LOUISVILLE, Ky. – In a wild and competitive week that witnessed only four top-25 programs go undefeated, Oregon becomes the third squad to claim the No. 1 ranking this season in the USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Poll, announced Tuesday by the Association.

 

The Ducks (30-4) are coming off a 5-1 week and received 18 out of a possible 32 first-place votes and 781 total points. Oregon closed out with a Pac-12 series win over then-No. 19 Washington taking the bookend games over the weekend. Behind Cheridan Hawkins’ perfect game, they triumphed in game one, 8-0, and after a 10-2 defeat in game two, the Ducks clinched the series with a 15-6 win. Oregon returns to No. 1, a spot it held for the final six weeks of the 2014 regular season.

Following a 2-2 week, LSU fell out of the top spot and comes in at No. 2 after receiving 12 first-place votes and 767 points. The Tigers (32-3) opened with an 8-0 victory over then No. 24 South Alabama, but suffered a pair of defeats in a SEC road series at then-No. 16 Kentucky (1-3 / 2-5) before salvaging the final game in Lexington (2-0).

Florida (32-4), Michigan (31-5), Alabama (25-7) and Oklahoma (28-5) held steady at three through six. The Gators and Crimson Tide wrapped up their series on Monday, splitting their twinbill in Tuscaloosa with UF taking game two (4-1) and Alabama avoiding the series sweep with a 5-1, game-three triumph. The Gators, who received a first-place vote, stayed on the road, taking two-of-three at RV Mississippi State (3-2 / 16-2 / 3-5).

The Wolverines put together a 3-1 week with a victory over in-state foe Western Michigan (8-2) and taking a Big 10 series from Iowa (6-0 / 7-4 / 4-6). After their series versus the Gators, the Tide trumped Georgia Tech (11-0) and won its league series against No. 23 Texas A&M (13-0 / 8-5 / 5-11).

Undefeated last week, the Sooners received one first-place vote and inched closer to the top five after scoring 43 runs in a three-game Big 12 road sweep of Texas Tech (9-1 / 13-5 / 21-6).

Joining Oklahoma as the other top-25 teams to go undefeated last week were No. 11 Tennessee (25-7), No. 16 UCF (34-5) and No. 24 James Madison (27-6). No. 25 Texas, which was receiving votes a week ago, moved back into the top-25 following a 5-0 week.

No. 7 Auburn (35-4) moved up a spot after going 3-2 on the road against then-No. 11 Florida State (7-10 / 10-4) and then-No. 20 Missouri (14-6 / 4-5 in 8 inn. / 10-8). The Seminoles (30-8) made their way back into the top 10 at No. 8. After FSU split with the Tigers, it shut out Pitt (8-0 / 7-0 / 3-0) in a home ACC series.

Rounding out the top-10 is Georgia (30-6), falling two spots to No. 9, and UCLA (30-6), which remained 10^th for the second straight week. 

As stated earlier, No. 25 Texas (23-9) enjoyed a 5-0 week with walk-off wins over UTSA (2-1 / 3-2) and three Big 12 victories at then-No. 22 Kansas (6-0 / 11-5 / 7-5) to slide into the top-25 for the first time since the second regular season poll. The Jayhawks fell out of the top Top-25 for the first time since entering on March 3. 

The USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Poll is voted on by 32 NCAA Division I head coaches, one representing each conference.  Current 2015 records are shown and first-place votes are in parentheses.

USA Today/NFCA Division I Softball Poll – March 31, 2015

Rank

Team

2015 Record

Totals

Prev. Rank

1

Oregon (18)

30-4

781

2

2

LSU (12)

32-3

767

1

3

Florida (1)

32-4

732

3

4

Michigan

31-5

689

4

5

Alabama

25-7

667

5

6

Oklahoma (1)

28-5

661

6

7

Auburn

35-4

597

8

8

Florida State

30-8

517

11

9

Georgia

30-6

498

7

10

UCLA

30-6

480

10

11

Tennessee

25-7

476

15

12

Louisiana-Lafayette

27-5

473

9

13

Kentucky

23-9

436

16

14

Minnesota

27-4

415

12

15

Baylor

24-7

349

13

16

UCF

34-5

299

18

17

California

26-7

281

17

18

Arizona

28-9

264

14

19

Arizona State

24-11

245

21

20

Washington

31-9

240

19

21

Missouri

22-7

176

20

22

South Alabama

24-7

91

24

23

Texas A&M

25-9

82

23

24

James Madison

27-6

72

25

25

Texas

23-9

27

RV

New to Poll: No. 25 Texas

Dropped out: No. 22 Kansas (29-5) 

Others Receiving Votes: Kansas (25), Notre Dame (22), Mississippi State (13), North Dakota State (7), Western Kentucky (5), South Carolina (4), USC Upstate (2), Virginia Tech (2), UAB (2), Hofstra (2), Cal State Northridge (1).

