Release courtesy of the NFCA
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – A week after ascending to the top spot in the NFCA Division II softball poll for the first time in school history, Indianapolis (34-2) refused to relinquish its spot, remaining at No. 1 as the almost unanimous choice for the lofty position after receiving 15 of 16 possible first place votes from the DII top 25 committee.
The Greyhounds improved their winning streak to an incredible 27 straight games via a perfect 6-0 week in Great Lakes Valley Conference action with doubleheader sweeps of St. Joseph’s (8-0, 5-1), Kentucky Wesleyan (6-2, 4-2) and Southern Indiana (5-0, 5-1 in 9 inn.).
Overall, the rest of the top six remained unchanged from the April 3 listing as West Texas A&M (30-4), Armstrong Atlantic (30-5-1), Valdosta State (28-8), Southeastern Oklahoma State (32-7) and North Georgia (33-10) held down position two through six, respectively.
Second-rated West Texas A&M picked up a single first place nod and trails Indianapolis by just 14 total points following its three-game sweep of Lone Star Conference foe Abilene Christian (8-0 in 5 inn., 11-1 in 5 inn., 7-6) over April 5-6. Despite dropping a 2-0 decision to Francis Marion as part of a 3-1 weekly effort, Armstrong Atlantic held firm in the third slot in the rankings
Defending national champion Valdosta State remained at No. 4 after taking both ends of a doubleheader from West Florida (5-3, 4-1), while fifth-rated Southeastern Oklahoma State swept four contests from Southwestern Oklahoma State over April 5-6 (4-2, 4-3 in 9 inn., 6-1, 7-1). North Georgia held steady in sixth after splitting a pair of games versus Flagler College (6-2, 4-10) and sweeping Georgia Southwestern (11-3, 4-0).
Continuing their rapid climb up the national poll, Humboldt State (33-11) finished in a deadlock for third at this past week’s Tournament of Champions to climb two spots to No. 7, while Central Oklahoma (27-7) improved its winning skein to seven straight to rise a pair of positions into eighth.
A four-contest sweep of Black Hills State helped Colorado School of Mines (29-4-1) leap from 13th all the way up to ninth and California (Pa.) was 7-1 over the past week to slide up one slot to No. 10 despite suffering its first loss of 2013 via a razor-thin 4-3 decision to Mercyhurst.
No. 21 Georgia College (30-12), No. 22 Midwestern State (31-12) and No. 23 St. Martin’s enter this week’s poll taking positions vacated by formerly-No. 21 Grand Canyon (32-12), No. 23 Angelo State (25-12) and No. 25 West Virginia State (19-10).
The NFCA Division II Top 25 Poll is voted on by 16 NCAA Division II head coaches, two representing each of the eight NCAA regions. Current 2013 records are shown, first-place votes are in parentheses.
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NFCA Division II Softball Poll – April 10, 2013 |
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|
Rank |
Team |
Record |
Totals |
Last Poll |
|
1 |
Indianapolis (15) |
34-2 |
398 |
1 |
|
2 |
West Texas A&M (1) |
30-4 |
384 |
2 |
|
3 |
Armstrong Atlantic |
30-5-1 |
367 |
3 |
|
4 |
Valdosta State |
28-8 |
346 |
4 |
|
5 |
S.E. Oklahoma State |
32-7 |
338 |
5 |
|
6 |
North Georgia |
33-10 |
298 |
6 |
|
7 |
Humboldt State |
33-11 |
283 |
9 |
|
8 |
Central Oklahoma |
27-7 |
278 |
10 |
|
9 |
Colo. School of Mines |
29-4-1 |
259 |
13 |
|
10 |
California (Pa.) |
21-1 |
251 |
11 |
|
11 |
North Alabama |
33-11 |
220 |
15 |
|
12 |
Grand Valley State |
23-3 |
217 |
12 |
|
13 |
Adelphi |
25-7 |
205 |
14 |
|
14 |
Fort Hays State |
33-5 |
189 |
18 |
|
15 |
Texas Woman's Univ. |
34-9 |
181 |
7 |
|
16 |
Tampa |
25-8 |
172 |
17 |
|
17 |
Sonoma State |
31-9 |
170 |
16 |
|
18 |
Rollins |
36-8 |
113 |
8 |
|
19 |
Molloy |
28-6 |
102 |
20 |
|
20 |
Gannon |
19-4 |
89 |
22 |
|
21 |
Georgia College |
30-12 |
74 |
RV |
|
22 |
Midwestern State |
31-12 |
61 |
RV |
|
23 |
St. Martin's |
26-11 |
55 |
NR |
|
24 |
Columbus State |
31-15 |
31 |
19 |
|
25 |
Missouri Western State |
26-10 |
26 |
24 |
Dropped Out of Poll: No. 21 Grand Canyon (32-12), No. 23 Angelo State (25-12), No. 25 West Virginia State (19-10)
Others Receiving Votes: Hawaii-Hilo (18), Caldwell (16), Grand Canyon (11), Shippensburg (10), Minnesota State Mankato (10), Missouri-St. Louis (8), St. Mary’s (8), Alabama-Huntsville (5), St. Leo (3), Lenoir Rhyne (2), Minnesota Duluth (2).
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