LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Rogers State opened 2023 with six wins and remains as the unanimous No. 1 in the 2023 NFCA Division II Top 25 Coaches Poll. Four teams – No. 16 Southern Arkansas, No. 19 St. Mary’s, No. 22 Oklahoma Christian and No. 24 Lenoir-Rhyne – join the first poll of the regular season.

The Hillcats (6-0) opened the season with three shutout wins, blanking Cameron twice and shutting out Drury. They also picked up victories over Illinois Springfield, Harding and Southeastern Oklahoma State. The latter four came at the Alvy Early/UAM Softball Classic.

UT Tyler and North Georgia leaped past Cal State Dominguez Hills into the No. 2 and 3 spots. The Patriots (7-1) opened with a 4-1 mark at the DII Spring Invitational with wins over Regis, then-No. 13 Augustana, Metro State and Arkansas State. Their lone defeat coming at the hands of new-No. 6 Central Oklahoma.

The NightHawks (4-1) knocked off Spring Hill and Florida Tech at the Gulf Shores Invitational and took two games each from Florida South and King as part of their home-opening Captain D’s Surf ‘N Turf Classic.

Dominguez Hills (6-3) dipped to No. 4. The Toros went 3-2 at the Concordia Kickoff Classic with victories over Western Washington, Hawai’i Hilo and Dominican. They followed that with a twinbill sweep of Hawai’IiPacific and a split with Azusa Pacific at home.

Tampa jumped 12 spots to No. 5 after a 5-0 start. The Spartans registered four shutouts and outscored their opposition 48-2. Tampa blanked Ursuline in a home doubleheader before topping then-No. 4 Auburn Montgomery, West Florida and Wingate at the Panther Invitational.

Previously-mentioned Central Oklahoma picked up two top-20 wins and went 4-2 at the DII Spring Invitational. Along with their victory over UT Tyler, the Bronchos also knocked off then-No. 18 Angelo State, St. Edward’s and Texas Woman’s. They dropped contest to newly-ranked St. Mary’s and Oklahoma Christian.

No. 8 Lubbock Christian have won 10 straight after dropping its season opener to No. 22 Washburn. The Lady Chaparrals posted four shutouts and have allowed two or fewer runs in all but one game this season.

Valdosta State moved into the top 10 as well. The 10^th-ranked Blazers (3-1) went on the road to sweep Palm Beach Atlantic and earn a split with Nova Southeastern.

No. 7 Seton Hill and No. 9 Adelphi were idle.

Of the newly ranked team, Southern Arkansas and Lenoir-Rhyne are off to undefeated starts at 9-0 and 7-0 respectively. St. Mary’s is 8-1 and Oklahoma Christian is 5-1. Both programs each earned two top-25 wins against Augustana and Central Oklahoma.

The 2023 NFCA Division II Top 25 Poll is voted on by 16 NCAA Division II head coaches with two representing each of the eight NCAA regions. The poll will be released each Tuesday at noon ET with the first regular-season poll announced on Feb. 14.

2023 NFCA Division II Top 25 Softball Coaches Poll

February 14 (Week 1)

New to Poll: No. 16 Southern Arkansas, No. 19 St. Mary’s, No. 22 Oklahoma Christian, No. 24 Lenoir-Rhyne

Dropped Out: No. 4 Auburn Montgomery, No. 6 Texas A&M-Kingsville, No. 13 Augustana, No. 24 Wilmington

Receiving Votes: Wilmington (29), Augustana (28), Nova Southeastern (13), West Virginia Wesleyan (6), Auburn Montgomery (5), Minnesota State (3), Saint Leo (3), Chico State (1), Colorado Christian (1).

The 2023 NFCA Division II Top 25 Coaches Poll is voted on by the NFCA Division II Top 25 Poll Committee. The committee consists of 16 NCAA Division II head coaches with two representing each of the NCAA’s eight regions.

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