LOUISVILLE, Ky. –  West Florida and Central Oklahoma went undefeated in conference play and continued their respective holds on the No. 1 and 2 spots in this week’s 2019 NFCA Division II Top 25 Coaches Poll. The Argonauts (39-5) enter their fourth week atop the poll, while the Bronchos (35-3) have held on to the No. 2 ranking for five consecutive weeks. 

UWF, which received 15 first-place votes and 399 points, swept Lee in Gulf South Conference play and now own a five-game lead over No. 18 UAH and five-and-a-half over RV Mississippi College. The Argos have an opportunity to sew up the regular season title this weekend as they head to Huntsville, Ala. for a clash with the second-place Chargers (33-12).

UCO grabbed the final first-place vote and 382 points. The Bronchos swept a pair of Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association doubleheaders from Central Missouri and Southwest Baptist, improving to 17-1 in league play. The MIAA leaders are four games up in the loss column with four doubleheaders remaining on their schedule.

The rest of the top-10 saw movement and two teams – No. 7 Winona State and No. 9 Indianapolis – joined for the first time this season, catapulting ten and nine spots, respectively. The Warriors (31-5) entered this week on a 16-game winning streak after posting doubleheader sweeps of then-No. 12 Augustana and Minnesota-Crookston. The Greyhounds (36-10) have won nine straight and 16-of-their last 18 contests following a 6-0 week.

Despite going 2-3 last week, Texas A&M University-Kingsville shifted up to No. 3. The Javelinas (33-8) split a twinbill against Texas A&M International before dropping two-of-three in Lone Star Conference play at Angelo State.

No. 4 North Georgia slipped one position after being swept on the road by Flagler in Peach Belt Conference play. Florida Tech leaped to No. 5. The Panthers (33-10) swept Nova Southeastern and have won six-of-their-last seven.

Idle West Texas A&M moved up to No. 6 and Texas A&M University-Commerce remained at No. 8 following a Lone Star series win against then-No. 21 Tarleton State. UC San Diego dropped a non-conference doubleheader to Azusa Pacific and fell to No. 10.

Southern Arkansas plummeted seven spots to No. 11 after a 2-2 week, which saw its 17-game winning streak snapped by new-No. 24 Arkansas Tech. The Muleriders (37-8) fell out of the top-10 for the first time since Feb. 28, 2018.

Also falling out of the top-10 was then-No. 6 Grand Valley State, which fell to No. 15 after a 3-3 week in Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play.

Joining the top-25 this week are No. 24 Arkansas Tech and No. 25 Chico State, while No. 22 Sonoma State and No. 23 Rollins dropped out.

The 2019 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. Records reflect games played through April 14, 2019.

 

2019 NFCA Division II
Top 25 Coaches Poll – April 17 (Week 9)

Rank

School

Totals

2019 Record

Previous Week

1

West Florida (15)

399

39-5

1

2

Central Oklahoma (1)

382

35-3

2

3

Texas A&M Kingsville

342

33-8

5

4

North Georgia

341

34-10

3

5

Florida Tech

339

33-10

10

6

West Texas A&M

314

27-10

7

7

Winona State

295

31-5

17

8

Texas A&M-Commerce

274

35-10

8

9

Indianapolis

260

36-10

16

10

UC San Diego

254

26-9

9

11

Southern Arkansas

250

37-8

4

12

Colorado Mesa

222

35-6

12

13

Southern New Hampshire

198

32-6

13

14

Concordia Irvine

187

33-6

15

15

Grand Valley State

183

29-7

6

16

Valdosta State

160

30-12

19

17

Augustana

149

34-7

11

18

UAH

123

33-12

14

19

Georgian Court

120

36-5

18

20

Shepherd

69

30-6

24

21

Southern Indiana

66

30-14

25

22

Tarleton State

60

31-11

21

23

Georgia College

51

31-12

20

24

Arkansas Tech

43

31-13

RV

25

Chico State

41

26-12

RV

 

New to Poll: No. 24 Arkansas Tech, No. 25 Chico State.

