Rounding Third Softball

33 year coaching veteran Jeff Hankins will be named to the coaching staff of new Olivet College Head Coach Jennifer Cassell RTS has learned. The journeyman Hankins has worked at the high school and collegiate levels during his career. Along with numerous assistant assignments, he served as head coach at both Jackson College and Owens Community College.

East Texas Baptist (10-0) remained a unanimous No. 1 in this weeks NFCA Division III Top 25 Coaches Poll. The Tigers have also extended their unbeaten streak to 25 games dating back to the shortened 2020 season.

Rank	Team	2021 Record	Points	Previous
1	East Texas Baptist (8)	10-0	200	1
2	Virginia Wesleyan	13-1-1	192	3
3	Linfield	11-1	184	6
4	Texas Lutheran	9-4	176	2
5	Christopher Newport	13-5	168	4
6	Salisbury	8-4	160	5
7	DePauw	10-0	152	7
8	Kean	2-0	144	8
9	Berry	9-2	136	9
10	Transylvania	9-2	128	11
11	Belhaven	13-4	109	25
12	St. John Fisher	0-0	107	10
13	Birmingham-Southern	18-2	97	12
14	Wartburg	9-1	95	T20
15	Eastern Connecticut State	2-0	88	15
16	Milwaukee School of Engineering	0-0	72	14
17	St. Olaf	1-1	68	13
18	Carthage	0-0	65	16
19	Moravian	2-0	61	17
T20	Emory & Henry	10-2	38	NR
	St. Catherine	3-1	38	19
T22	Geneseo	0-0	36	18
	Trine	0-0	36	T20
24	Randolph-Macon	0-1-1	26	22
25	Carroll (Wis.)	2-0	16	24

Others receiving votes:  Tufts 4, Mount Union 2, Illinois Wesleyan 1, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute 1.

Oklahoma (22-0) keeps rolling atop the Softball World and it’s now unanimous. The Sooners stayed firmly at No. 1 in this week’s USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Coaches Poll. OU received all 32 first-place votes.

Rank	School	Points	Record	Last Week
1	Oklahoma (32)	800	22-0	1
2	UCLA	761	15-1	3
3	Alabama	734	22-1	4
4	Oregon	691	16-1	5
5	Florida	650	17-2	6
6	Washington	610	20-2	8
7	Arizona	602	14-3	2
8	Oklahoma State	587	20-2	7
9	Kentucky	525	20-2	9
10	Texas	496	15-2	10
11	Arizona State	454	17-2	11
12	LSU	438	15-7	12
13	Florida State	437	13-5	15
14	Duke	431	19-1	13
15	Louisiana	341	13-4	14
16	Missouri	287	19-4	17
17	Arkansas	281	20-2	19
18	Virginia Tech	261	10-3	16
19	Georgia	248	19-2	18
20	UCF	135	17-3	24
21	Tennessee	117	18-3	22
22	Auburn	109	16-4	21
23	Clemson	95	16-2	25
24	South Carolina	87	13-6	20
25	Michigan	76	9-3	23

New to Poll: None

Dropped Out: None

Receiving Votes: Baylor (62), Northwestern (37), Southern Illinois (13), Iowa State (12), Illinois (11), Liberty (3), South Alabama (3), Texas State (3), Fresno State (1), James Madison (1), Ole Miss (1).

Division II has a new No. 1 in this week’s NFCA DII Top 25 Coaches Poll. After holding tight to the No. 2 spot, undefeated North Georgia (12-0) finally moved into the top spot. The Nighthawks took 12 of 16 first-place votes while new No. 2 Texas A&M-Commerce landed the other four votes.

