Rounding Third Softball

Last month Southeast Arkansas College suspended their inaugural season after a 4-13 start citing “unforeseen circumstances, including injuries and roster challenges having resulted in falling below minimum requirements needed to compete effectively and safely.” Southeast Arkansas stated at the time through a press release that it was working with the NJCAA to address player eligibility concerns ahead of the 2025 season.

Southeast Arkansas has now advertised for a new head coach on their employment website further putting another odd turn on the first season for the Sharks.

Belinda Hendrix was hired as the first coach in program history in April 2023. Hendrix is best known for winning three National Championships in a successful 17 year coaching stint at Chipola College. At the time her hiring, Southeast Arkansas was questioned on bringing Hendrix aboard after a one year stint at East Tennessee State in which she was fired after allegations of abuse. At the time Southeast Arkansas College President Steven Bloomberg praised the hiring.

Hendrix husband, Jimmy Hendrix was also an assistant at ETSU before his termination. He initially accepted a head coaching position at Arkansas State University-Mid South, before resigning to join the staff at Southeast Arkansas as an assistant to his wife. He had previously resigned mid-season at Chipola due to “personal reasons”. It is unclear if he is still on staff with the Sharks.

Attempts at the time of the program suspension until now to reach Athletic Director Chad Kline for further comment have proven unsuccessful.

1	Duke	33-3	4-0	2
2	Oklahoma	35-3	1-2	1
3	Oklahoma State	33-6	4-0	4
4	Texas	31-6	2-1	6
5	Tennessee	30-6	2-1	5
6	Stanford	31-6	4-0	7
7	LSU	31-5	2-1	8
8	Florida	33-6	2-1	10
9	Georgia	31-8	2-3	3
10	Texas A&M	31-8	3-1	14
11	Mississippi State	28-10	3-1	15
12	Washington	26-7	1-2	9
13	Arkansas	28-10	3-1	17
14	UCLA	22-9	2-1	12
15	Alabama	29-8	3-0	16
16	Virginia Tech	28-9-1	3-1	13
17	Louisiana	27-13	3-0	19
18	Missouri	30-10	1-3	11
19	Texas State	32-9	3-1	18
20	Florida State	28-10	4-1	21
21	Northwestern	22-8	3-0	24
22	Penn State	28-8	2-1	22
23	Kansas	25-12-1	3-1	NR
24	Virginia	26-11	2-1	NR
25	Clemson	27-11	3-1	20

Dropped out of Rankings: Cal, South Carolina

Received Votes: Cal, Arizona, Oregon, FAU

Dropped out of Rankings: Cal, South Carolina

Received Votes: Cal, Arizona, Oregon, FAU

Meaggan Pettipiece has resigned as head coach at Valparaiso. She was in her second season leading the program having gone 8-41 in 2023. This season the Beacons are 7-20 and 1-5 in conference play. This is the second program Pettipiece has resigned from mid-season having left as head coach at Akron in 2022.

Oklahoma and Duke atop this week’s Softball America DI Top 25.

1	Oklahoma	34-1	3-0	1
2	Duke	29-3	3-0	4
3	Georgia	29-5	2-1	3
4	Oklahoma State	29-6	3-1	7
5	Tennessee	28-5	3-1	6
6	Texas	29-5	1-2	2
7	Stanford	27-6	2-1	5
8	LSU	29-4	4-0	13
9	Washington	25-5	3-0	8
10	Florida	31-5	2-1	9
11	Missouri	29-7	4-0	12
12	UCLA	20-8	2-0	16
13	Virginia Tech	25-8-1	0-3	10
14	Texas A&M	28-7	0-3	11
15	Mississippi State	25-9	1-2	15
16	Alabama	26-8	1-2	14
17	Arkansas	25-9	1-1	19
18	Texas State	29-8	3-1	17
19	Louisiana	24-13	3-0	23
20	Clemson	24-10	2-1	21
21	Florida State	24-9	3-0	NR
22	Penn State	26-7	3-1	22
23	California	26-10	2-2	19
24	Northwestern	19-8	3-1	24
25	South Carolina	26-10	4-1	NR

Dropped out of Rankings: Kansas, FAU

Received Votes: Arizona, Boston, Kansas, FAU, Virginia

Dropped out of Rankings: Kansas, FAU

Received Votes: Arizona, Boston, Kansas, FAU, Virginia

Dallas Christian College Assistant Coach Monti Van Brunt has been named Scouting Director for the British Softball Federation. Van Brunt has extensive international experience having worked in coaching roles in China, the Netherlands, Germany, and Czechia. He also spent time with the Tex Town Tigers Club in the Netherlands and Legnano Club in Italy, winning the European Cup in 2011. The British National Team is preparing for a possible bid to the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.

