FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
West Texas A&M Maintains Stranglehold on No. 1 in the NFCA Division II Poll
April 2, 2014
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Four straight victories over league foe Tarleton State by a combined score of 46-8 helped West Texas A&M (31-4) maintain its iron grip on the top spot in the NFCA Division II softball rankings for the sixth straight week.
The Lady Buffs received 14 of 16 possible first-place votes to outdistance second-ranked Cal Baptist (32-7) by 18 total points. The Lancers held on to two first-place nods from the top 25 committee after a relatively quiet week saw CBU sweep its only two match-ups from Chaminade by scores of 8-2 and 3-1.
No. 3 Tampa (27-4) and No. 4 Armstrong Atlantic (26-8) swapped positions in the latest rankings. The Spartans ran their winning skein to 10 consecutive games, via triumphs over Northwestern Ohio, Concordia (MI) and Eckerd, and didn’t allow more than a single tally in each of those 10 wins with six shutouts. The Pirates dropped the single slot after splitting doubleheaders against both GRU Augusta (L 1-4, W 20-0 in 5 inn.) and Georgia College (W 4-0, L 2-7).
Fifth-ranked St. Mary’s (TX) (36-4) continued inching closer to cracking the national top four as the Rattlers improved their season-best win streak to an impressive 18 games by taking both ends of a doubleheader from Texas Women’s (W 10-7, W 8-0 in 5 inn.) and sweeping a three-game set against Texas-Permian Basin (W 7-0, W 7-1, W 7-0).
Despite being idle again, Wayne State (MI) (20-4) continued to benefit as the Warriors climbed one position to sixth, while a four-game sweep of Washburn allowed Emporia State to jump from No. 9 to No. 7 in the latest poll. An inactive week did no favors for Humboldt State (28-9), however, as the Jacks dropped two spots to eighth. A sweep of Miles and a series win over rival North Alabama couldn’t keep Alabama-Huntsville (25-6) from losing a little ground as the Chargers fell one rung to ninth, while UMSL (22-3) held steady at No. 10 following its 6-1 effort.
Former-No. 24-rated Midwestern State (23-13) was the only team to drop out of this week’s rankings after suffering a four-game sweep at the hands of 11th-ranked Angelo State. That exit opened the door for the re-entry of Texas Woman’s (24-12) in the No. 25 position.
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. Current 2014 records are shown, first-place votes are in parentheses
NFCA Division II Softball Poll – April 2, 2014
|
Rank |
Team |
2014 Record |
Totals |
Last Poll |
|
1 |
West Texas A&M (14) |
31-4 |
398 |
1 |
|
2 |
California Baptist (2) |
32-7 |
380 |
2 |
|
3 |
Tampa |
27-4 |
346 |
4 |
|
4 |
Armstrong Atl. State |
26-8 |
343 |
3 |
|
5 |
St. Mary's (TX) |
36-4 |
334 |
5 |
|
6 |
Wayne State (MI) |
20-4 |
303 |
7 |
|
7 |
Emporia State |
30-7 |
299 |
9 |
|
8 |
Humboldt State |
28-9 |
297 |
6 |
|
9 |
Alabama-Huntsville |
25-6 |
273 |
8 |
|
10 |
Missouri-St. Louis |
22-3 |
232 |
10 |
|
11 |
Angelo State |
28-9 |
224 |
12 |
|
12 |
North Georgia |
32-8 |
217 |
15 |
|
13 |
Augustana (SD) |
22-5 |
210 |
11 |
|
14 |
Caldwell |
11-1 |
198 |
13 |
|
15 |
Cal St. Monterey Bay |
26-5 |
169 |
16 |
|
16 |
Shippensburg |
17-3 |
145 |
17 |
|
17 |
Valdosta State |
29-9 |
123 |
18 |
|
18 |
Lenoir Rhyne |
27-8 |
106 |
14 |
|
19 |
Winona State |
19-3 |
97 |
20 |
|
20 |
UC San Diego |
22-6 |
90 |
19 |
|
21 |
Truman State |
24-5 |
84 |
25 |
|
22 |
LIU Post |
15-3 |
61 |
23 |
|
23 |
West Va. Wesleyan |
20-6 |
58 |
21 |
|
24 |
Palm Beach Atlantic |
22-7 |
48 |
22 |
|
25 |
Texas Woman's Univ. |
24-12 |
32 |
RV |
Dropped Out of Poll: No. 24 Midwestern State (23-13)
Others Receiving Votes: North Alabama (21), Central Oklahoma (18), New Haven (18), Dixie State (13), Georgia College (11), Indianapolis (9), Bellarmine (8), Fort Hays State (7), Western Oregon (6), Midwestern State (5), Central Washington (4), West Virginia State (4), Urbana (3), Rollins (2), Sonoma State (2), Minnesota State Mankato (1), Southern New Hampshire (1).
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