Rounding Third Softball

After defeating No. 2 Salisbury (32-4) in a DH last week, top-ranked Christopher Newport (35-1) has kept hold of the No. 1 spot in this week’s NFCA Division III Top 25 Coaches Poll. The Captains collected all 10 first place votes.

Rank	Team	Points	2022 Record	Previous
1	Christopher Newport (10)	250	35-1	1
2	Salisbury	240	32-4	2
3	Texas Lutheran	230	35-4	3
4	Eastern Connecticut State	220	28-4	5
5	Belhaven	210	31-5	6
6	DePauw	200	26-6	7
7	Linfield	190	36-7	8
8	East Texas Baptist	180	27-8	4
9	Birmingham-Southern	170	32-6	9
10	Mary Hardin-Baylor	160	28-9	12
11	Bethel	150	25-2	14
12	Berry	140	27-11	13
13	Randolph-Macon	130	30-7	10
14	Virginia Wesleyan	120	29-10	15
15	Concordia (Wis.)	110	27-3	17
16	Milwaukee School of Engineering	100	18-4	19
17	Roanoke	90	26-10	20
18	Babson	80	28-6	T24
19	Wisconsin-Oshkosh	70	20-6	11
20	Piedmont	60	26-9	RV
21	Rowan	50	26-8	16
22	Geneseo	22	25-3	RV
23	Millikin	15	26-4	22
24	Lynchburg	14	23-17	NR
25	Pfeiffer	9	32-8	NR

Others receiving votes: Case Western Reserve 8, Wisconsin-La Crosse 7, Susquehanna 6, Saint Benedict (Minn.) 5, Alma 4, Aurora 3, Tufts 3, Mount St. Joseph 1, and Wartburg 1.

Dropped out: George Fox and The College of New Jersey.

UT Tyler (38-4) is still No. 1 in this week’s NFCA Division II Top 25 Coaches Poll. It’s the 11th week the Patriots have been on top of the DII Poll this season.

Rank	School	Points	2022 Record	Prev. Ranking
1	UT Tyler (16)	400	38-4	1
2	Indianapolis	371	41-5	3
3	Texas A&M-Kingsville	359	41-8	5
4	Central Oklahoma	354	41-7	4
5	Auburn Montgomery	349	34-8	2
6	Rogers State	306	39-7	8
7	Angelo State	296	37-8	10
8	Cal State San Marcos	282	36-8	6
9	Tampa	278	30-10	11
10	Valdosta State	259	29-9	7
11	Concordia Irvine	241	42-7	9
12	Augustana	232	36-7	12
13	Lubbock Christian	204	36-8	14
14	Anderson	191	37-7	13
15	Oklahoma Christian	167	36-10	15
16	Minnesota State	146	38-10	18
16	Southern Indiana	146	35-10	17
18	West Florida	118	28-12	20
19	North Georgia	112	35-15	16
20	Texas A&M-Commerce	107	37-11	19
21	Grand Valley State	79	36-5	24
22	Kutztown	39	30-12	25
23	Lenoir-Rhyne	34	36-13	23
24	Chico State	33	34-11	RV
25	Adelphi	22	33-11	RV

New to Poll: No. 24 Chico State, No. 25 Adelphi

Dropped Out:  No. 21 Embry-Riddle, No. 22 West Texas A&M

Receiving Votes: Washburn (21), Nova Southeastern (19), Colorado Christian (16), Embry-Riddle (9), Carson-Newman (7), Cal State Dominguez Hills (2), East Stroudsburg (1).

Lincoln University has announced Christine Core will be stepping down as head coach effective at the end of the season. Core is in her fourth season coaching the Tigers. With four games left in the 2022 season, LU has a record of 12-31.

25 straight weeks Oklahoma (42-1) has reigned supreme on top of the USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Coaches Poll.

