LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Salisbury won three of four games to capture the Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference tournament title, and remain the top-ranked team in the NFCA Division III Top 25 Coaches Poll for the 11th straight week.
The Sea Gulls (39-3) lost 1-0 to then-No. 7 Christopher Newport, but then rolled past Mary Washington, 8-0 in five innings, and won two straight against Christopher Newport, for their fourth victory in five ranked matchups with the defending national champion Captains this season.
There were no changes in the top five heading into the NCAA tournament later this week. Conference titlists Berry (Southern Athletic Association), Case Western Reserve (University Athletic Association), Linfield (Northwest Conference) and Trine (Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association) all are playing their best softball with the most important games of the season looming.
American Southwest Conference champ East Texas Baptist (38-5) surged three spots to sixth after beating then-No. 15 Mary Hardin-Baylor, 3-2 in eight innings in the tournament finale on a walk-off double by Tauryn Cummings.
Tufts (37-4) had been last week’s No. 6 team, but slipped one place after losing for only the fourth time this season, 3-1 to Williams, in the New England Small College Athletic Conference championship game.
Randolph-Macon (38-8) moved up one spot to ninth after beating receiving-votes Roanoke twice to win the Old Dominion Athletic Conference tournament title, and the aforementioned Christopher Newport rounds out the first 10.
Elsewhere, The College of New Jersey (29-9) and Millikin (30-9) are this week’s Top 25 newcomers at No. 18 and No. 23, after capturing the New Jersey Athletic Conference and College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin tournaments, respectively.
The NFCA Division III Top 25 Coaches Poll is selected by 10 NCAA Division III head coaches representing the 10 NCAA regions. Current 2023 records are listed, with first-place votes in parentheses. This is the last weekly poll. A final poll will be released on June 13 following completion of the national championship.
The NFCA Division III Top 25 Coaches Poll is selected by 10 NCAA Division III head coaches representing the 10 NCAA regions. Current 2023 records are listed, with first-place votes in parentheses. This is the last weekly poll. A final poll will be released on June 13 following completion of the national championship.
NFCA Division III Top 25 Softball Coaches Poll
|
Rank |
Team |
Points |
2023 Record |
Previous |
|
1 |
Salisbury (10) |
250 |
39-3 |
1 |
|
2 |
Berry |
240 |
36-4 |
2 |
|
3 |
Case Western Reserve |
230 |
37-3 |
3 |
|
4 |
Linfield |
220 |
41-4 |
4 |
|
5 |
Trine |
210 |
35-4 |
5 |
|
6 |
East Texas Baptist |
200 |
38-5 |
9 |
|
7 |
Tufts |
190 |
37-4 |
6 |
|
8 |
Texas Lutheran |
180 |
38-6 |
8 |
|
9 |
Randolph-Macon |
170 |
38-8 |
10 |
|
10 |
Christopher Newport |
160 |
26-10 |
7 |
|
11 |
Bethel |
150 |
33-3 |
11 |
|
12 |
Birmingham-Southern |
140 |
31-9 |
12 |
|
13 |
Virginia Wesleyan |
130 |
35-10 |
13 |
|
14 |
Concordia (Wis.) |
120 |
37-3 |
14 |
|
15 |
Rochester |
110 |
36-7 |
17 |
|
16 |
Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
100 |
32-6 |
19 |
|
17 |
Transylvania |
90 |
33-9 |
20 |
|
18 |
The College of New Jersey |
80 |
29-9 |
NR |
|
19 |
Mary Hardin-Baylor |
70 |
32-12 |
15 |
|
20 |
Rowan |
60 |
36-6 |
16 |
|
21 |
Coe |
33 |
31-8 |
18 |
|
22 |
Central (Iowa) |
20 |
31-9 |
22 |
|
23 |
Millikin |
19 |
30-9 |
NR |
|
24 |
Eastern Connecticut State |
15 |
28-10 |
24 |
|
25 |
Luther |
14 |
32-8 |
23 |
Others receiving votes: Pfeiffer 12, Roanoke 12, Belhaven 7, Calvin 5, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute 5, St. Thomas (Texas) 4, Saint Benedict (Minn.) 2, Mount Union 1, Wisconsin-Whitewater 1.
Dropped out: Greensboro and Wisconsin-Oshkosh.
2023 NFCA Division III Top 25 Committee
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