Dropped Out: No. 22 Sonoma State, No. 23 Rollins.

Receiving Votes: Mississippi College (35), Lincoln Memorial (16), LIU Post (15), Sonoma State (7), Rollins (3), Carson-Newman (1), Missouri Western (1).

The 2019 NFCA Division II Top 25 Coaches Poll is voted on by 16 NCAA Division II head coaches with two representing each of the NCAA’s eight regions. Records reflect games played through April 14.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Two-time defending national champion Virginia Wesleyan University stayed in the top spot in the NFCA Division III Top 25 following another 4-0 week.

The (31-2) Marlins have now won 12 straight, and are back on track after dropping to No. 2 for two weeks before reclaiming the top spot on April 10. Before that, Virginia Wesleyan had held the No. 1 position for 25 straight weeks — a span of 720 days, which included two NCAA Division III titles.

East Texas Baptist (32-2) remained No. 2 for a second consecutive week despite dropping the third game of its American Southwest Conference series at Hardin-Simmons on a two-run walkoff homer. That loss snapped a 12-game win streak and was just the Tigers’ second defeat in 34 games.

Williams (23-4) has now won 12 straight, and gained four more places to take over the third spot this week, while St. Thomas (28-4), which is riding a 13-game win streak, moved all the way from 11th to fourth. Last week’s third through sixth teams — who all lost a game — fall in line after that to round out the top eight.

Elsewhere, Birmingham-Southern (31-5) surged six spots to No. 12 after extending its win streak to 18, Luther (27-4) moved into to a tie for 16th after sweeping a ranked matchup with No. 9 Coe, Southwestern (29-4) gained two spots after winning its 18th straight, and Thomas More (25-9), which has won 20 of its last 22, joined the mix for the first time this season at No. 25.

The NFCA Division III Top 25 Poll is selected by eight NCAA Division III head coaches representing the eight NCAA regions. Current 2019 records are listed, with first-place votes in parentheses.

NFCA Division III Top 25 Poll – April 17, 2019

Rank

Team

2019 Record

Points

Previous

1

Virginia Wesleyan (8)

31-2

200

1

2

East Texas Baptist

32-2

192

2

3

Williams

23-4

184

7

4

St. Thomas (Minn.)

28-4

176

11

5

Christopher Newport

26-4

168

3

6

Illinois Wesleyan

21-6

160

4

7

Claremont-Mudd-Scripps

27-6

152

5

8

Linfield

28-5-1

144

6

9

Coe

28-7

136

8

10

Trine

22-4

128

9

11

Moravian

28-4

120

10

12

Birmingham-Southern

31-5

110

18

13

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

19-6

99

13

14

Ithaca

19-5-1

85

14

15

Texas Lutheran

25-7

81

15

T16

Luther

27-4

79

17

T16

The College of New Jersey

24-6

79

20

18

Manhattanville

29-2

57

16

19

Kean

28-5

52

23

20

Brandeis

20-1-1

41

21

21

Wisconsin-Eau Claire

17-4-1

37

22

22

Lynchburg

29-9

32

19

23

Southwestern

29-4

29

25

24

Rowan

20-10

20

12

25

Thomas More

25-9

12

NR

Others receiving votes: Geneseo 10, Mount Saint Joseph 5, Endicott 3, Millikin 2, New Paltz 2, Whitworth 2, Pomona-Pitzer 1, and Wartburg 1.

Dropped out: Baldwin Wallace, Emory, Muskingum and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

* NOTE: Texas-Tyler is reclassifying to NCAA Division II, and Pfeiffer continues the process of going from Division II to Division III. Neither is eligible for the NCAA Division III Championship.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Cedar Ridge tuned up for the Texas state playoffs with three more wins to keep the No. 1 spot in the USA TODAY Sports/NFCA High School Super 25 poll for a second straight week, while Neshoba Central rebounded from its first loss in 65 games with a pair of victories to remain second.

