RTS will be on-site in Clearwater at Eddie C. Moore Softball Complex later today for the scheduled training session of the U.S. Women’s National Team at 4:45 pm EST. Team USA is in Day 5 of their 16 day Florida Training Camp in preparation for this summer’s Olympic Games in Tokyo. Follow RTS on Twitter @Rounding3rdSB for updates and info from the scheduled three hour training session.
Pizzolini Takes Over Italian National Team
The Italian Softball Federation has named Federico Pizzolini Head Coach of the Women’s National Softball Team and will guide the squad in the upcoming Olympic Games this summer in Tokyo. The federation confirmed the appointment 10 days after Enrico Obletter, former head coach of the national team, passed away due to complications from COVID-19.
RTS in Tampa for UA/USF
RTS will be in Tampa this weekend for a two-game matchup between No. 2 ranked Arizona and South Florida. First pitch for Game 1 of the set is 1 pm EST Saturday at the USF Softball Stadium. Game 2 will be Sunday also with a start time of 1 pm EST. Follow RTS on Twitter @Rounding3rdSB for real-time in game updates.
USA Softball Announces Additional Exhibitions for Florida Camp
USA Softball has announced additional exhibition games as part of their training camp currently being held in Florida through March 18. In addition to their already announced three-game exhibition with Team Mexico March 8-10 in Clearwater, the U.S. National Team will now play a three-game exhibition against the University of South Florida March 12-14 in Tampa and then cap the training camp exhibitions in Gainesville March 16 against the University of Florida.
Roberts Named Assistant Coach at STAC
St. Thomas Aquinas College has appointed former Softball Olympian Penny Rosario Roberts to their coaching staff. Roberts played for Puerto Rico in the inaugural Olympic Games in which softball was featured in Atlanta in 1996. The assistant position at STAC is her first collegiate assignment after coaching successful club and high school programs with the Empire State Huskies and at Monroe-Woodbury High School. Roberts also works with the Collegiate Sports Advocate (CSA) group.
Southern Arkansas Stays No. 1
Southern Arkansas (2-0) has kept hold of the No. 1 spot in this week’s NFCA Division II Top 25 Coaches Poll although the Muleriders have not competed since January 30. The SAU program that has been fighting weather and COVID protocol issues still garnered 12 of the 16 first-place votes, while No. 2 North Georgia (12-0) received the other four votes.
| Rank | School | Points | 2021 Record | Last Poll |
| 1 | Southern Arkansas (12) | 396 | 2-0 | 1 |
| 2 | North Georgia (4) | 388 | 12-0 | 2 |
| 3 | Augustana | 356 | 4-2 | 3 |
| 4 | Saint Leo | 333 | 0-0 | 6 |
| 5 | Texas A&M-Commerce | 311 | 4-4 | 7 |
| 6 | Rollins | 305 | 0-0 | 8 |
| 7 | Concordia Irvine | 290 | 4-1 | 11 |
| 8 | Lincoln Memorial | 283 | 11-0 | 14 |
| 9 | Valdosta State | 279 | 8-1 | 9 |
| 10 | UT Tyler | 276 | 6-4 | 4 |
| 11 | Oklahoma Christian | 236 | 8-2 | 10 |
| 12 | Rogers State | 228 | 4-0 | 16 |
| 13 | Young Harris | 203 | 8-3 | 5 |
| 14 | UAH | 180 | 9-3 | 15 |
| 15 | Saint Anselm | 175 | 0-0 | 13 |
| 16 | Winona State | 172 | 2-0 | 12 |
| t17 | Indianapolis | 139 | 1-1 | 17 |
| t17 | West Texas A&M | 139 | 12-0 | RV |
| 19 | Texas A&M-Kingsville | 110 | 5-1 | 18 |
| 20 | Lenoir-Rhyne | 90 | 6-2 | 21 |
| 21 | Grand Valley State | 89 | 3-0 | 20 |
| 22 | West Chester | 60 | 0-0 | 22 |
| 23 | Angelo State | 59 | 4-3 | 19 |
| 24 | Tampa | 34 | 0-0 | 23 |
| 25 | Lubbock Christian | 22 | 10-3 | 24 |
Dropped Out: No. 25 Saginaw Valley State
Receiving Votes: Saginaw Valley State (17), St. Cloud State (8), Newberry (6), Central Oklahoma (5), Colorado Mesa (4), Adelphi (2), Minnesota State (2), West Florida (2), Biola (1).