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The National Fastpitch Coaches Association is pleased to announce the 2015 NFCA NAIA All-America teams.

 

This year’s squad is comprised of 32 players representing 22 schools across the five NFCA geographic regions on each of two All-America teams.

Oklahoma City University led the way with five selections, three on the first team, while five other institutions — including national champion Auburn-Montgomery, Grand View, Oregon Tech, St. Xavier and Marian (Ind.) — had two players honored. Oregon Tech also had two first team honorees.

Representing Oklahoma City on the first team are outfielder Jocelin Diaz and at-large selections Kyndra Holasek (infield) and Jamie Rateliff (pitcher/outfield). Diaz, a first-team all-Sooner Athletic Conference selection, hit 449 with 13 home runs and 69 RBI to go with 59 runs scored, 80 hits, 20 doubles, two triples, 14 stolen bases and a .989 field percentage. Holasek, a SAC first-teamer, boasted a .450 average with 91 hits, 76 runs scored, 21 doubles, 13 homers, 76 RBI and 26 steals.  At the plate, Rateliff hit .390 with 18 doubles, 16 home runs and 57 RBI, while going 36-7 in the circle with a 2.03 ERA, eight shutouts, four saves and 120 strikeouts.

Oregon Tech designated layer Tara Moates and outfielder McKenzie Shrum garnered first team recognition for the Owls. Moates, the Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) Player of the Year, batted .479 with a school-record and NAIA-best 101 hits. She drove in 73 runs, scored 58 times, recorded 14 long balls and registered 12 doubles. Her RBI, hits, average and total bases led the CCC. A first team All-CCC awardee, Shrum finished in the conference top 10 in batting average (.411), on base percentage (.498), RBI (47) and total bases (130).  She led the league in runs scored (68) and was second in hits (86), triples (3) and stolen bases (20).

Headlining the pitchers are NAIA Player of the Year Cassie Jones of two-time national championship Auburn-Montgomery and NAIA Pitcher of the Year, Nicole Nonnemacher of St. Xavier, who earned a spot as an at-large. Jones finished her career as one of the most decorated pitchers in NAIA history and had a phenomenal 2015 campaign. Jones led the NAIA in wins (35), ERA (0.85), opponent batting average (.103), and total batters struck out (411). In 46 appearances, she recorded 17 shutouts and went 35-5 on the year. Her strikeouts and shutouts rank seventh and ninth (tie) in the NAIA season record books. 

Nonnemacher posted a 27-5 mark in the circle with 17 shutouts, a 1.02 ERA and 385 strikeouts. In 206.1 innings, she landed No. 1 in strikeouts per seven innings (13.06) and was No. 2 in opponent’s batting average, ERA and strikeouts, while ranked third in wins.

Garnering the first-team nod at catcher is Reinhardt’s Randi Wimpy. Wimpy, the two-time Appalachian Athletic Conference Player of the Year, finished fifth in the country in slugging (.912) and 22^nd in RBI (57). She led the Lady Eagles squad with a .447 batting average to go along with 16 doubles, 11 home runs, 53 runs scored and 42 walks.

The first-team first baseman is Cassidy Littlefield of Georgia Gwinnett College. Leading the Grizzlies to their first conference title and top-25 national ranking, Littlefield batted .462 with 80 hits, 17 doubles, eight triples and a school-record-tying seven home runs to go along with 40 stolen bases. Ranked in the top 20 in 17 statistical categories, she scored a program-record 75 runs and topped the single-season marks with a .550 on base percentage and .775 slugging percentage.

Bellevue’s Ashley Gigaz is the first team’s second baseman. Gigax, the 2015 MCAC Player of the Year, set school records in 2015 for most home runs (21) and highest slugging percentage (.871), while leading the Bruins with a .424 batting average, 72 hits, 56 RBIs and a .490 on-base percentage. A six-time MCAC Player of the Week,

Jessica Grochala of Grand View University took home the first-team honors at third base. Grochala, the 2015 MCC Player of the Year, led the Vikings at the plate, batting .437 with 59 hits, 15 home runs, 12 doubles, two triples and 49 RBI. Nationally, Grochala was among leaders this season in slugging (6^th – .889), total bases per game (12^th – 2.609), home runs (14^th), total bases (34^th – 120), batting average (36^th) and RBI per game (37^th – 1.065).