The (28-0) Raiders open their best-of-three bi-district series against Houston Cypress Woods with two games today in Bryan, Texas. A decisive third game would take place on Saturday, if necessary.

Neshoba (27-1), meanwhile, rode Aspen Wesley’s one-hitter to a 10-0 triumph over Saltillo on Tuesday, and will face Grenada in the next round of the Mississippi 5A playoffs starting Friday.

California’s Norco (27-1) and Kansas’ Shawnee Heights (12-0) kept winning to stay third and fourth, respectively, while unbeaten schools Louisville Male (16-0), Foothill (19-0) and Winter Springs (23-0) all gained one place this week to round out the first seven. New Palestine (10-1) suffered its first loss on Monday, but bounced back to win Wednesday’s ranked matchup at Center Grove to knock its fellow Indiana school out of the top 25.

Elsewhere, five teams joined the rankings this week, including Tennessee’s Clarksville (36-1), which has now won 20 straight, at 11th, and undefeated teams St. John Vianney (7-0) and Hanover (12-0) at positions 19 and 20.

State rankings submitted by NFCA member coaches are used to compile the USA TODAY Sports/NFCA High School Super 25. Teams are chosen based on performance, roster quality and strength of schedule.

USA TODAY Sports/NFCA High School Super 25 Poll – April 25, 2019

Rank

Team

2019 Record

Previous

1

Cedar Ridge (Texas)

28-0

1

2

Neshoba Central (Miss.)

27-1

2

3

Norco (Calif.)

27-1

3

4

Shawnee Heights (Kan.)

12-0

4

5

Louisville Male (Ky.)

16-0

6

6

Foothill (Pleasanton, Calif.)

19-0

7

7

Winter Springs (Fla.)

23-0

8

8

New Palestine (Ind.)

10-1

5

9

Angleton (Texas)

27-1

10

10

Lakewood Ranch (Fla.)

22-0

13

11

Clarksville (Tenn.)

36-1

NR

12

Keystone (Ohio)

15-0

16

13

Barbers Hill (Texas)

30-2

12

14

Tualatin (Ore.)

13-1

14

15

Marist (Ill.)

16-2

18

16

Forney (Texas)

19-2

19

17

Fairhope (Ala.)

30-3

17

18

Keller (Texas)

26-3-1

20

19

St. John Vianney (N.J.)

7-0

NR

20

Hanover (Va.)

12-0

NR

21

Immaculate Heart Acad. (N.J.)

10-0

21

22

Donovan Catholic (N.J.)

11-1

22

23

Appoquinimink (Del.)

10-1

NR

24

Mountain View (Idaho)

19-2

NR

25

Pinnacle (Ariz.)

21-3

24

Dropped out: Apopka (Fla.), Center Grove (Ind.), Estero (Fla.), Los Alamitos (Calif.) and James Madison (Va.)

LOUISVILLE, Ky. –A red-hot Oklahoma squad dethroned UCLA as the No. 1 team in this week’s 2019 USA Today / NFCA Top 25 Coaches Poll. Riding a 28-game winning streak, the Sooners (38-2) ended the Bruins’ (37-2) five-week run atop the poll. 

OU captured 22 first-place votes and 790 points, while No. 2 UCLA received 10 first-place nods and 773 points. The Sooners extended their NCAA Division I-best active winning streak by cruising to three shutouts at Kansas in Big 12 play. Oklahoma last held the top spot in the first regular-season poll of 2018.

The Bruins had their 19-game winning streak snapped by Oregon, 4-3, in the Pac-12 series opener. UCLA bounced back from their first league loss of the season with 8-3 and 8-1 triumphs over the Ducks to win the series.

