LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Repeat national champion Virginia Wesleyan University finished the season right where it started — as the top-ranked team in the NFCA Division III Top 25.
The (55-3) Marlins broke the Division III record for wins for the second straight season, besting their 2017 total by one, after defeating Illinois Wesleyan, 3-1, on Tuesday in the finale of the best-of-three NCAA Championship Series on OGE Energy Field at the USA Softball Hall of Fame Complex.
Including last’s year’s run to its first national championship, Virginia Wesleyan has now won 61 of its last 64 games, and has been the unanimous top-ranked squad in Division III for 20 straight weeks.
The eight teams that advanced to the NCAA Championship in Oklahoma City are the unanimous first eight in the final ranking. Runner-up Illinois Wesleyan is second, third-place finishers Luther and Ithaca are third and fourth, respectively, while fifth-place teams Texas-Tyler and Case Western Reserve, and seventh-place teams Rowan and Massachusetts Institute of Technology round out the first eight.
NCAA Super Regional participants Berry and Linfield finish the top 10.
Case Western, which advanced to its first NCAA Championship finals and qualified for the NCAA tournament for just the second time in school history — and the first time since 2001 — was previously unranked. Wisconsin-Oshkosh is the other new team for the final ranking, while Amherst, Calvin, Emory, Lynchburg, Messiah and Ohio Northern dropped out.
The NFCA Division III Top 25 Poll is selected by eight NCAA Division III head coaches representing the eight NCAA regions. Final 2018 records are listed, with first-place votes in parentheses.
NFCA Division III Top 25 Poll – May 31, 2018
Rank
Team
2018 Record
Points
Previous
1
Virginia Wesleyan (8)
55-3
200
1
2
Illinois Wesleyan
40-14-1
192
24
3
Luther
43-11
184
16
4
Ithaca
35-13
176
21
5
Texas-Tyler
44-5
168
3
6
Case Western Reserve
38-12
160
NR
7
Rowan
39-13-1
152
14
8
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
38-11-1
144
20
9
Berry
39-6
134
4
10
Linfield
39-9
116
9
11
St. Thomas (Minn.)
39-8
113
7
12
Texas Lutheran
39-3
112
2
13
St. John Fisher
35-10
102
6
14
Moravian
36-8
89
8
15
Christopher Newport
37-10
82
11
T16
Williams
39-8
68
12
T16
Wisconsin-Whitewater
29-13-1
68
25
18
Randolph-Macon
40-7
64
5
19
Hope
34-12
60
17
20
East Texas Baptist
33-13
47
15
T21
Central (Iowa)
29-12
37
23
T21
Saint Mary’s (Ind.)
36-7
37
19
23
College of New Jersey
31-10
21
22
24
Saint Benedict
36-10
19
13
T25
George Fox
35-11
11
10
T25
Wisconsin-Oshkosh
26-14
11
NR
Others receiving votes: Salisbury 7, Johnson & Wales 5, Manhattanville 5, Tufts 4, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 3, and Geneseo 3.
Dropped out: Amherst, Calvin, Emory, Lynchburg, Messiah and Ohio Northern.