LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Undefeated Linfield ascended to the top spot in the NFCA Division III Top 25 Coaches Poll, replacing Salisbury, which lost twice over the weekend.
The (38-0) Wildcats have done nothing but win since outscoring opponents 32-6 en route to the NFCA Division III Leadoff Classic title back in March. For the season, Linfield has won 19 of its games by run rule, including two lopsided shutouts of Willamette on Sunday. The Wildcats are averaging more than 8.5 runs per game and wrap up the regular season later today with another doubleheader against Willamette, before hosting the Northwest Conference tournament starting Friday.
East Texas Baptist and Christopher Newport both leapfrogged Salisbury, who had been No. 1 the last three weeks. The (35-2) Tigers closed their regular season with a three-game sweep of Sul Ross to move up to second in the rankings, while the (28-5) Captains beat a top-ranked team for the second and third times this season with a Saturday sweep of the Sea Gulls (34-3) to gain four places and move up to No. 3.
Christopher Newport upset Trine on March 3 when the Thunder were the No. 1 team, 5-4 in both teams’ final contest at the NFCA Leadoff. The losses dropped the Sea Gulls to fourth, while Trine (36-3) now stands fifth.
Sixth-ranked Berry (41-4) secured the first automatic qualifying spot in the 2024 NCAA tournament by defeating Birmingham-Southern in the best-of-three Southern Athletic Association championship series. Meanwhile, No. 9 Texas Lutheran’s win over Trinity in Sunday’s Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference final earned the (31-3) Bulldogs the season’s second NCAA AQ slot of the season.
No. 7 Case Western Reserve (32-6) easily dispatched then-No. 22 Mount Union 11-2 in five innings on Sunday and has just a Saturday twinbill against the University of Chicago left in its regular season. Eighth-ranked Virginia Wesleyan (33-7) won its Old Dominion Athletic Conference playoff pod over the weekend and will face Roanoke, which prevailed in the other pod, in the best-of-three league championship series starting Thursday.
Belhaven (37-6) rounds out the top 10. The Blazers lost twice to Maryville in the Collegiate Conference of the South tournament, but are still poised to receive an at-large berth when NCAA selections are revealed next Monday.
Husson, which has won a poll-best 27 straight games, enters the rankings this week at No. 20. The (32-4) Eagles haven’t lost a game since their spring trip to Florida, and are the top seed and host for the North Atlantic Conference tournament, which opens on Thursday.
The NFCA Division III Top 25 Coaches Poll is selected by 10 NCAA Division III head coaches representing the 10 NCAA regions. Current records are listed, with first-place votes in parentheses.
NFCA Division III Top 25 Softball Coaches Poll
May 7, 2024
|
Rank |
Team |
Points |
2024 Record |
Previous |
|
1 |
Linfield (10) |
250 |
38-0 |
2 |
|
2 |
East Texas Baptist |
240 |
35-2 |
3 |
|
3 |
Christopher Newport |
230 |
28-5 |
7 |
|
4 |
Salisbury |
220 |
34-3 |
1 |
|
5 |
Trine |
210 |
36-3 |
4 |
|
6 |
Berry |
200 |
41-4 |
5 |
|
7 |
Case Western Reserve |
190 |
32-6 |
10 |
|
8 |
Virginia Wesleyan |
180 |
33-7 |
11 |
|
9 |
Texas Lutheran |
170 |
31-3 |
12 |
|
10 |
Belhaven |
160 |
37-6 |
6 |
|
11 |
Randolph-Macon |
150 |
31-5-2 |
8 |
|
12 |
Wisconsin-Oshkosh |
140 |
36-2 |
18 |
|
13 |
Pfeiffer |
130 |
41-2 |
13 |
|
14 |
Huntingdon |
120 |
33-6 |
9 |
|
15 |
Rowan |
110 |
32-7 |
14 |
|
16 |
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute |
100 |
32-3-1 |
15 |
|
17 |
Tufts |
90 |
31-6 |
16 |
|
18 |
Bethel |
80 |
28-8 |
17 |
|
19 |
Wisconsin-Stevens Point |
70 |
31-5 |
19 |
|
20 |
Husson |
60 |
32-4 |
NR |
|
21 |
Calvin |
36 |
30-8 |
24 |
|
22 |
Transylvania |
27 |
31-8 |
25 |
|
23 |
Dominican |
25 |
35-5 |
21 |
|
24 |
Central |
19 |
28-9 |
20 |
|
25 |
Mount Union |
17 |
32-6 |
22 |
Others receiving votes: Wisconsin-Whitewater 12, Rochester 11, St. John Fisher 2 and SUNY New Paltz 1.
Dropped out: Ramapo and WashU.
2024 NFCA Division III Top 25 Committee
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