In addition to a new No. 1, No. 23 Northwestern and No. 25 Colorado State return to the poll following long absences. The Wildcats (33-7), last ranked at No. 25 on April 22, 2014, are on a roll, having won 11 straight. Northwestern swept then-No. 25 Wisconsin over the weekend to remain the lone undefeated program in Big Ten play.

It’s been 21 years since the Rams (31-6) were ranked (23^rd– March 4, 1998). CSU is enjoying a record season, which includes a program-record 20-game winning streak and a 13-2 mark for the first-place team in the Mountain West.  

No. 3 Washington inched up another spot. The Huskies (35-6) swept their fourth straight Pac-12 series, taking down then-No. 24 Arizona State and extending their winning streak to 13 contests.

Florida State slipped to No. 4 following a weather-shortened 1-1 week. The Seminoles (38-5) dropped a wild 10-9 game at Louisville on April 8, which snapped an unbeaten streak of 52 consecutive ACC series. The last time FSU dropped a league series was May 5-6, 2012 at Maryland. They bounced back with an 8-6 win on April 14 at North Carolina.

No. 5 and No. 6 Florida went a combined 7-0 last week. The Crimson Tide (41-4) became the first NCAA program to reach the 40-win plateau in 2019 following a win over Georgia State and two versus then-No. 13 Georgia. The Gators (36-9) posted their second straight Southeastern Conference series sweep at Texas A&M and added a 1-0 triumph over in-state rival USF.

No. 7 Arizona and No. 8 Tennessee each moved up one position, while LSU fell two spots to No. 9. The Wildcats (35-7) stepped out of Pac-12 play and swept a three-game set at Grand Canyon, while the Lady Vols (32-8) cruised to a three-game SEC sweep of Mississippi State. The Tigers (36-9) posted a 3-1 mark last week. LSU blanked McNeese State before a 2-1 series win over then-No. 23 Kentucky.

No. 10 Louisiana extended its winning streak to 14 with a 4-0 week. The Ragin’ Cajuns (37-4) defeated Southeastern Louisiana, 7-1, before heading to the mountains of North Carolina for a Sun Belt sweep of Appalachian State.

No. 24 Arizona State (25-17) and No. 25 Wisconsin (30-8) dropped out of the Top-25.

The 2019 USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Poll is voted on by 32 NCAA Division I head coaches, one representing each conference. The records reflect games played through April 14, 2019.

2019 USA Today / NFCA Division I
Top 25 Coaches Poll – April 16 (Week 10)

Rank

School

Totals

2019

Record

Prev. Ranking

1

Oklahoma (22)

790

38-2

2

2

UCLA (10)

773

37-2

1

3

Washington

722

35-6

4

4

Florida State

695

38-5

3

5

Alabama

688

41-4

5

6

Florida

609

36-9

6

7

Arizona

600

35-7

8

8

Tennessee

564

32-8

9

9

LSU

560

36-9

7

10

Louisiana

524

37-4

10

11

Texas

477

35-9

11

12

Texas Tech

371

33-8

15

13

Oklahoma State

368

32-11

14

14

Auburn

353

33-10

12

15

South Carolina

350

31-12

16

16

Georgia

330

30-13

13

17

Ole Miss

290

30-11

17

18

Minnesota

248

29-10

19

19

Arkansas

241

31-14

18

20

James Madison

211

31-7

20

21

Virginia Tech

163

37-6

22

22

Michigan

132

29-11

21

23

Northwestern

118

33-7

RV

24

Kentucky

94

26-17

23

25

Colorado State

36

31-6

RV

New to Poll: No. 23 Northwestern, No. 25 Colorado State.

Dropped Out: No. 24 Arizona State, No. 25 Wisconsin.

 

Receiving Votes: Stanford (28), Boise State (19), Arizona State (17), Wisconsin (16), Missouri (5), Indiana (3), Mississippi State (2), Drake (1), Louisville (1), Tulsa (1).

The 2019 USA Today / NFCA Division I Top 25 Coaches Poll is voted on by 32 NCAA Division I head coaches with one representing each of the NCAA’s Division I Conferences. Record reflect games played through April 14, 2019.

