LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Virginia Wesleyan closed out a perfect regular season and extended its win streak to 40 games to continue as the No. 1 team in the NFCA/GoRout Division III Top 25 Coaches Poll, the Association announced on Tuesday.
The (40-0) Marlins, who boast the second-longest active win streak in NCAA play to the 46 straight won by Division II’s Colorado Christian, are the top team in the Division III rankings for an eighth straight week. They are the No. 1 seed for the Old Dominion Athletic Conference tournament, which they’ve won a record 16 times. Virginia Wesleyan’s last loss came June 5, 2025 to Trine in the NCAA Division III championship series.
The reigning national champion (26-2) Thunder won three of their four contests this past week to remain second, but Saint Mary’s (33-5) plummeted from third to eighth after a three-loss week that included being run-ruled by new-No. 25 Saint Benedict twice on the road.
Texas Lutheran (35-4) improved two spots to take over the No. 3 spot, while WashU (25-3-1) jumped from sixth to fourth, and Redlands (32-4) went from seventh to fifth. After dropping dropped one game in its four-game set with Hardin-Simmons, East Texas Baptist (34-4) slid down to sixth, just ahead of Linfield (33-6) in seventh.
Belhaven (32-8) and Simpson (30-5) round out the revised top 10.
The other big changes occurred at the bottom of the poll, with Wartburg (26-8) replacing Central at No. 23 following a conference sweep of the Dutch and two other victories in a perfect 4-0 week. Westfield State (33-1) and the aforementioned Saint Benedict (27-9) complete the ranked teams.
Four other teams received votes, while four different teams dropped out.
The NFCA/GoRout Division III Top 25 Coaches Poll is selected by 10 NCAA Division III head coaches representing the 10 NCAA regions. Current 2026 records are listed, with first-place votes in parentheses.
NFCA/GoRout Division III Top 25 Softball Coaches Poll – April 28, 2026
|
Rank |
Team |
Points |
2026 Record |
Previous |
|
1 |
Virginia Wesleyan (10) |
250 |
40-0 |
1 |
|
2 |
Trine |
240 |
26-2 |
2 |
|
3 |
Texas Lutheran |
230 |
35-4 |
5 |
|
4 |
WashU |
220 |
25-3-1 |
6 |
|
5 |
Redlands |
210 |
32-4 |
7 |
|
6 |
East Texas Baptist |
200 |
34-4 |
4 |
|
7 |
Linfield |
190 |
33-6 |
8 |
|
8 |
Saint Mary’s (Minn.) |
180 |
33-5 |
3 |
|
9 |
Belhaven |
170 |
32-8 |
10 |
|
10 |
Simpson |
160 |
30-5 |
11 |
|
11 |
Tufts |
150 |
25-7 |
12 |
|
12 |
Mount Union |
140 |
25-5 |
13 |
|
13 |
Huntingdon |
130 |
29-8 |
9 |
|
14 |
Wisconsin-Oshkosh |
120 |
27-5-1 |
16 |
|
15 |
WPI |
110 |
34-2 |
18 |
|
16 |
Stockton |
100 |
30-6 |
19 |
|
17 |
Rowan |
90 |
31-7 |
17 |
|
18 |
St. Thomas (Houston) |
80 |
29-8 |
14 |
|
19 |
Colby |
70 |
23-8 |
15 |
|
20 |
Husson |
60 |
29-4 |
20 |
|
21 |
Pacific Lutheran |
50 |
32-8 |
21 |
|
22 |
Swarthmore |
40 |
30-8 |
22 |
|
23 |
Wartburg |
25 |
26-8 |
RV |
|
24 |
Westfield State |
16 |
33-1 |
NR |
|
25 |
Saint Benedict |
9 |
27-9 |
NR |
Others receiving votes: Muskingum 7, Manhattanville 1, Muhlenberg 1 and Transylvania 1.
Dropped out: Central (Iowa), MIT, Middlebury and Rochester.
2026 NFCA Division III Top 25 Committee
The NFCA is the professional organization for fastpitch softball coaches. Known for its highly-regarded coaches polls and All-America awards, the NFCA also educates and supports softball coaches on a variety of different levels: from podcasts to awards, to in-person events and National Convention.
Learn more about the NFCA and consider joining our lineup of over 7,000 coaches today!