Rounding out the infield is Davenport shortstop, KC Dunne. The senior led the team in many offensive categories, which were highlighted with a .458 batting average and 11 homeruns on the season. Dunne was also tied for the team lead in runs batted in with 52, while she was named the WHAC Player of the Year for the second consecutive season. 

Columbia College’s (Mo.) Carly Spalding is your final first-team outfielder following a record breaking 2015 campaign for the Cougars. She led the squad with a program-record .491 batting average and was second in single-season hits with 83. Coined American Midwest Conference Player of the Year, Spalding led the NAIA in hits per game (184), runs per game (1.47), triples (8) and total bases per game (2.96).  She also landed in the top ten in triples per game (0.18), stolen bases per game (1.18), stolen bases (53), batting average (0.491), hits (83) and runs scored (66).

Coming in as the first team’s utility player is Cat Maldonado of Southeastern University. Maldonado was The Sun Conference Player of the Year, hitting .395 with 16 home runs, 13 doubles, and 57 RBIs. Pitching, Maldonado was 12-3 with a 2.73 ERA in 89.2 innings of work. She finished the season ranked in the top 50 in the NAIA in eight offensive categories, including total bases (129), slugging percentage (.750), and hits (68).

Rounding out the five first-team at-large selections are outfielder Meghan Leubbert of Concordia University (Ore.) and Indiana Wesleyan freshman Alexandrea Springer. Leubbert helped her squad to a third-place finish at the NAIA World Series and school-record 46 wins. She hit 381 and ranked in the top five in the CCC with 81 hits, 66 runs scored, 70 RBI and 16 stolen bases. The sophomore also belted a CCC-record 21 round trippers and scored 66 runs, third most in a conference single season.

Springer, a first baseman/catcher, hit .450 with 42 extra base hits and 67 RBI. The Crossroads League Newcomer of the Year led the nation with 23 doubles and ranked second with 155 total bases, fourth with a .917 slugging percentage, fifth with 18 home runs and seventh with 2.67 total bases per game

NFCA member coaches in the five regions selected the teams. For the complete squad, click HERE

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Even when you make a list and check it twice, it can still be easy to forget someone during all the holiday bustle. While this can be a stressful thing for many — especially when you realize the week before Christmas — last-minute shopping doesn’t have to be hard.

Here, we’ve rounded up 21 of the best last-minute Christmas gifts for anyone you may have missed. With one of these ideas, they’ll never know you were scrambling to buy them something sweet.

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The Funny or Die series Between Two Ferns With Zach Galifianakis will reportedly be receiving a feature-length film on Netflix, and production is already underway.

Per The Hollywood Reporter, series co-creator and frequent director Scott Aukerman will be helming the film. Though the plot itself isn’t known, it is set to incorporate the low-budget talk show segments the series is comprised of, with Galifianakis inappropriately insulting guests while interviewing them between, you guessed it: two ferns.

Famous guests reported to be involved in the film include Peter Dinklage, David Letterman, Keanu Reeves, Ed Helms and Bradley Cooper.

Beginning in 2008, Between Two Ferns saw Galifianakis interviewing celebrities like Natalie Portman, Justin Bieber, Charlize Theron, Jerry Seinfeld, Sean Penn and more with a bizarre persona that amplified his already awkward humor. Special episodes include interviews with President Barack Obama and then-presidential candidate Hilary Clinton, both of which raked in tens of millions of views.

For more on Zach Galifianakis, check out our interview with him about his stand-up special, Live at the Purple Onion, and another interview where we spoke with him about the HBO comedy Bored to Death.

Colin Stevens is a news writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.

OKLAHOMA CITY – The Amateur Softball Association (ASA) of America and USA Softball announced a list of 43 initial invitees for the 2016 USA Softball Women’s National Team Selection Camp to be held January 2-8, 2016 at Bill Barber Park in Irvine, Calif.  Those athletes who accept the invitation to try out will vie for 17 spots on the 2016 USA Softball Women’s National Team (WNT) roster that will compete at the World Cup of Softball XI, the XV World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Women’s World Championship in Surrey, B.C., Canada and the Japan Cup.

 

Click here to see the 43 athletes who have received an invitation to try out for the Women’s National Team

Additional athletes may be invited to the USA Softball WNT Selection Camp at a later date.  During the selection process, athletes will participate in position drills as well as simulated games and be evaluated by the Women’s National Team Selection Committee (WNTSC).  The complete 2016 schedule for the WNT, including exhibition games, will be announced at a later date. 

For updates on the USA Softball Women’s National Team and events throughout the 2016 season visit www.ASAUSASoftball.com.

Courtesy of ASA/USA Softball