 | UCLA | 762 | 19-1 | 2 |
| 3 | Oregon | 721 | 26-2 | 3 |
| 4 | Alabama | 698 | 29-4 | 4 |
| 5 | Florida | 658 | 26-4 | 5 |
| 6 | Washington | 640 | 28-4 | 6 |
| 7 | Texas | 581 | 27-3 | 7 |
| 8 | Arizona | 580 | 22-5 | 9 |
| 9 | Florida State | 531 | 24-6 | 10 |
| t10 | Arkansas | 474 | 31-3 | 13 |
| t10 | Kentucky | 474 | 27-6 | 8 |
| 12 | Oklahoma State | 472 | 29-5 | 11 |
| 13 | Arizona State | 370 | 21-9 | 14 |
| 14 | Louisiana | 343 | 25-6 | 16 |
| 15 | Virginia Tech | 322 | 23-6 | 19 |
| 16 | Duke | 304 | 27-6 | 12 |
| 17 | LSU | 301 | 21-12 | 15 |
| 18 | Clemson | 288 | 26-4 | 18 |
| 19 | Missouri | 287 | 28-7 | 17 |
| 20 | Georgia | 198 | 23-6 | 20 |
| 21 | Tennessee | 193 | 28-6 | 21 |
| 22 | Northwestern | 113 | 18-2 | 24 |
| 23 | Michigan | 101 | 13-3 | 23 |
| 24 | UCF | 48 | 25-9 | 22 |
| 25 | Texas State | 42 | 24-3 | RV |
New to Poll: No. 25 Texas State.
Dropped Out: No. 25 Baylor.
Receiving Votes: Wichita State (19), Texas A&M (18), James Madison (13), Fresno State (9), Auburn (8), Baylor (8), Minnesota (7), Tulsa (6), Western Kentucky (3), BYU (2), Miami (Ohio) (2), Ole Miss (2), Cal State Fullerton (1), Troy (1).