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LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Reigning national champion East Texas Baptist starts the year exactly where it finished — as the unanimous top team in the NFCA/GoRout Division III Top 25 Coaches Poll.

The Tigers went 48-3 a year ago, defeating Belhaven twice on June 5 to close the best-of-three NCAA Division III championship series and capture their second title in school history. Three-time NFCA All-American and 2024 NFCA National Player of the Year Tristen Maddox is back at shortstop for a fifth season for East Texas Baptist, which won its first Division III crown in 2010, head coach Janae Shirley’s third season.

Belhaven, meanwhile, recorded a stellar 47-10 campaign, and dealt East Texas Baptist its first loss all season on its home field, 4-3, in the opening game of the championship. It was also the first loss suffered anywhere by the Tigers in two months, snapping a 23-game win streak.

The Blazers, who graduated a pair of NFCA All-Americans — ace pitcher Kennedy Carruth and third baseman Allie Gordon — open the season fifth in the rankings, behind fellow NCAA finalists Linfield, Rowan and Wisconsin-Oshkosh. Second-ranked Linfield and No. 3 Rowan tied for third at the World Series, while fourth-ranked Oshkosh tied for fifth nationally with Tufts, which is the No. 6 team to start 2025.

Seventh-place finishers Case Western Reserve and Virginia Wesleyan rank seventh and eighth, respectively, while Super Regional squads Christopher Newport and Trine round out the top 10.

Central, which lost to Linfield in the Super Regionals, Williams, which fell to the eventual titlist Tigers in their Super Regional, and Salisbury, which was eliminated by World Series participant Tufts, are the next three teams in the poll. No. 14 Texas Lutheran, No. 15 Berry, No. 16 Rochester, 17th-ranked Randolph-Macon, No. 18 Pfeiffer and No. 19 Muskingum complete the group that the entire Top 25 committee agreed upon, before voting out the remaining teams individually.

The NFCA/GoRout Division III Top 25 Coaches Poll is selected by 10 NCAA Division III head coaches representing the 10 NCAA regions. Final 2024 records are listed, with first-place votes in parentheses. 

NFCA/GoRout Division III Top 25 Softball Coaches Poll – Feb. 4, 2025

Rank

Team

Points

Final 2024 Record

1

East Texas Baptist (10)

250

48-3

2

Linfield

240

50-4

3

Rowan

230

41-10

4

Wisconsin-Oshkosh

220

45-7

5

Belhaven

210

47-10

6

Tufts

200

39-10

7

Case Western Reserve

190

40-9

8

Virginia Wesleyan

180

40-10

9

Christopher Newport

170

34-7

10

Trine

160

43-5

11

Central

150

33-13

12

Williams

140

26-13

13

Salisbury

130

39-7

14

Texas Lutheran

120

33-5

15

Berry

110

46-7

16

Rochester

100

32-9

17

Randolph-Macon

90

33-7-2

18

Pfeiffer

80

45-4

19

Muskingum

70

31-16

20

Calvin

38

34-12

21

Wisconsin-Whitewater

35

33-10

22

Redlands

31

33-14

23

Wisconsin-Stevens Point

27

32-9

24

Bethel

19

33-11

25

Huntingdon

18

33-8

Others receiving votes: Massachusetts Institute of Technology 10, Coe 8, WashU 8, Husson 6, Eastern 5, Saint Mary’s (Minn.) 3 and Saint Benedict 2.

2025 NFCA Division III Top 25 Committee

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