Rank	School (First Place Votes)	Points	2022 Record	Prev. Ranking
1	Oklahoma (32)	800	42-1	1
2	Virginia Tech	760	36-6	3
3	UCLA	728	36-5	4
4	Florida State	699	43-5	5
5	Alabama	653	39-8	2
6	Oklahoma State	650	38-7	6
7	Arkansas	636	35-8	7
8	Northwestern	548	34-7	10
9	Florida	535	35-12	8
10	Washington	515	28-11	11
11	Kentucky	455	30-13	9
12	Duke	417	36-7	12
13	Tennessee	410	33-13	15
14	Arizona State	392	32-7	13
15	Georgia	342	37-11	14
16	Auburn	297	36-10	18
17	Texas	294	32-15-1	16
18	Clemson	266	33-14	17
19	LSU	226	30-17	21
20	Notre Dame	190	35-9	22
21	UCF	175	39-11	20
22	Oregon	132	26-16	19
23	Michigan	92	29-14	23
24	Stanford	78	31-13	RV
25	Arizona	46	27-16	24

New to Poll: No. 24 Stanford

Dropped Out: No. 25 Nebraska

Receiving Votes: Missouri (23), Louisiana (18), Nebraska (14), Oregon State (6), Mississippi State (1), San Diego State (1), Texas A&M (1).

RTS is saddened to report the passing of James Madison student-athlete Lauren Bernett. A sophomore catcher for the Dukes, Bernett was a key member as a freshmen last season in the teams historic run to the Women’s College World Series. The McDonald, Pennsylvania native just yesterday was just named Colonial Athletic Conference Player of the Week after her outstanding on-field performance. A student-athlete that excelled in the classroom, Bernett was a member of the National Honor Society and majored in Biology with a minor in Pre-Veterinarian Medicine.

RTS will be in Athens tomorrow for the start of the three-game SEC Series between No. 14 Georgia (36-9, 9-6) and No. 21 LSU (28-16, 8-7). Game 1 of the series starts at 6 pm Friday. Check-in beginning at 5 pm here, on Twitter, and Instagram for real-time updates from the Top 25 matchup between the Bulldogs and Tigers.

Before Saturday’s Game 2 UGA will welcome back former Head Coach Lu Harris-Champer as she will be honored prior to first pitch. Harris-Champer coached the Bulldogs for 21 seasons amassing 959 victories, 19-straight NCAA appearances, and five trips to the Women’s College World Series.

Mobile (37-1) is the new No 1 in the NAIA Top 25 Coaches Poll released today. The Rams received 11 first-place votes. Former poll topper Oklahoma City (31-4) comes in at No. 2 earning seven first-place votes, while Oregon Tech (38-7) is at No. 3 with one vote for first-place.

RANK	LAST WEEK	SCHOOL [1st Place Votes]	RECORD	FINAL POINTS
1	3	Mobile (Ala.) [11]	37-1	518
2	1	Oklahoma City [7]	31-4	511
3	2	Oregon Tech [1]	38-7	495
4	4	Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.)	39-3	489
5	5	Science & Arts (Okla.)	37-6	461
6	7	William Carey (Miss.)	37-6	441
7	6	College of Idaho	35-8	425
8	8	Indiana Wesleyan	35-6	409
9	11	Central Methodist (Mo.)	27-4	388
10	9	Southern Oregon	38-10	383
11	12	Grand View (Iowa)	30-5	347
12	10	Coastal Georgia	34-7	335
13	13	Texas A&M Texarkana	32-8	330
14	16	Aquinas (Mich.)	25-5	286
15	14	Georgia Gwinnett	29-15	276
15	17	Lindsey Wilson (Ky.)	31-11	276
17	18	Marian (Ind.)	26-7	249
18	20	Southeastern (Fla.)	36-7	242
19	21	Columbia (Mo.)	22-10	191
20	19	Madonna (Mich.)	20-4	178
21	24	Tennessee Wesleyan	30-5	162
22	RV	Campbellsville (Ky.)	28-13	138
23	24	Saint Xavier (Ill.)	22-6	134
24	23	Embry-Riddle (Ariz.)	29-3	130
25	RV	Our Lady of the Lake (Texas)	37-8	122

Dropped from the Top 25: Ottawa (Kan.), Cumberlands (Ky.)

Others Receiving Votes: Ottawa (Kan.) 120, Cumberlands (Ky.) 105, William Jessup (Calif.) 77, Midland (Neb.) 45, Vanguard (Calif.) 31, Eastern Oregon 25, Mount Vernon Nazarene (Ohio) 24, Bellevue (Neb.) 10, Oklahoma Wesleyan 7, Cottey (Mo.) 7, Middle Georgia State 6, Rio Grande (Ohio) 5, Webber International (Fla.) 4, Mount Marty (S.D.) 4.

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).