Rounding Third Softball

South Dakota State has named Kristina McSweeney their new head coach. McSweeney spent the last 10 seasons leading the program at DII Arkansas Tech. She compiled a record of 356-184. ATU appeared in six of the last seven NCAA Postseasons, advancing to the Super Regional Round in 2016.

RTS has learned that Oklahoma State assistant coach Jeff Cottrill will join the staff at Missouri. Cottrill spent the past seven seasons with the Cowgirls Staff in numerous positions including Director of Operations, pitching coach, then finally working with the OSU hitters. He is expected to work primarily with the Tiger offense at Mizzou. Cottrill helped Oklahoma State to three WCWS appearances during his tenure.

Arizona State has named Megan Bartlett their new head coach. Bartlett spent the past two season on staff at Texas. She helped lead the Longhorns to a National Runner-up finish in 2022 and a 47-22-1 record. She guided Ball State for five seasons before moving to Austin, leading the program to a 141-108 overall record.

Indiana has announced a contract extension for head coach Shonda Stanton through 2027. Stanton just finished her fifth season with the Hoosiers. The 2022 squad went 27-22 and 10-13 in Big Ten play.

California has named Amber Freeman to their coaching staff. She will serve as the Bears pitching coach. Freeman spent the last three seasons leading the program at NAIA Vanguard where she compiled an 82-36 record.

Texas Tech has named Craig Snider their new head coach. One of the top offensive minds in all of collegiate softball, Snider spent the last three seasons as the hitting coach at Texas A&M. Before going to College Station he was an assistant helping build one of the top programs in the country at Florida State. The Seminoles won the 2018 National Championship.

The No. 1 spot in the final USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Coaches Poll looked a lot like the 2022 preseason poll did. For that matter, all the polls in between had the same name atop it. Oklahoma was the unanimous No. 1 in the final DI Top 25 Poll of the season. The Sooners won their second National Championship in a row, holding that top ranking in every poll this season as they solidified themselves as the most dominant softball team in collegiate history.

Rank	School (First Place Votes)	Points	2022 Record	Prev. Ranking
1	Oklahoma (32)	800	59-3	1
2	Texas	766	47-22-1	16
3	UCLA	725	51-10	5
4	Oklahoma State	716	48-14	6
5	Florida	657	49-19	12
6	Northwestern	625	45-13	10
7	Arizona	591	39-22
8	Oregon State	552	39-22
9	Arkansas	535	48-11	4
10	Virginia Tech	517	46-10	3
11	Arizona State	482	43-11	8
12	Duke	424	44-11	9
13	Florida State	390	54-7	2
14	UCF	362	49-14	18
15	Washington	314	38-17	11
16	Clemson	306	42-17	14
17	Alabama	275	44-13	7
18	Stanford	264	39-22	RV
19	Mississippi State	250	37-27
20	Tennessee	215	41-18	13
21	Kentucky	200	37-19	15
22	Georgia	130	40-16	19
23	Missouri	104	35-20	20
24	Auburn	67	40-17	17
25	Oregon	52	33-19	23

New to Poll:  No. 7 Arizona, No. 8 Oregon State, No. 18 Stanford, No. 19 Mississippi State

Dropped Out: No. 21 Notre Dame, No. 22 LSU, No. 24 Michigan, No. 25 Nebraska

Receiving Votes: Michigan (24), Notre Dame (14), Nebraska (12), LSU (11), Louisiana (9), San Diego State (7), Ole Miss (4).

UNC Pembroke has named Stephanie Graziani head coach. Graziani takes over leadership of the Braves after serving the last five seasons as an assistant coach. While on staff UNCP had winning seasons in each of the last three years, while also amassing 11 all-conference selections.

Coker has named Brittany Bennett their new head coach. Bennett joins the Cobras after spending the past nine years at UNC Pembroke, where she amassed over 200 career wins and was named the 2021 Peach Belt Conference Coach of the Year.

After being tabbed interim head coach at Auburn-Montgomery earlier this month, Scottie Wilkes has now had that tag removed being named permanently to the position. Wilkes, an assistant with the program since 2012, becomes the third head coach in AUM History. Last season, Wilkes helped the Warhawks to a 49-13 record, including a 25-5 mark in GSC play. The team advanced all the way to the DII World Series.