LOUISVILLE, Ky. – West Texas A&M (20-3) won three road games at No. 6 Angelo State and extended its record streak at the No. 1 spot to 56 consecutive weeks in the NFCA Division II Poll that was released by the Association on Wednesday. The top four spots remain the same with the nation’s hottest team, Dixie State (pictured) (25-5), moving back into the top 5 and Georgia College (26-4) making its first appearance in the top 10.
The Lady Buffs picked up 11 first place votes and 394 points, eight points ahead of second-ranked Valdosta State. WT opened the series with a resounding 21-0 victory over the Rambelles, but the next three contests were close affairs. The Lady Buff extended their winning streak to nine games with 2-1 and 4-2 victories in games two and three before having it snapped by a 1-0 defeat in the final game of the Lone Star Conference series. WT has still won 17 of its last 19 and the No. 1 ran dates back to Feb. 26, 2014.
Valdosta State (26-2) ran its winning streak to 16 games with five triumphs last week. The Blazers swept a non-conference doubleheader from Florida Tech (4-0 / 3-2) and then run-ruled their way to a Gulf South Conference series sweep of West Alabama, outscoring the Tigers, 38-1.
Cal State Monterey Bay (22-3) is riding an eight-game winning streak after winning all six of its contests last week. The Otters, who picked up one first-place vote, swept a mid-week doubleheader from Dominican (11-0 / 8-2) and won all four games against Cal State Dominguez Hills (6-1 / 8-0 / 4-1 / 7-6) in a CCAA series.
No. 4 Missouri-St. Louis (17-1) did not let a 17-day layoff courtesy of weather-related cancellations and postponements bother it. The Triton swept a pair of doubleheaders from Lake Superior State (8-0 / 10-2) and Great Lakes Valley Conference foe McKendree (1-0 / 7-3) to run their winning streak to 14 games as of Sunday.
Speaking of streaks, Dixie State moved into the No. 5 spot following a PacWest Conference eight-game sweep through Hawaii. The Red Storm enjoyed their spring break trip to the Aloha State as they outscored their hosts, 43-9 and extended the nation’s longest winning streak to 19 games.
Angelo State (21-5) remained at No. 6 going 3-3 last week, which included two wins over then-No. 5 St. Mary’s (3-2 / 4-0) and one over No. 1 West Texas A&M (1-0). Alabama-Huntsville (16-5) and North Georgia (21-5) each moved up one spot. No. 9 St. Mary’s had a tough week and fell four spots after dropping four games.
Georgia State rounds out the top 10 after winning a pair of doubleheaders last week over Carson-Newman (6-3 / 4-1) and at Peach Belt Conference foe Flagler (5-2 / 7-0). The Bobcats have won five straight and 16 of their last 17.
Returning to the poll this week are No. 23 California (Pa.) (6-4) and No. 25 Metro State (16-6), while No. 19 Wingate and No. 23 Arkansas Tech dropped out.
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 – March 17, 2015
Rank
Team
2015 Record
Totals
Prev. Rank
1
West Texas A&M
20-3
394
1
2
Valdosta State
26-2
386
2
3
Cal State Monterey Bay
19-4
367
3
4
Missouri-St. Louis
17-1
356
4
5
Dixie State
25-5
322
7
6
Angelo State
21-5
318
6
7
Alabama-Huntsville
16-5
299
8
8
North Georgia
21-5
291
9
9
St. Mary’s (Texas)
18-7
245
5
10
Georgia College
26-4
240
13
11
Emporia State
16-4
219
20
12
Indianapolis
15-5
197
18
13
California Baptist
26-6
188
17
14
Winona State
16-3
166
12
15
North Alabama
18-4
156
21
16
Central Oklahoma
18-6
127
16
17
Southern Indiana
15-1
125
22
18
Rollins
20-3
120
15
19
LIU Post
3-5
101
11
20
Sonoma State
20-5
96
24
21
West Chester
10-4
82
10
22
Caldwell
2-3
79
14
23
California (Pa.)
6-4
66
RV
24
Augustana (S.D.)
9-3
51
25
25
Metro State
16-6
34
RV
Dropped Out: No. 19 Wingate (11-9), No. 23 Arkansas Tech (14-6).
New to Poll: No. 23 California (Pa.), No. 25 Metro State
Others Receiving Votes: Ashland (24), Arkansas Tech (23), Humboldt State (23), Anderson (20), Southern New Hampshire (20), Wayne State (Mich.) (14), Eckerd (14), Saint Leo (12), Lenoir Rhyne (7), West Virginia Wesleyan (7), Arkansas Monticello (4), Charleston (3), Wingate (3), Pittsburg State (1).