Rank	School	Points	2021 Record	Last Poll
1	North Georgia (12)	396	12-0	2
2	Texas A&M-Commerce (4)	388	14-4	3
3	Augustana	360	4-2	4
4	Lincoln Memorial	346	18-2	6
5	Rollins	343	4-0	7
6	UT Tyler	320	12-4	8
7	Valdosta State	290	12-3	5
8	Oklahoma Christian	279	15-3	10
9	Rogers State	270	9-3	12
10	Concordia Irvine	249	6-3	9
11	Saint Leo	239	6-2	11
12	Southern Arkansas	237	5-2	1
13	Indianapolis	210	7-1	14
14	Winona State	191	8-0	15
t15	Texas A&M-Kingsville	165	12-2	18
t15	Young Harris	165	15-4	17
17	Saint Anselm	157	0-0	16
18	West Texas A&M	136	15-5	19
19	Grand Valley State	103	6-2	20
20	West Chester	83	4-0	21
21	West Florida	63	15-7	23
22	Colorado Mesa	58	8-0	22
23	Central Oklahoma	57	12-4	25
24	Angelo State	27	12-7	24
25	UAH	26	12-6	13

Dropped Out: None.

Receiving Votes: Anderson (10), Western Washington (10), St. Cloud State (9), Shepherd (6), Northwest Nazarene (4), Auburn Montgomery (2), Minnesota State (1).

RTS has learned that the Division I Football Oversight Committee will recommend to the NCAA DI Management Council that the “Dead Period” that has lasted since March 2020 be lifted after May 31 in favor of a “Quiet Period”. A Quiet Period allows for institutes to host Prospective Student-Athletes on-campus and hold institutional camps. However, the move would still restrict coaches from going off-campus to recruit or work non-institutional camps. Although each sport can decide their own recruiting periods, the football and men and women’s basketball committees have steered the last eight extensions of the Dead Period and there is no indication that trend would change. Division I Softball Coaches have not been off their campuses recruiting since the fall of 2019 and a move into a Quiet Period could possibly wipeout another summer in the prime recruiting season for DI Coaches. RTS obtained a memo sent from the Intercollegiate Coach Association Coalition (ICAC) to the NCAA imploring them to lift all recruiting restrictions starting April 16, 2021 until “sports specific recruiting calendars are resumed.” The National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) which steers legislation on recruiting for the sport of softball, is a member of the coalition. Along with softball; representative organizations of soccer, volleyball, baseball, tennis, rifle, golf, field hockey, ice hockey, and swimming were all represented and supported the memo/request to resume regular recruiting activities.

The NCAA has sent a second communication out to all-session ticket holders for the Women’s College World Series June 3-9. The email states, “At this time, no determination has been made regarding fan attendance for the 2021 WCWS. We are closely monitoring federal, state and local COVID-19 restrictions in Oklahoma and we will reach out again when venue capacity and fan attendance have been determined.” The email sets a bleak outlook on the possibility of fan attendance with the event less than three months away. It also brings in question why the NCAA has set a 25% capacity for the Men and Women’s Basketball Tournaments that start this month and are obviously held indoors, but will make no determination on the WCWS held outdoors in Oklahoma City in June. NCAA had sent a survey earlier this year to regular all-session ticket holders gauging whether they would be attending or not indicating the association was trying to get an initial feel on capacity prospects.

Chipola College Associate Head Coach Jimmy Hendrix has resigned citing personal reasons. Hendrix a three time NJCAA Coach of the Year, help lead the Indians to three National Championships in 2007, 2016, and 2019. His wife, Head Coach Belinda Hendrix, will continue leading the program.

East Texas Baptist remained No. 1 in the NFCA Division III Top 25 Coaches Poll this week. The Tigers received all eight first-place votes. ETBU is 8-0 on the season and haven’t been beaten since 2019. They sat 15-0 when the season ended prematurely in 2020.

Rank	Team	2021 Record	Points	Previous
1	East Texas Baptist (8)	8-0	200	1
2	Texas Lutheran	4-2	192	2
3	Virginia Wesleyan	10-1	184	4
4	Christopher Newport	9-3	176	3
5	Salisbury	2-4	168	5
6	Linfield	7-1	160	6
7	DePauw	8-0	152	9
8	Kean	0-0	144	8
9	Berry	8-1	136	10
10	St. John Fisher	0-0	128	11
11	Transylvania	7-0	120	12
12	Birmingham-Southern	15-2	106	18
13	St. Olaf	0-0	103	14
14	Milwaukee School of Engineering	0-0	95	15
15	Eastern Connecticut State	0-0	86	16
16	Carthage	0-0	77	17
17	Moravian	0-0	70	19
18	Geneseo	0-0	54	20
19	St. Catherine	2-0	50	NR
T20	Trine	0-0	41	22
	Wartburg	7-1	41	NR
22	Randolph-Macon	0-0	28	23
23	Tufts	0-0	18	24
24	Carroll (Wis.)	2-0	17	NR
25	Belhaven	11-3	14	NR

Others receiving votes:  Central (Iowa) 13, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute 11, Wisconsin-La Crosse 9, Illinois Wesleyan 6, Rowan 1.