 

OKLAHOMA CITY — USA Softball, the National Governing Body of Softball in the United States, announced the list of 26 finalists for the 2019 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year. The USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award recognizes the outstanding athletic achievement by Division I female players across the country.

Click here for the list of Finalists for USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year

The finalists include 10 seniors, nine juniors and four sophomores and three freshmen representing 18 NCAA Division I universities and nine athletic conferences. Among the universities, Arizona has three student-athletes among the list of finalists, followed by Alabama, Florida, Florida State, Oklahoma, UCLA and Washington with two student-athletes. Drake, Georgia, James Madison, Kentucky, Louisiana, LSU, Minnesota, Mississippi State, Northwestern, USF and Wisconsin also are represented by one student-athlete. 

The list of 26 will be narrowed to the ten on May 8 before the top-three finalists will be announced on May 22. The 2019 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year will be revealed May 28. 

— Courtesy of USA Softball

The 2019 NFCA New Jersey High School Leadoff Classic, held April 6-7 at Essex County Branch Brook Park in Newark, N.J., was an immediate success as Immaculate Heart Academy (N.J.) and Caravel Academy (Del.) captured their respective brackets. It was fitting that IHA came away with its title as the inaugural event was in honor of former Blue Eagles head coach and 2019 NFCA Hall of Fame inductee, the late Anthony LaRezza.

IHA and Caravel (pictured above) each posted undefeated marks. The Blue Eagles knocked off Morris Knolls High School (N.J.), 8-5, in the title game, and earned a 10-3 semifinal victory over Donovan Catholic High School (N.J.). IHA advanced through the first round following a no contest with St. John Vianney.

Front page photo: Anthony’s brothers- Allen (blue) throws out first pitch to Joe (maroon)

The Buccaneers edged Sussex Tech (Pa.), 3-2, in the championship contest and also earned victories over Mt. Saint Dominic High School (N.J.), 4-1, and Tunkhannock High School (Pa.), 6-5.

Tournament runners-up, Morris Knolls and Sussex Tech, each finished 2-1. The Golden Eagles posted wins over Blair Academy (N.J.), 6-5, and Ramsey High School (N.J.), while the Ravens defeated Toms River High School North (N.J.), 10-1, and Cedar Grove High School (N.J.), 5-1.

Additionally, Cedar Grove, Donovan Catholic, Mt. Saint Dominic and St. John Vianney all engineered two wins apiece.

All-Tournament Team

Ariyonna Alves, Kearny

Emma Cunningham, Ramsey

Mia Faieta, Cedar Grove

Karina Gaskins, Donovan Catholic

Sophia Kiseloski, Mt. St. Dominic

Chelsea Manto, Robbinsville

Gabby Polera, St. John Vianney

Gwen Safin, Blair Academy

Savannah Sheats, Caravel Academy

Emily Schultz, Tunkhannock

Abby Tabaka, Immaculate Conception

Kayla Turcios, Morris Knolls

Abby Warner, Toms River North

Ryleigh White, Immaculate Heart Academy

Kaylee Whittaker, Steinert

Taylor Wroten, Sussex Tech

The 2019 NFCA New Jersey High School Leadoff Classic, held April 6-7 at Essex County Branch Brook Park in Newark, N.J., was an immediate success as Immaculate Heart Academy (N.J.) and Caravel Academy (Del.) captured their respective brackets. It was fitting that IHA came away with its title as the inaugural event was in honor of former Blue Eagles head coach and 2019 NFCA Hall of Fame inductee, the late Anthony LaRezza.

IHA and Caravel (pictured above) each posted undefeated marks. The Blue Eagles knocked off Morris Knolls High School (N.J.), 8-5, in the title game, and earned a 10-3 semifinal victory over Donovan Catholic High School (N.J.). IHA advanced through the first round following a no contest with St. John Vianney.

