Rounding Third Softball – Page 131 – Bringing all the news and insider information on the collegiate, professional, and international levels

OU Still Ranked No. 1

To no ones shock unless you have been living under a rock, Oklahoma (25-0) is still No. 1 in this weeks USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Coaches Poll. The Sooners are unanimous in the top spot again with all 32 first-place votes as they show no signs of being beatable.

Rank	School	Points	Record	Last Week
1	Oklahoma (32)	800	25-0	1
2	UCLA	765	19-1	2
3	Oregon	727	23-1	3
4	Alabama	693	26-3	4
5	Florida	690	24-3	5
6	Washington	611	24-4	6
7	Texas	572	24-3	8
8	Kentucky	555	24-4	7
9	Arizona	552	18-5	9
10	Florida State	495	20-6	12
11	Oklahoma State	448	26-5	10
12	Duke	434	26-3	11
13	Arkansas	404	28-3	15
14	Arizona State	403	19-8	14
15	LSU	350	18-11	13
16	Louisiana	331	20-6	16
17	Missouri	244	24-7	18
18	Clemson	227	22-4	20
19	Virginia Tech	222	19-5	19
20	Georgia	201	22-5	17
21	Tennessee	177	23-5	21
22	UCF	170	24-6	22
23	Michigan	84	13-3	25
24	Northwestern	73	15-1	RV
25	Baylor	38	21-5	RV

New to Poll: No. 24 Northwestern, No. 25 Baylor.

Dropped Out: No. 23 South Carolina, No. 24 Auburn.

Receiving Votes: Texas A&M (34), Auburn (32), South Carolina (26), Liberty (12), Texas State (10), Wichita State (8), James Madison (3), Western Kentucky (3), Minnesota (2), Fresno State (1), Miami (Ohio) (1), Notre Dame (1), Southern Illinois (1).

Diaz Re-elected Colombian Softball Federation President

Eduin Diaz was unanimously re-elected president of the Colombian Softball Federation after the organization’s general assembly this past Saturday. Diaz said his immediate goal for the federation is to prepare the National Team for the WBSC U-18 Women’s Softball World Cup which is set to be played in Peru August 28-September 5. Another top focus he alluded to will be on the Colombian Softball High Performance Training Center.

Linfield New DIII No. 1

Linfield (15-1) has taken over the No. 1 spot in the NFCA Division III Top 25 Coaches Poll. The Wildcats jumped two spots from last week to claim the top position while also riding a 13 game winning streak.

Rank	Team	2021 Record	Points	Previous
1	Linfield (8)	15-1	200	3
T2	East Texas Baptist	12-1	192	1
	Virginia Wesleyan	16-2-1	192	2
4	Texas Lutheran	9-4	176	4
5	Christopher Newport	14-6	168	5
6	Salisbury	10-4	160	6
7	DePauw	14-1	152	7
8	Kean	6-0	144	8
9	Birmingham-Southern	20-3	136	13
10	Belhaven	15-5	128	11
11	St. John Fisher	4-0	120	12
12	Berry	10-4	112	9
13	Transylvania	10-6	99	10
14	Milwaukee School of Engineering	6-0	93	16
15	Eastern Connecticut State	6-0	81	15
16	Moravian	8-0	78	19
17	Dubuque	7-2	76	NR
18	Trine	6-2	63	T22
19	Wartburg	10-3	60	14
20	Emory & Henry	10-2	51	T20
21	Mount Union	11-1	32	NR
22	Geneseo	2-0	31	T22
23	Randolph-Macon	2-1-1	20	24
24	Saint Benedict	6-2	17	NR
25	St. Olaf	2-2	11	17

Others receiving votes: St. Scholastica 6, Carthage 3, Carroll (Wis.) 3, Alvernia 2, Coe 1, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute 1.

Dropped out: Illinois Wesleyan, St. Catherine and Tufts.

UNG Holds On to Top Spot

North Georgia (12-0) held on to the top spot in this week’s NFCA DII Top 25 Coaches Poll. The Nighthawks picked up 10 of 16 first-place votes, while No. 2 Texas A&M-Commerce (18-4) closed the gap grabbing six votes.