Dropped out: Averett, Ferrum, Mary Hardin-Baylor, Manhattanville, Maryville (Tenn.), Mount Union, Williams and Wisconsin-Oshkosh.

Southern Arkansas (2-0) has held on to the top spot in this weeks NFCA Division II Top 25 Coaches Poll. SAU returns to the field today after not being in action since January 30. The Muleriders picked up 13 of 16 first-place votes while No. 2 North Georgia (12-0) picked up 2 votes and No. 3 Texas A&M-Commerce (10-4) 1 vote.

Rank	School	Points	2021 Record	Last Poll
1	Southern Arkansas (13)	395	2-0	1
2	North Georgia (2)	386	12-0	2
3	Texas A&M-Commerce (1)	361	10-4	5
4	Augustana	356	4-2	3
5	Valdosta State	323	10-2	9
6	Lincoln Memorial	299	14-1	8
7	Rollins	295	0-0	6
8	UT Tyler	294	10-4	10
9	Concordia Irvine	289	4-1	7
10	Oklahoma Christian	258	12-2	11
11	Saint Leo	235	3-1	4
12	Rogers State	220	6-2	12
13	UAH	199	9-3	14
14	Indianapolis	185	5-1	17
15	Winona State	171	4-0	16
16	Saint Anselm	158	0-0	15
17	Young Harris	157	11-4	13
18	Texas A&M-Kingsville	144	9-1	19
19	West Texas A&M	97	12-4	17
20	Grand Valley State	71	6-2	21
21	West Chester	64	0-0	22
22	Colorado Mesa	50	8-0	RV
23	West Florida	48	12-5	RV
24	Angelo State	37	9-6	23
25	Central Oklahoma	19	7-3	RV

Dropped Out: No. 20 Lenoir-Rhyne, No. 24 Tampa, No. 25 Lubbock Christian

Receiving Votes: St. Cloud State (18), Trevecca Nazarene (16), Saginaw Valley State (12), Lubbock Christian (10), Tampa (9), Western Washington (8), Anderson (7), Auburn University at Montgomery (4), Minnesota State (3), Lenoir-Rhyne (2).

Oklahoma secured 31 of 32 first-place votes in this weeks USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Coaches Poll. The No. 1 Sooners are out to a 17-0 start showcasing one of the most prolific offenses in the game. No. 2 Arizona picked up the other first-place vote and was 12-0 before being handed their first loss of the season yesterday by No. 24 Central Florida.

Rank	School	Points	Record	Last Week
1	Oklahoma (31)	799	17-0	1
2	Arizona (1)	757	12-0	2
3	UCLA	731	10-1	4
4	Alabama	705	19-1	3
5	Oregon	658	13-1	6
6	Florida	655	14-1	5
7	Oklahoma State	580	18-1	9
8	Washington	563	16-2	8
9	Kentucky	516	19-0	10
10	Texas	512	10-2	7
11	Arizona State	486	15-1	11
12	LSU	449	13-6	13
13	Duke	396	15-1	14
14	Louisiana	390	13-4	12
15	Florida State	353	11-4	16
16	Virginia Tech	290	7-2	15
17	Missouri	267	15-4	18
18	Georgia	233	14-2	19
19	Arkansas	212	16-2	20
20	South Carolina	205	12-3	17
21	Auburn	141	15-1	24
22	Tennessee	126	17-1	25
23	Michigan	100	4-2	21
24	UCF	70	12-3	22
25	Clemson	58	13-2	RV

New to Poll: No. 25 Clemson

Dropped Out: No. 23 Iowa State

Receiving Votes: Baylor (28), Southern Illinois (27), Iowa state (26), Illinois (23), Northwestern (16), Liberty (8), Stanford (6), Mississippi State (4), Notre Dame (3), South Alabama (2), Texas State (2), Wichita State (2), James Madison (1).