NFCA Division II Top-25 Poll (3-11-15)

1. National Fastpitch Coaches Association
Contact: Brian Stanley, NFCA Director of Media Relations,
502-409-4600, brian@nfca.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
West Texas A&M Extends Record Stretch as No. 1 in 2015 NFCA Division II Poll
March 11, 2014
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Following a dominant performance in its Lone Star Conference series, West Texas
A&M extended its record streak at the No. 1 spot to 55 consecutive weeks in this week’s NFCA Division II
Poll that was released by the Association on Wednesday. The top six positions in the poll did not change
with just one change to the top 10 and two additions to the top 25.
During their Whiteout Cancer Weekend, the Lady Buffs (17-2) run-ruled Midwestern State in all four
games, outscoring the Mustangs, 47-5 to earn the sweep. WT, which picked up 13 of 16 first-place votes
(396 points), has won seven straight and 14 of its last 15 contests. Their run dates back to Feb. 26, 2014
when the Lady Buffs took over the No. 1 position and have not looked back.
Valdosta State (21-2) tallied the other three first-place votes and continued its hold on No. 2 with a 5-0
week, including a three-game Gulf South series sweep of then-No. 22 North Alabama. The Blazers opened
with a mid-week doubleheader shutout of Florida Southern (4-0 / 9-0) and followed that by allowing just
one run in their sweep of the Lions (5-0 / 6-1 / 1-0). For the week, Valdosta’s pitching staff, posted a 0.21
ERA with 34 strikeouts and just two walks in 33 innings. They surrendered 11 hits and held their opponents
to a .098 batting average.
Coming in the No. 3 spot is Cal State Monterey Bay (16-3), which went 3-1 in a CCAA road series at Cal
State East Bay. The Otters split with the Pioneers (2-1 / 3-5) in the opening doubleheader, but bounced
back to take the series with 6-5 and 13-3 victories on Saturday.
No. 4 Missouri-St. Louis (13-1), for the second straight week, and No. 5 St. Mary’s (Texas) (17-3) were
idle. No. 6 Angelo State (18-2) went 3-1 at Eastern New Mexico in a Heartland road series. No. 7 Dixie
State (17-5) and No. 8 Alabama-Huntsville (13-5) each moved up a spot, while North Georgia moved back
into the top-10 at No. 9 and West Chester fell to No. 10.
The seventh-ranked Red Storm opened its Aloha State trip with a four-game PacWest sweep of BYU-
Hawaii by outscoring the Seasiders, 38-4. The Chargers took two-of-three from RV Shorter in a Gulf South
home series, while the Nighthawks went 3-1 at their Captain D’s Classic with victories over Lincoln
Memorial (6-0 / 6-0), Mercyhurst (9-0). Rounding out the top 10 are the Rams, who opened their week 5-1
at the Dot Richardson Spring Games.
Southern Indiana (9-1) and Sonoma State (17-4) make their first appearances of the season in the poll,
coming in at No. 22 and 24, respectively, while Humboldt State (11-7) and West Virginia Wesleyan (2-2)
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.

2. NFCA Division II Softball Poll – March 11, 2015
Rank Team 2015 Record Totals Prev. Rank
1 West Texas A&M (13) 17-2 396 1
2 Valdosta State (3) 21-2 384 2
3 Cal State Monterey Bay 16-3 359 3
4 Missouri-St. Louis 13-1 352 4
5 St. Mary's (Texas) 17-3 333 5
6 Angelo State 18-2 303 6
7 Dixie State 17-5 297 8
8 Alabama-Huntsville 13-5 285 9
9 North Georgia 16-4 263 11
10 West Chester 5-1 254 7
11 LIU Post 0-0 221 10
12 Winona State 10-1 211 15
13 Georgia College 22-4 201 17
14 Caldwell 0-0 191 14
15 Rollins 17-1 182 16
16 Central Oklahoma 13-5 138 18
17 California Baptist 20-4 130 20
18 Indianapolis 8-4 108 21
19 Wingate 10-6 82 13
20 Emporia State 12-4 80 23
21 North Alabama 15-4 76 22
22 Southern Indiana 9-1 52 RV
23 Arkansas Tech 10-5 49 12
24 Sonoma State 17-4 34 NR
25 Augustana (S.D.) 7-3 33 25
Dropped Out: No. 19 Humboldt State (11-7), No. 23 West Virginia Wesleyan (2-2).
New to Poll: No. 22 Southern Indiana, No. 24 Sonoma State
Others Receiving Votes: Southern New Hampshire (31), Humboldt State (30), Lenoir Rhyne (26), Metro State (18),
Ashland (15), Kutztown (13), West Virginia Wesleyan (13), Wayne State (Mich.) (13), Grand Valley State (10),
Shorter (6), California (Pa.) (5), Eckerd (4), Arkansas Monticello (1), UC San Diego (1).