Front page photo: Anthony’s brothers- Allen (blue) throws out first pitch to Joe (maroon)

The Buccaneers edged Sussex Tech (Pa.), 3-2, in the championship contest and also earned victories over Mt. Saint Dominic High School (N.J.), 4-1, and Tunkhannock High School (Pa.), 6-5.

Tournament runners-up, Morris Knolls and Sussex Tech, each finished 2-1. The Golden Eagles posted wins over Blair Academy (N.J.), 6-5, and Ramsey High School (N.J.), while the Ravens defeated Toms River High School North (N.J.), 10-1, and Cedar Grove High School (N.J.), 5-1.

Additionally, Cedar Grove, Donovan Catholic, Mt. Saint Dominic and St. John Vianney all engineered two wins apiece.

All-Tournament Team

Ariyonna Alves, Kearny

Emma Cunningham, Ramsey

Mia Faieta, Cedar Grove

Karina Gaskins, Donovan Catholic

Sophia Kiseloski, Mt. St. Dominic

Chelsea Manto, Robbinsville

Gabby Polera, St. John Vianney

Gwen Safin, Blair Academy

Savannah Sheats, Caravel Academy

Emily Schultz, Tunkhannock

Abby Tabaka, Immaculate Conception

Kayla Turcios, Morris Knolls

Abby Warner, Toms River North

Ryleigh White, Immaculate Heart Academy

Kaylee Whittaker, Steinert

Taylor Wroten, Sussex Tech

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – LIU Post’s Julia Seader and Southern Indiana’s Jennifer Leonhardt were named 2019 Louisville/Slugger NFCA Division II National Player and Pitcher of the Week honorees for games played April 1-7. 

Seader hit .600 (21-for-35) with six home runs and 17 RBI over a 10-game stretch last week in which the Pioneers went 8-2. The senior catcher recorded at least one hit in all 10 games with eight of those being multi-hit contests. She scored 13 times, slugged 1.229 and registered a .615 on-base percentage.  

Seader connected on two homers, drove in four and scored twice against Queens (N.Y.). The East Coast Conference Player of the Week also recorded four RBI and three hits versus American International College and also posted three hits against Bridgeport and Post. Seader struck out just once in 39 plate appearances and also left the yard against Post, Bridgeport (twice) and Molloy.

Leonhardt was instrumental in five of the Screaming Eagles’ six wins last week, twirling three shutouts and recording a pair of saves. The junior righty did not allow a run, struck out 37 and held her opponents to a .152 batting average. Leonhardt, who hails from Louisville, Ky., struck out a week-high 12 in a five-hit shutout at Rockhurst. She also posted 11 and ten punchouts in three and four-hit blankings of Truman State and Williams Jewel. 

The Great Lakes Valley Conference Pitcher of the Week retired the side in order and fanned two in each of her saves versus the Bulldogs and Hawks, respectively. With her 37 strikeouts, Leonhardt entered the week 16 shy of the program’s career mark. Offensively, Leonhardt helped herself out at the plate batting .500 with four doubles, five RBI and four runs scored.

