Rounding Third Softball

USA Softball announced today their Top 25 Finalists for the 2022 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year. The Collegiate Player of the Year award recognizes outstanding athletic achievement by Division I female collegiate softball players from across the country. The USA Softball CPOY will be announced in Oklahoma City prior to the Women’s College World Series in June. The complete list of 25 finalists can be found at https://www.teamusa.org/…/Player-of…/Top-25-Finalists

Christopher Newport (31-1) remains No. 1 in this week’s NFCA Division III Top 25 Coaches Poll. The Captains were unanimous collecting all 10 first-place votes.

Rank	Team	Points	2022 Record	Previous
1	Christopher Newport (10)	250	31-1	1
2	Salisbury	240	30-2	2
3	Texas Lutheran	230	32-4	3
4	East Texas Baptist	220	25-7	5
5	Eastern Connecticut State	210	24-4	6
6	Belhaven	200	28-5	7
7	DePauw	190	24-6	9
8	Linfield	180	33-7	10
9	Birmingham-Southern	170	29-6	4
10	Randolph-Macon	160	27-6	8
11	Wisconsin-Oshkosh	150	20-4	14
12	Mary Hardin-Baylor	140	25-9	19
13	Berry	130	25-11	20
14	Bethel	120	18-2	22
15	Virginia Wesleyan	110	27-10	11
16	Rowan	100	24-6	16
17	Concordia (Wis.)	90	20-3	15
18	Saint Benedict (Minn.)	80	18-3	18
19	Milwaukee School of Engineering	70	14-4	17
20	Roanoke	60	22-10	12
21	Tufts	50	20-9	13
22	Millikin	27	24-4	T24
23	George Fox	18	30-10	NR
T24	Babson	15	24-6	NR
T24	The College of New Jersey	15	20-5	RV

Others receiving votes: Geneseo 13, Piedmont 11, and Mount St. Joseph 1.

Dropped out: Chapman, Loras, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Moravian, Pfeiffer, and Trine.

UT Tyler (34-4) remains No. 1 in this week’s NFCA Division II Top 25 Coaches Poll. The Patriots were unanimous collecting all 16 first-place votes.

Rank	School	Points	2022 Record	Prev. Ranking
1	UT Tyler (16)	400	34-4	1
2	Auburn Montgomery	378	32-7	6
3	Indianapolis	351	37-5	5
4	Central Oklahoma	338	38-6	10
5	Texas A&M-Kingsville	328	37-8	8
6	Cal State San Marcos	321	34-6	4
7	Valdosta State	312	28-7	3
8	Rogers State	297	36-6	2
9	Concordia Irvine	271	42-5	7
10	Angelo State	250	32-8	11
11	Tampa	241	27-10	9
12	Augustana	224	32-7	13
13	Anderson	202	35-5	20
14	Lubbock Christian	201	33-7	14
15	Oklahoma Christian	163	34-8	16
16	North Georgia	148	35-13	12
17	Southern Indiana	146	32-10	17
18	Minnesota State	112	32-10	21
19	Texas A&M-Commerce	105	33-11	19
20	West Florida	102	26-11	22
21	Embry-Riddle	48	22-11	18
22	West Texas A&M	46	25-12	23
23	Lenoir-Rhyne	41	34-11	RV
24	Grand Valley State	39	28-5	24
25	Kutztown	28	27-11	RV

New to Poll: No. 23 Lenoir-Rhyne, No. 25 Kutztown

Dropped Out:  No. 15 Lincoln Memorial, No. 25 East Stroudsburg

Receiving Votes: Lincoln Memorial (27), Adelphi (17), Chico State (17), East Stroudsburg (14), Nova Southeastern (12), Colorado Christian (8), Washburn (7), Rollins (5), Northwest Nazarene (1).

Sources have confirmed to RTS that Saginaw Valley State Head Coach Christie Ambrosi has taken a leave of absence from the program. Ambrosi is in her second season after joining the program in December 2020. When reached for comment, Saginaw Valley State representatives had none on the matter. Sources also verified assistant coach Jamey Lobdell has been tasked with running the day-to-day operations of the program moving forward. The Cardinals are currently 26-12 overall and 12-4 in GLIAC play.

Despite losing their first game of the 2022 season to No. 16 Texas (31-12-1) over the weekend, Oklahoma (38-1) kept a unanimous hold on the No. 1 spot in this week’s USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Coaches Poll.

Rank	School (First Place Votes)	Points	2022 Record	Prev. Ranking
1	Oklahoma (32)	800	38-1	1
2	Alabama	747	36-6	3
3	Virginia Tech	745	32-6	2
4	UCLA	694	32-5	5
5	Florida State	682	39-5	4
6	Oklahoma State	641	34-7	6
7	Arkansas	601	32-8	7
8	Florida	566	34-9	9
9	Kentucky	536	29-11	8
10	Northwestern	524	30-6	10
11	Washington	449	25-11	11
12	Duke	447	34-5	12
13	Arizona State	432	31-5	13
14	Georgia	366	35-9	14
15	Tennessee	361	29-12	15
16	Texas	310	31-12-1	18
17	Clemson	307	33-11	16
18	Auburn	243	32-9	19
19	Oregon	208	25-13	17
20	UCF	205	37-10	20
21	LSU	155	27-16	21
22	Notre Dame	98	31-9	23
23	Michigan	85	26-13	22
24	Arizona	61	23-15	25
25	Nebraska	57	33-9	RV

New to Poll: No. 25 Nebraska

Dropped Out: No. 24 Stanford 

Receiving Votes: Stanford (24), USC Upstate (15), Oregon State (13), Louisiana (10), USF (9), Missouri (5), Mississippi State (3), San Diego State (1).

NCAA has released an updated RPI. Oklahoma still sits in the top spot, but the Atlantic Coast Conference shows strongly in the rating occupying three of the top six positions with Virginia Tech No. 3, Florida State No. 5, and Duke No. 6. The Rating Percentage Index is used to rank teams based upon wins and losses and its strength of schedule. It is used by the NCAA Selection Committee to choose the field of 64 for postseason play. The complete RPI can be found at https://www.ncaa.com/…/soft…/d1/ncaa-womens-softball-rpi

Tennessee Coach Karen Weekly notched her 1200th career coach victory on Saturday in a 7-5 win over Texas A&M. Weekly holds a 1,200-409-2 all-time record coaching the Lady Vols after five seasons at Chattanooga. She ranks sixth among active DI head coaches in career victories.

Down goes No. 1! No. 18 ranked Texas (31-12-1) has handed top-ranked Oklahoma (38-1) their first loss of the 2022 season. The Longhorns downed the previously unbeaten Sooners 4-2 in Austin in the final contest of their three-game Big 12 Series

Marshall Head Coach Megan Smith picked up her 600th career coaching victory today in a 3-2 win over Florida International. Smith is in her fourth season leading the Thundering Herd. Before arriving in Huntington she had head coaching stints at Kansas, Western Carolina, and Young Harris.

Concordia Irvine Head Coach Crystal Rosenthal picked up her 600th career coaching victory today in a DH sweep of Holy Names 9-1 and 3-0. Rosenthal has a staggering 600-149-2 record since taking over the Eagles in 2009. CUI is currently 40-5 and undefeated in PacWest play at 26-0.