Rank	School	Points	2021 Record	Last Poll
1	North Georgia (10)	393	12-0	1
2	Texas A&M-Commerce (6)	389	18-4	2
3	Augustana	363	8-2	3
4	Lincoln Memorial	349	22-1	4
5	Rollins	337	8-0	5
6	UT Tyler	326	18-4	6
7	Valdosta State	305	16-3	7
8	Concordia Irvine	280	9-4	10
9	Southern Arkansas	269	9-3	12
10	West Texas A&M	241	18-6	18
11	Indianapolis	226	11-2	13
12	Rogers State	210	12-6	9
13	Young Harris	206	17-4	15
14	Texas A&M-Kingsville	195	16-5	15
15	Winona State	182	11-2	14
16	Oklahoma Christian	167	17-5	8
17	West Florida	149	18-7	21
18	Saint Anselm	104	1-1	17
19	Grand Valley State	97	9-3	19
20	Colorado Mesa	75	12-0	22
21	Shepherd	61	14-1	RV
22	UAH	48	14-7	25
23	Saint Leo	46	8-4	11
24	Angelo State	43	16-7	24
25	Central Oklahoma	41	14-6	23

New to Poll: No. 21 Shepherd

Dropped Out: No. 20 West Chester

Receiving Votes: West Chester (24), Anderson (22), Western Washington (17), Minnesota State (16), Northwest Nazarene (9), Texas A&M International (6), Central Missouri (2), Auburn Montgomery (1), Trevecca Nazarene (1).

NCAA Releases First RPI of 2021

NCAA has released the first RPI for 2021. The Rating Percentage Index is used to rank teams based upon a team’s wins and losses and its strength of schedule. The RPI is mostly importantly used to help select at-large teams for postseason play.

https://www.ncaa.com/rankings/softball/d1/ncaa-womens-softball-rpi?fbclid=IwAR1Hzz_1A7LWIcjmIQklY9Mb6TS8tgAqyEhme8DPQ4NqeZz9P8KNDIWIZmM

OU Keeps Stranglehold on No. 1

Oklahoma (22-0) continues its stranglehold on the No. 1 spot in this week’s USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Coaches Poll. The Sooners are once again unanimous in the top spot receiving all 32 first-place votes.

Rank	School	Points	Record	Last Week
1	Oklahoma (32)	800	22-0	1
2	UCLA	765	19-1	2
3	Oregon	710	20-1	4
4	Alabama	690	24-2	3
5	Florida	678	21-2	5
6	Washington	653	22-2	6
7	Kentucky	573	23-2	9
8	Texas	532	20-3	10
9	Arizona	493	14-5	7
10	Oklahoma State	480	23-4	8
11	Duke	475	24-1	14
12	Florida State	472	16-6	13
13	LSU	440	17-8	12
14	Arizona State	410	17-6	11
15	Arkansas	337	23-3	17
16	Louisiana	317	16-6	15
17	Georgia	316	21-3	19
18	Missouri	249	20-6	16
19	Virginia Tech	224	15-4	18
20	Clemson	176	20-2	23
21	Tennessee	164	21-5	21
22	UCF	96	19-6	20
23	South Carolina	89	17-7	24
24	Auburn	61	18-6	22
25	Michigan	54	9-3	25

New to Poll: None

Dropped Out: None

Receiving Votes: Northwestern (41), Iowa State (22), Baylor (19), Illinois (12), Liberty (12), Southern Illinois (9), James Madison (7), Texas State (6), Wichita State (6), South Alabama (5), Texas A&M (4), Fresno State (3).

FLA/UCF Matchup on Tap in Orlando Tomorrow

RTS will be in Orlando tomorrow for a Top 25 matchup between No. 5 ranked Florida and No. 20 Central Florida. First pitch between the Gators and Golden Knights is set for 6 pm EST Wednesday at the UCF Softball Complex. Follow RTS on Twitter @Rounding3rdSB for real-time in game updates.

JSL Names Shimada Chairman

The Japan Women’s Softball League announced that Toshimasa Shimada has been appointed as the new chairman of the league. The JSL one of the top softball leagues that draws players from throughout the world opens their season in April 3 and will have their mid-season break during the Tokyo Olympic Games. The JSL is preparing to launch a reformatted league in 2022 which will replace the current format.

Croushore Named Permanent Coach at Occidental

Occidental College recently removed the interim tag for head coach Kelliner Croushore making the position permanent. Croushore has been on the softball staff at OC for three seasons and served the pandemic shortened 2020 season in the interim capacity. Before coming to LA she worked on coaching staffs at Georgetown and Rhodes College.

Longtime IWU Coach Bowman Passes

RTS is saddened to report the passing of former longtime Indiana Wesleyan University Softball Coach Sue Bowman. The veteran coach led the softball program at IWU for 24 seasons compiling a career record of 585-407. Bowman spent 41 seasons in all coaching numerous sports at IWU including volleyball, field hockey, and tennis. She resigned as softball coach in 2011 but continued as a full-time faculty member in the Health and Human Performance Division.