2019 Honorees

Selected Top Performances

Allison Lipovsky, Grand Valley State– 4-0, 2 SHO, 0.64 ERA, 37 K, 2 BB, .152 opp. BA, 22 IP; Taylor Stocks, Shepherd– 3-0, 0.53 ERA, 30 K, 4 BB, .150 opp. BA, 17 IP; Miriam Schmoll, Nova Southeastern– 3-0, SV, 0.45 ERA, 2 SHO, 24 K, 31 IP; Renee Wall, Indiana University of Pennsylvania– .619, 4 2B, 2 HR, 10 RBI, 9 BB, .727 OBP, 1.095 SLG;  Grace Valchar, Queens (N.C.)– 1.000 (5-for-5), HR, 3 R, 2 RBI, 1.600 SLG, .909 OBP; Haley Garrett, Valdosta State– .471, 8 H, 2 2B, 3 HR, 8 RBI, 4 BB, 1.118 SLG, .571 OBP; Hannah McClouinie, Wayne State (Mich.)– .483, 14 H, 2B, 5 HR, 10 RBI, 10 R, 1.034 SLG, .516 OBP; Evelyn Arguelles, Johnson C. Smith- .625, 10 H, 3 2B, 3B, 11 RBI, 6 R, 4-4 SB; Shanna McBroom, West Texas A&M-.500, 2B, 2 HR, 9 RBI, 1.000 SLG; Liz Pautz, Winona State– 3-0, SHO, 0 R, 29 K, 18.1 IP; Bekah Slattery, Lock Haven– 3-0, 1.00 ERA, 38 K, 3 BB; Olivia Jankowski, Edinboro– .706, 12 H, 3 2B, HR, 8 RBI, 4 R; Jordan Withrow, Tarleton State– 3-0, 3 SHO, 5 H, 17 K, .088 opp. BA, no-hitter vs. UT Permian Basin; Avery Boley, Texas AM-Commerce– .714, HR, 3 RBI, 2 R; Aniyah Jones, Winston-Salem State– .500, 2 2B, 2 HR, 9 RBI, 5 R, 3 SB; Kylee Smith, North Georgia– 1-0, 11 K, 5 IP, no-hitter vs. Georgia Southwestern; Annemarie Peavy, Mississippi College– .625, 4 2B, 2 HR, 8 RBI, 9 R, 1.250 SLG, .750 OBP; Emily Otto, Texas A&M-Commerce– 2-0, SV, 0.48 ERA, 16 K, BB, 7 H, 14.2 IP; Celeste Villagrana, Cal State Monterey Bay– 2-0, 15 K, SHO, 12.1 IP; Shaniya Thomas, Claflin– 2-0, 1.07 ERA, 21 K, 13 IP; Emily Morris, Fort Lewis– 2-0, SV, 1.75 ERA, 14 K, 12 IP, no-hitter vs. New Mexico Highlands; Sarah Coronado, Arkansas Tech– .833, 10 H, 5 HR, 15 RBI, 10 R, 2.000 SLG; Marissa Butler, Ouachita Baptist– 3-0, 29 K, BB, .178 opp. BA, 26 IP; Abby Fiessinger, Carson-Newman– .500, 7 H, 3 2B, 2 HR, 11 RBI, 4 R, 1.143 SLG; Allison Rager, Carson-Newman– 3-0, 2 CG, 20 K, .462, 6 H, 2 2B, HR, 2 RBI, 5 R, .533 OBP; Erin Garczynski, Southern New Hampshire– .471, 8 H, 2 2B, 2 HR, 4 BB, 9 R, 8 RBI, .591 OBP; Maddy Barone, Southern New Hampshire– 4-0, 0.52 ERA, 25 K, 27 IP.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – UIC’s Kayla Wedl and Kent State’s Andrea Scali were named Louisville/Slugger NFCA Division I National Player and Pitcher of the Week of the Week, respectively, for games played April 15-22. 

Wedl powered her way to a second career NFCA weekly honor by hitting .636 (14-for-22) with six home runs, 16 RBI and 14 runs scored over six games last week. The junior shortstop slugged 1.500 and recorded a .609 on-base percentage. Riding a 12-game hitting streak, Wedl left the yard in four of those contests, cranking two each in game two of UIC’s three-game Horizon League series versus IUPUI and Northern Kentucky, respectively.

The Horizon League Player of the Week also generated five RBI and scored three times in those previously-mentioned contests. Additionally, Wedl posted four multi-hit games, including four in game two versus the Norse and three in the final two matchups with the Jaguars. The Waucond, Ill. native currently leads the Horizon League with 49 RBI, 12 more than the next player.

