Rounding Third Softball is pleased to announce that Decker Sports will be the official sponsor of all 2023 postseason coverage. Decker was founded in 1994 in Omaha, Nebraska and is a national brand uniform, softball, and apparel company.
“Rounding Third Softball Postseason Coverage Powered By Decker” will start next week during Division I Conference Tournament week, continue through NCAA Regional and Super Regional action, highlight the Division II National Championship event, and conclude next month on the grandest stage in softball at the Women’s College World Series in Oklahoma City.
Oregon Tech (43-6) remains atop the final NAIA Top 25 Coaches’ Poll of the regular season. The Owls garnered 17 of the 19 first-place votes, while No. 2 Our Lady of the Lakes (42-4) received two votes.
RANK
LAST WEEK
SCHOOL [1st Place Votes]
RECORD
FINAL POINTS
1
1
Oregon Tech [17]
43-6
528
2
2
Our Lady of the Lake (Texas) [2]
42-4
512
3
3
Cumberlands (Ky.)
42-3
496
4
4
Southern Oregon
40-9
472
5
5
Oklahoma City
40-8
464
6
8
College of Idaho
43-6
429
7
7
Baker (Kan.)
41-7
419
8
11
Georgia Gwinnett
37-9
400
9
10
Marian (Ind.)
42-6
396
10
9
Science & Arts (Okla.)
34-13
392
11
6
Texas A&M Texarkana
31-8
358
12
12
Northwestern (Iowa)
43-6
336
13
15
Mobile (Ala.)
36-11
326
14
16
Ottawa (Kan.)
40-7
304
15
17
Central Methodist (Mo.)
34-10
281
16
13
Middle Georgia State
38-12
268
16
20
Indiana Wesleyan
39-11
268
18
21
Coastal Georgia
37-10
233
19
23
Campbellsville (Ky.)
28-14-1
226
20
17
Southeastern (Fla.)
31-14
196
21
14
Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.)
24-11
175
22
19
William Carey (Miss.)
38-12
173
23
22
Hope International (Calif.)
36-12
140
24
24
Eastern Oregon
31-17
123
25
25
Mount Vernon Nazarene (Ohio)
31-14
94
Dropped from the Top 25: N/A
Others Receiving Votes: Reinhardt (Ga.) 80, Indiana Tech 63, Cottey (Mo.) 59, Friends (Kan.) 58, Missouri Baptist 29, Mount Mercy (Iowa) 23, Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) 21, Truett McConnell (Ga.) 16, Midland (Neb.) 12, St. Francis (Ill.) 11, Bellevue (Neb.) 11, Mid-America Christian (Okla.) 4, Grand View (Iowa) 4, Arizona Christian 3, Oklahoma Wesleyan 3, Indiana Southeast 3.
As we enter the final week of the regular season, the latest Rating Percentage Index (RPI) can show where your team stacks up this season. The RPI is utilized by the NCAA Committee as one of their metrics in selection of teams for postseason play. https://www.ncaa.com/…/soft…/d1/ncaa-womens-softball-rpi
University of Mary Head Coach Dre Frantz has resigned. The former UM All-American led the DII program for just two seasons. During that time the Marauders went 14-77.
This week’s D1 Softball Top 25 has Oklahoma (45-1), UCLA (47-4), Florida State (43-8), Tennessee-Knoxville (39-6), and Texas (39-9-1) featured in the Top 5.
This past weekend Florida Atlantic dedicated their field to longtime head coach Joan Joyce. The 21 time Hall of Famer passed in March 2022. Her brother and sister, Joey and Janis, were on hand and presented with a plaque with two tickets from the first game held at Joan Joyce Field. Joyce, one of the most legendary names in the sport, coached FAU for 28 seasons amassing a 1002–674–1 record.
RTS heads to T-Town this weekend for a big SEC matchup as No. 12 LSU (37-11, 10-8) visits No. 16 Alabama (34-15, 10-8). The Tigers and Crimson Tide get the series started on Friday at 6:00 pm CT. Check-in on Twitter @Rounding3rdSB and on all RTS Social Media platforms for live in-game action and updates throughout the weekend.
Lander University is promoting assistant coach Maddie Gibbs to head coach. She is replacing current coach Glen Crawford who is stepping down at the end of the season to become Athletic Director at Columbia College. Gibbs was hired on the coaching staff for the Bearcats in the summer of 2020. She had spent the previous two seasons at her alma mater Reinhardt University where she had played for Crawford when he coached the program there.
Kella Goins has been named the permanent head coach at Queens University of Charlotte. Goins had been appointed interim head coach last month after the resignation of former coach Stacey Schramm. She has led the Royals to a 10-13 record since. Goins was named assistant coach in fall 2022 after completing a standout playing career at Lincoln Memorial in 2021. The newcomer to the coaching ranks takes on the task of leading the latest program to join the ranks of Division I.