Erskine Tops First NCCAA Poll
The National Christian College Athletic Association first Top 10 Softball Poll has been released and the defending NCCAA National Champions Erskine College set atop. The Flying Fleet won the title in 2019 as there was no championship held in 2020 due to the pandemic. EC is off to a 6-2 start in the 2021 season.
- Erskine (6-2) 54 points
- Warner (9-3) 51 pointes
- Oklahoma Wesleyan (6-2) 49 points
- Campbellsville (5-5) 45 points
- Cedarville (3-1) 38 points
- Southwestern Christian (4-4) 25 points
- Mid-America Christian (1-1) 21 points
- Central Christian (3-3) 16 points
- Columbia International (7-7) 14 points
- Concordia (2-6) 9 points
Also receiving votes: Ottawa Arizona 7 points, Kentucky Christian 1 point
Offensive Juggernaut Oklahoma Takes Over No. 1
After a dominating offensive performance putting up 66 runs over the weekend in Arizona, the Oklahoma Sooners (12-0) have taken over the No. 1 spot in this week’s USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Coaches Poll. OU picked up 27 of the 32 first-place votes while the other five votes went to No. 3 Alabama (14-0) and No. 4 UCLA (6-1).
| Rank | School | Points | Record | Last Week |
| 1 | Oklahoma (27) | 792 | 12-0 | 2 |
| 2 | Arizona | 736 | 10-0 | 3 |
| 3 | Alabama (3) | 732 | 14-0 | 4 |
| 4 | UCLA (2) | 730 | 6-1 | 1 |
| 5 | Florida | 664 | 12-0 | 6 |
| 6 | Oregon | 636 | 9-0 | 8 |
| 7 | Texas | 598 | 8-0 | 7 |
| 8 | Washington | 576 | 13-2 | 5 |
| 9 | Oklahoma State | 549 | 13-1 | 10 |
| 10 | Kentucky | 475 | 14-0 | 12 |
| 11 | Arizona State | 445 | 10-1 | 13 |
| 12 | Louisiana | 441 | 9-3 | 9 |
| 13 | LSU | 432 | 10-5 | 11 |
| 14 | Duke | 356 | 12-1 | 16 |
| 15 | Virginia Tech | 355 | 7-2 | 14 |
| 16 | Florida State | 336 | 10-3 | 15 |
| 17 | South Carolina | 244 | 8-2 | 18 |
| 18 | Missouri | 243 | 12-2 | 20 |
| 19 | Georgia | 204 | 9-2 | 19 |
| 20 | Arkansas | 191 | 11-2 | 21 |
| 21 | Michigan | 149 | 4-2 | 17 |
| 22 | UCF | 127 | 9-2 | 22 |
| 23 | Iowa State | 110 | 13-2 | 25 |
| 24 | Auburn | 82 | 10-1 | RV |
| 25 | Tennessee | 49 | 12-1 | RV |
New to Poll: No. 24 Auburn, No. 25 Tennessee
Dropped Out: No. 23 Baylor, No. 24 Minnesota
Receiving Votes: Clemson (31), Illinois (25), Northwestern (24), Baylor (22), Southern Illinois (11), Stanford (7), James Madison (5), Liberty (4), Ole Miss (4), Mississippi State (4), Utah (4), Minnesota (3), Notre Dame (3), Troy (1).
Vegas Hosts Matchup of Top DII Teams
One of the first big Division II matchups of the year had a very fitting big city location. No. 10 ranked Oklahoma Christian met No. 11 ranked Concordia-Irvine for a battle of top DII programs this weekend in Las Vegas. The 3-game series was played at Faith Lutheran High School in the City of Lights. CUI put up some major offensive numbers winning the first two games 9-4 (Friday) and 7-4 (Saturday) to also secure the series win. OC salvaged the last game of the series on Saturday by the score of 2-1 in a more pitching and defensive inspired contest.
Michigan-Dearborn Suspends Softball Athletes
University of Michigan-Dearborn has suspended 20 of its softball athletes after they held a team practice at a local church gym. UMD student-athletes believe the move was in retaliation for speaking out on their season being cancelled for the second straight year due to pandemic concerns. Two days after the cancellation the Board of Trustees reversed their decision on February 18 and reinstated the 2021 season seemingly based on the public outrage it produced. The two-game suspensions will be “staggered” so the team can still compete. The suspensions were first reported by the site Click on Detroit.