Scali tossed her second no-hitter of the year and finished the week not allowing a single run over 22.2 innings of work. The rookie hurler finished 4-0 with three shutouts, 32 strikeouts and three walks. She scattered eight hits and held her opposition to a .107 batting average. Scali, a native of Parma, Ohio, was an error away from a perfect game against Robert Morris as she struck out 11 and faced just one batter over the minimum.

Scali twirled a pair of two-hit shutouts against Pitt and Akron, fanning eight and five batters, respectively. In her final outing of the week against the Zips, the five-time MAC Pitcher of the Week tossed 5.2 innings of shutout relief (four hits) with eight punchouts.

2019 Players & Pitcher of the Week

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — It’s becoming tougher to separate the top teams in the NFCA Division III Top 25, but there’s no change at the top, with two-time defending national champion Virginia Wesleyan University at No. 1 for a third-straight week and the 28th time in the last 29 weeks.

The (34-3) Marlins have now won 15 of their last 16. They went 3-1 last week, including a run-rule sweep of Shenandoah and a split with Ferrum. Two-time reigning Schutt Sports/NFCA Division III National Player of the Year Hanna Hull fanned 15 Ferrum batters while tossing a no-hitter in Virginia Wesleyan’s 5-0 victory on Saturday.

St. Thomas (33-5) and Williams (26-4) both went unbeaten last week to rank ahead of East Texas Baptist (33-4), which slipped two spots to fourth after dropping two of three to longtime American Southwest Conference rival Texas-Tyler, who is moving to Division II next season.

Nine teams are tied for four spots in the Top 25. Illinois Wesleyan (27-6) and Trine (26-4) are deadlocked at No. 6; Luther (28-5) and Texas Lutheran (27-7) occupy the No. 13 position; Kean (32-5), Manhattanville (33-2) and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (22-7-1) share 16th; and Brandeis (27-2-1) and Lynchburg (30-10) are 20th.

Meanwhile, a patented late-season surge helped DePauw (22-10) break into the rankings this week at No. 25. The Tigers improved their record to 14-2 in April with their fifth straight victory in Monday’s sweep at Wittenberg.

The NFCA Division III Top 25 Poll is selected by eight NCAA Division III head coaches representing the eight NCAA regions. Current 2019 records are listed, with first-place votes in parentheses.

NFCA Division III Top 25 Poll – April 24, 2019

Rank

Team

2019 Record

Points

Previous

1

Virginia Wesleyan (8)

34-3

200

1

2

St. Thomas (Minn.)

33-5

192

4

3

Williams

26-4

184

3

4

East Texas Baptist

33-4

176

2

5

Linfield

32-5-1

168

8

T6

Illinois Wesleyan

27-6

149

6

T6

Trine

26-4

149

10

8

Birmingham-Southern

31-5

132

12

9

Christopher Newport

28-6

130

5

10

Ithaca

22-6-1

126

14

11

Claremont-Mudd-Scripps

30-7

125

7

12

Moravian

29-5

105

11

T13

Luther

28-5

102

T16

T13

Texas Lutheran

27-7

102

15

15

The College of New Jersey

26-6

74

T16

T16

Kean

32-5

67

19

T16

Manhattanville

33-2

67

18

T16

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

22-7-1

67

13

19

Coe

30-7

65

9

T20

Brandeis

27-2-1

48

20

T20

Lynchburg

30-10

48

22

22

Southwestern

33-4

40

23

23

Rowan

24-10

20

24

24

Thomas More

27-9

18

25

25

DePauw

22-10

12

NR

Others receiving votes: Piedmont 7, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute 6, Wisconsin-Eau Claire 6, Mount Saint Joseph 5, Geneseo 4, St. Catherine 3, Wisconsin-Whitewater 2, and Endicott 1.

Dropped out: Millikin, New Paltz, Pomona-Pitzer, Wartburg and Whitworth.

* NOTE: Texas-Tyler is reclassifying to NCAA Division II, and Pfeiffer continues the process of going from Division II to Division III. Neither is eligible for the NCAA Division III Championship.