LOUISVILLE, Ky. — East Texas Baptist heads into the NCAA tournament as the unanimous No. 1 team in the NFCA/GoRout Division III Top 25 Coaches Poll as it looks to defend its national championship.
The (40-3) Tigers are the overall top seed in the tournament, which opens Thursday at 16 regional sites. This is the 12th straight poll with East Texas Baptist as the top team, dating back to the final ranking of last season.
American Southwest Conference tournament champion East Texas Baptist opens its title defense at home against Marymount, which won the American East Conference crown. Belhaven (31-7), which defeated co-No. 12 team Huntingdon (36-5) in the Collegiate Conference of the South championship two weeks ago, is also in this regional, along with St. Thomas (Texas), which defeated No. 9 Texas Lutheran (39-3) in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference tournament.
Texas Lutheran will make the rare trip outside of its home state for the regional round, traveling north to New York to play in the Ithaca Regional against UMass-Boston.
The first eight teams in the penultimate poll of the season, including new No. 2 and 3 teams Christopher Newport (35-4) and Virginia Wesleyan (41-3-1) are all home for the regionals. That also includes No. 4 Rowan, which slipped two spots after a loss to Ramapo in the New Jersey Athletic Conference tournament. The (43-2) Profs routed Kean later Saturday, then beat the Roadrunners twice Sunday to claim the tournament title.
No. 7 Saint Mary’s (39-3), which hasn’t lost since a 6-5 defeat to 18th-ranked Moravian on March 6, moved up four places in the poll this week, and will look to win its 30th-straight game against Husson on Thursday.
Illinois Wesleyan (34-7) moved up to No. 20 in the rankings this week after winning a program-best 22nd straight game and its 17th College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin tournament title. The Titans could play on their home field for the rest of the season.
Illinois Wesleyan is hosting its regional round and would also host its super regional if they advance and are the higher-seeded team. If they get that far, the NCAA Division III World Series will be played on May 29-June 4 at the Titans’ Inspiration Field.
Meanwhile, Redlands (34-9) and Baldwin Wallace (31-4) will both be looking to get back on track after getting knocked out of their conference tournaments earlier than expected. The No. 11 Bulldogs lost to Claremont-Mudd-Scripps and receiving votes Chapman in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference playoffs, while the No. 25 Yellow Jackets were stung twice by Mount Union in the Ohio Athletic Conference tourney.
The NFCA/GoRout Division III Top 25 Coaches Poll is selected by 10 NCAA Division III head coaches representing the 10 NCAA regions. Current 2025 records are listed, with first-place votes in parentheses. The final poll of the season will be released on June 10, following completion of the NCAA tournament.
NFCA/GoRout Division III Top 25 Softball Coaches Poll – May 13, 2025
|
Rank |
Team |
Points |
2025 Record |
Previous |
|
1 |
East Texas Baptist (10) |
250 |
40-3 |
1 |
|
2 |
Christopher Newport |
240 |
35-4 |
3 |
|
3 |
Virginia Wesleyan |
230 |
41-3-1 |
5 |
|
4 |
Rowan |
220 |
43-2 |
2 |
|
5 |
Trine |
210 |
36-5 |
4 |
|
6 |
Linfield |
200 |
38-5 |
6 |
|
7 |
Saint Mary’s (Minn.) |
190 |
39-3 |
11 |
|
8 |
Salisbury |
180 |
33-6-1 |
8 |
|
9 |
Texas Lutheran |
170 |
39-3 |
9 |
|
10 |
WashU |
160 |
32-5 |
10 |
|
11 |
Redlands |
150 |
34-9 |
7 |
|
T12 |
Belhaven |
135 |
31-7 |
T12 |
|
T12 |
Huntingdon |
135 |
36-5 |
T12 |
|
14 |
Wisconsin-Oshkosh |
120 |
36-6 |
16 |
|
15 |
Wisconsin-Whitewater |
110 |
35-6 |
15 |
|
16 |
Gettysburg |
100 |
38-6 |
17 |
|
17 |
Case Western Reserve |
90 |
28-10 |
14 |
|
18 |
Moravian |
80 |
36-7 |
18 |
|
19 |
Pfeiffer |
70 |
35-7 |
20 |
|
20 |
Illinois Wesleyan |
60 |
34-7 |
22 |
|
21 |
Ithaca |
50 |
28-6 |
24 |
|
22 |
Swarthmore |
40 |
32-10 |
25 |
|
23 |
Simpson |
30 |
31-7 |
21 |
|
24 |
Randolph-Macon |
9 |
34-11 |
23 |
|
25 |
Baldwin Wallace |
8 |
31-4 |
19 |
Others receiving votes: Greenville 6, Chapman 3, Lewis & Clark 3 and Ramapo 1.
Dropped out: None.
2025 NFCA Division III Top 25 Committee
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