LOUISVILLE, Ky. – With no changes to the top-five,Valdosta State continues its hold on No. 1 spot in this week’s NFCA Division II Poll. After the first five, there was some shuffling amongst the rest of the programs in the poll with one new addition to the top-10 and only three teams staying in their respective spots.
A week removed from their first Gulf South series defeat of the season, the Blazers (42-4) won all five of their games, including a league series sweep of West Georgia (15-0 / 8-0 / 2-1). VSU, which received 13 first-place votes and 393 points, outscored its opponents 38-2 with three shutouts as it became the first DII team to reach the 40-win plateau.
Behind one of the biggest offensive outputs of the season, West Texas A&M (2 first-place votes/384 points) extended its winning streak to 13 games as it cruised to a Lone Star series sweep at Eastern New Mexico (13-2, 23-0, 17-2, 21-7) to remain at No. 2. In just four games and 24 innings, the Lady Buffs (37-6) scored 74 runs, launched 21 home runs, hit .504, slugged 1.065 and recorded a .585 on base percentage.
No. 3 Missouri-St. Louis received some strong pitching from junior Hannah Perryman (1H, 13 IP), including her third perfect game of the year against Missouri S&T, to win four Great Lakes Valley Conference games and extend their winning streak to 17 games. The Tritons (35-3) received the final first-place vote and 373 points as they hit the road for two key conference series, including a top-10 matchup at No. 10 Indianapolis.
At No. 4, Dixie State (352) picked up four victories with two doubleheader sweeps last week. The Red Storm (38-7) won at Cal State-San Bernardino (12-11, 14-3) in non-conference action, and a day later swept a PacWest twinbill from Notre Dame De Namur (12-4, 10-0).
Rounding out the top-five is Cal State Monterey Bay (327). In a CCAA series that was decided by a total of six runs, the fifth-ranked Otters (37-9) returned from San Francisco State (4-3, 7-5, 2-1, 4-2) with a hard fought sweep.
No. 6 St. Mary’s (313) and No. 7 North Georgia (312) each advanced a spot with undefeated weeks. The Rattlers (35-7) have won 18 straight after a dominant pitching performance in a four-game sweep against Texas-Permian Basin (6-1, 7-0, 6-0, 8-0). St. Mary’s allowed just one run and held the Falcons scoreless over the final 24.1 innings of the series.
The seventh-ranked Nighthawks (37-5) pushed their winning streak to 18 games following a 6-0 week. In a battle of top-10 programs, North Georgia opened with two key Peach Belt Conference wins at then-No. 6 Georgia College (3-1, 2-1). They also swept league twinbills versus USC Aiken (2-0, 4-1) and Georgia Southwestern (8-0, 14-0).
Following their defeats to the Nighthawks, the Bobcats (39-7) dropped to No. 8, but did bounce back with league sweeps of Lander (2-0, 10-2) and USC Aiken (3-2, 9-0).
A 6-0 week and a 21-game winning streak has Augustana (273) in the top-10 for the first time this season. The No. 9 Vikings (37-5) posted three doubleheader sweeps of Sioux Falls (10-0, 8-2), Minnesota Crookston (14-2, 8-0) and Bemidji State (13-1, 13-0) in which they outscored their opposition, 66-5.
Rounding out the top-10 in Indianapolis, who went 3-1 in GLVC action, sweeping McKendree (8-0, 10-5) and splitting with Illinois-Springfield (6-0, 0-1).
Making their return to the top-25 are Caldwell (15-9) at No. 21 and Ashland (25-5) at No. 25. Dropping out this week were No. 23 Rollins (33-10) and No. 24 Missouri Western (32-14).
The 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. 2015 records and previous week’s rankings are shown with first-place votes in parentheses.
NFCA Division II Softball Poll – April 15, 2015
Rank
Team
2015 Record
Totals
Prev. Rank
1
Valdosta State (13)
42-4
393
1
2
West Texas A&M (2)
37-6
384
2
3
Missouri-St. Louis (1)
35-3
373
3
4
Dixie State
38-7
352
4
5
Cal State Monterey Bay
37-9
327
5
6
St. Mary’s (Texas)
35-7
313
7
7
North Georgia
37-5
312
8
8
Georgia College
39-7
273
6
9
Augustana (S.D.)
37-5
254
12
10
Indianapolis
30-8
251
10
11
Alabama-Huntsville
32-9
233
11
12
Humboldt State
36-10
212
13
13
North Alabama
31-8
209
9
14
Angelo State
28-11-1
186
14
15
Southern Indiana
29-5
167
16
16
California Baptist
35-9
166
17
17
Emporia State
30-12
153
15
18
California (Pa.)
16-5
100
19
19
Winona State
33-8
89
22
19
Barry
29-10
89
21
21
Caldwell
15-9
73
RV
22
Anderson
31-11
61
20
23
Metro State
30-10
55
25
24
Southern New Hampshire
16-5
26
18
25
Ashland
25-5
25
RV
Dropped Out: No. 23 Rollins (33-10), No. 24 Missouri Western (32-14)
New to Poll: No. 21 Caldwell, No. 25 Ashland
Others Receiving Votes: LIU Post (21), Henderson State (18), Sonoma State (17), Rollins (10), Missouri Western (12), West Virginia Wesleyan (12), Armstrong State (10), Central Missouri (7), Young Harris (2).