Mickey Dean will step down as head coach at Auburn at the end of season the university announced Tuesday. Dean is in his seventh season leading the Tigers and the program is currently 15-9-1 and 2-7 in the SEC. During his time on the plains Dean led Auburn to five NCAA Regional appearances and three 40-win seasons. Auburn’s second winningest coach in program history will continue as a special assistant to the athletic director through the remainder of his contract.

Rank	School	Record	Last Week’s Record	Last Week’s Ranking

1	Oklahoma	31-1	4-0	1
2	Texas	28-3	4-0	4
3	Georgia	27-4	4-0	5
4	Duke	26-3	4-1	2
5	Stanford	25-5	3-0	6
6	Tennessee	25-4	3-0	8
7	Oklahoma State	26-5	2-2	7
8	Washington	22-5	2-1	9
9	Florida	29-4	4-0	11
10	Virginia Tech	25-5-1	4-1	10
11	Texas A&M	28-4	3-1	12
12	Missouri	25-7	3-1	16
13	LSU	25-4	1-3	2
14	Alabama	25-6	3-1	15
15	Mississippi State	24-7	3-1	18
16	UCLA	18-8	1-2	14
17	Texas State	26-7	4-0	19
18	Kansas	22-8-1	3-1	20
19	California	24-8	3-1	21
20	Arkansas	24-8	2-2	17
21	Clemson	22-9	1-3	13
22	Penn State	23-6	3-0	NR
23	Louisiana	21-13	3-1	23
24	Northwestern	16-7	5-0	NR
25	FAU	27-7	4-0	NR

Dropped out of Rankings: Baylor, Arizona, South Carolina

Received Votes: South Carolina, Arizona, Florida State

Sources have confirmed to RTS that longtime William Peace University Head Coach Charlie Dobbins will retire at the conclusion of the 2024 season.

Dobbins is in his 25th season leading WPU and has amassed 515 wins during his tenure. He has served on numerous national softball committees shaping the sport, including the NCAA Division III National Softball Committee.

Dobbins could be best known as a top player nationally touring with the World famous King and His Court. He helped retire the “Court” in 2011, ending a 65-year run of touring that covered over 4 million miles, 14,000 games, and over 100 countries. Working behind the plate for the King and His Court, he caught the last pitch in the last game ever played by the group.

Rank	School	Record	Last Week’s Record	Last Week’s Ranking

1	Oklahoma	27-1	5-0	1
2	LSU	24-1	2-1	2
3	Duke	22-2	3-1	3
4	Texas	24-3	3-1	4
5	Georgia	23-4	3-1	6
6	Stanford	22-5	4-1	5
7	Oklahoma State	24-3	4-0	7
8	Tennessee	22-4	4-0	9
9	Washington	20-4	2-1	8
10	Virgina Tech	21-4-1	3-1	10
11	Florida	25-4	4-1	12
12	Texas A&M	25-3	2-1	13
13	Clemson	21-6	4-0	16
14	UCLA	17-6	3-0	15
15	Alabama	22-5	3-2	17
16	Missouri	22-6	2-3	11
17	Arkansas	22-6	2-1	20
18	Mississippi State	21-6	2-2	18
19	Texas State	22-7	2-1	24
20	Kansas	19-7-1	5-0	NR
21	California	21-7	0-3	19
22	Baylor	16-8	2-3	14
23	Louisiana	18-12	4-0	NR
24	Arizona	20-7-1	1-2	21
25	South Carolina	21-7	3-2	22

Dropped out of Rankings: Boston, Georgia Tech

Received Votes: Boston, Florida State

Long Island University Coach Roy Kortmann picked up his 800th career coaching victory on Saturday with a 4-0 shutout of Stonehill. Kortmann has coached at LIU for 31 years winning 12 Northeast Conference Championships and making 11 NCAA Postseason appearances.