LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Top-ranked Salisbury continued to lead an NFCA Division III Top 25 Coaches Poll where the only change to the first 10 was a swap of positions at No. 6 and 7.
The Sea Gulls (34-2) remained the unanimous No. 1 team for a ninth straight week after having all four of their scheduled games nixed. A doubleheader at Catholic was canceled, and their top-10 home showdown with No. 7 Christopher Newport was postponed from Sunday to this Saturday.
That doubleheader will determine the Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference regular-season titlist and provide a bye in next week’s three-team conference tournament, which will also be played at Sea Gull Stadium and includes third-place finisher Mary Washington.
The defending national champion (24-6) Captains swapped places with new-No. 6 Trine (30-4) following Christopher Newport’s split with RV Roanoke (24-10), which beat ranked teams Randolph-Macon (twice) and Virginia Wesleyan (once) earlier this season. Trine (30-4), meanwhile, swept Hope and Saint Mary’s to gain one place this week.
Second-ranked Berry (34-4) will put its 20-game win streak on the line when it hosts No. 11 Birmingham-Southern (31-7) in the best-of-three Southern Athletic conference championship series starting Friday. Top seed Berry beat Millsaps twice in its half of the tournament, while the second-seeded Panthers topped Hendrix, Rhodes and Centre to advance.
Case Western Reserve (31-2), the winner of its last 16, Linfield (41-4), idle since winning the Northwest Conference crown two weeks ago, and Texas Lutheran (35-4), which swept three from Dallas by a combined 28-1 margin, remain ranked third through fifth.
Elsewhere, No. 9 Bethel (27-3) extended its win streak to 17 with a 6-0 week, No. 14 Concordia (28-3) reached 19 straight victories with sweeps of Marian and Lakeland, and Eastern Connecticut State (24-8) moved back into the rankings at No. 25 after claiming its 16th win in a row. Belhaven (27-11) is back receiving votes after advancing to the best-of-three Collegiate Conference of the South final against Maryville with wins over Wesleyan (once) and Piedmont (twice).
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. Weekly polls continue through May 16. 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 |
34-2 |
1 |
|
2 |
Berry |
240 |
34-4 |
2 |
|
3 |
Case Western Reserve |
230 |
31-2 |
3 |
|
4 |
Linfield |
220 |
41-4 |
4 |
|
5 |
Texas Lutheran |
210 |
35-4 |
5 |
|
6 |
Trine |
200 |
30-4 |
7 |
|
7 |
Christopher Newport |
190 |
24-6 |
6 |
|
8 |
Tufts |
180 |
31-3 |
8 |
|
9 |
Bethel |
170 |
27-3 |
9 |
|
10 |
East Texas Baptist |
160 |
32-5 |
10 |
|
11 |
Birmingham-Southern |
150 |
31-7 |
11 |
|
12 |
Randolph-Macon |
140 |
31-7 |
12 |
|
13 |
Virginia Wesleyan |
130 |
32-8 |
13 |
|
14 |
Concordia (Wis.) |
120 |
28-3 |
15 |
|
15 |
Mary Hardin-Baylor |
110 |
27-9 |
16 |
|
16 |
Rowan |
100 |
34-4 |
14 |
|
17 |
Central (Iowa) |
90 |
29-5 |
20 |
|
18 |
Rochester |
80 |
28-6 |
18 |
|
19 |
Saint Benedict (Minn.) |
60 |
23-5 |
21 |
|
20 |
Coe |
44 |
29-7 |
17 |
|
21 |
Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
43 |
29-6 |
22 |
|
22 |
Wisconsin-Oshkosh |
36 |
30-4 |
19 |
|
23 |
Transylvania |
32 |
26-9 |
25 |
|
24 |
Wisconsin-Whitewater |
16 |
23-7 |
23 |
|
25 |
Eastern Connecticut State |
13 |
24-8 |
RV |
Others receiving votes: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute 12, Belhaven 6, Roanoke 5, Pfeiffer 5, Luther 4, St. Thomas (Texas) 3, Calvin 1.
Dropped out: Greensboro, Huntingdon and LeTourneau.
2023 NFCA Division III Top 25 Committee
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