LOUISVILLE, Ky. — National champion Redlands finished first in the final NFCA/GoRout Division III Top 25 Coaches Poll of the 2026 season, the Association announced on Tuesday.
The (48-6) Bulldogs, who captured their first Division III title in just their second trip to the NCAA World Series, won their final seven contests, including a sweep of defending national champion Trine in the best-of-three championship series last week in Salem, Va.
Redlands won 10 of 12 games in the NCAA tournament — all on the road — after winning the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference tournament in their final home contest of the season on May 10. For the season, the Bulldogs were 22-2 away from their campus.
National runner-up Trine (41-8) finished the year ranked second, after advancing to its fourth Division III championship series in the past five seasons, which resulted in titles in 2023 and 2025. The Thunder won 10 of their final 14 games, including five straight in the NCAA tournament before running into Redlands in the finals.
The first eight includes all eight teams that advanced to the championship site, including third-place finishers Simpson (41-8) and Belhaven (44-12), and fifth-place teams Linfield (43-8) and Rowan (43-11).
Virginia Wesleyan (50-2), which had been the undisputed top-ranked team for the 10 weeks leading up to the NCAA tournament, lost its only two games all year at the finals. The Marlins fell by identical 3-2 scores to Rowan and Linfield on consecutive days to drop to seventh in the season-closing poll, ahead of Mount Union (35-9), with whom they tied for seventh place at the James I. Moyer Sports Complex.
Texas Lutheran (42-6), which lost the final two games of its Super Regional series with Redlands, and East Texas Baptist (39-6), which fell to Rowan in the Regionals, round out the final top 10.
The other seven Super Regional finalists — No. 11 Saint Mary’s (40-9), No. 12 Wisconsin-Oshkosh (33-10-1), No. 15 Muhlenberg (36-13), No. 16 Moravian (35-12), No. 17 Colby (30-14), No. 18 UMass Dartmouth (33-13) and No. 20 Case Western Reserve (30-14) — all made the final ranking.
Only UMass Dartmouth hadn’t been in a poll earlier this season.
The NFCA/GoRout Division III Top 25 Coaches Poll is selected by 10 NCAA Division III head coaches representing the 10 NCAA regions. Final 2026 records are listed, with first-place votes in parentheses.
NFCA/GoRout Division III Top 25 Softball Coaches Poll – June 9, 2026
|
Rank |
Team |
Points |
2026 Record |
Previous |
|
1 |
Redlands (10) |
250 |
48-6 |
2 |
|
2 |
Trine |
240 |
41-8 |
4 |
|
3 |
Simpson |
230 |
41-8 |
9 |
|
4 |
Belhaven |
220 |
44-12 |
8 |
|
5 |
Linfield |
210 |
43-8 |
5 |
|
6 |
Rowan |
200 |
43-11 |
16 |
|
7 |
Virginia Wesleyan |
190 |
50-2 |
1 |
|
8 |
Mount Union |
180 |
35-9 |
12 |
|
9 |
Texas Lutheran |
170 |
42-6 |
3 |
|
10 |
East Texas Baptist |
160 |
39-6 |
6 |
|
11 |
Saint Mary’s (Minn.) |
150 |
40-9 |
11 |
|
12 |
Wisconsin-Oshkosh |
140 |
33-10-1 |
15 |
|
13 |
Huntingdon |
130 |
33-12 |
13 |
|
14 |
WashU |
120 |
30-7-1 |
7 |
|
15 |
Muhlenberg |
110 |
36-13 |
NR |
|
16 |
Moravian |
100 |
35-12 |
NR |
|
17 |
Colby |
90 |
30-14 |
NR |
|
18 |
UMass Dartmouth |
80 |
33-13 |
NR |
|
19 |
Saint Benedict |
70 |
36-11 |
19 |
|
20 |
Case Western Reserve |
60 |
30-14 |
NR |
|
21 |
WPI |
50 |
44-5 |
10 |
|
22 |
Swarthmore |
38 |
35-10 |
14 |
|
23 |
Middlebury |
17 |
35-10 |
25 |
|
24 |
Pacific Lutheran |
12 |
35-12 |
22 |
|
T25 |
Rochester |
8 |
36-10 |
24 |
|
T25 |
Tufts |
8 |
31-12 |
18 |
Others receiving votes: Husson 7, Stockton 4, Westfield State 4, MIT 1, and Wartburg 1.
Dropped out: Manhattanville and St. Thomas (Houston).
2026 NFCA Division III Top 25 Committee
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