LOUISVILLE, Ky. — For the ninth-straight week, defending national champion Virginia Wesleyan, Texas Lutheran and Texas-Tyler are the top three teams in the NFCA Division III Top 25 rankings.
The top-ranked (45-2) Marlins dropped their Old Dominion Athletic Conference tournament opener, 5-1 to Guilford in eight innings on Friday, before reeling off six straight victories on Saturday and Sunday to claim their third-consecutive ODAC crown, and 11th title overall.
No. 2 Texas Lutheran and third-ranked Texas-Tyler, meanwhile, kept steaming ahead. The (37-1) Bulldogs won their 30th consecutive game, en route to a fifth-straight Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference title. Texas-Tyler (35-1) wrapped up the regular season with its 28th consecutive win to complete a three-game American Southwest Conference sweep of LeTourneau.
Idle Berry (36-4) and ODAC tournament participant Randolph-Macon (38-5) switched places this week to round out the top five, while St. John Fisher (27-7), St. Thomas (32-6), Christopher Newport (33-7), Linfield (35-8), Saint Mary’s (33-3) and Moravian (29-5) completed a consensus first 11 in the poll.
Elsewhere, No. 16 Calvin and No. 21 Otterbein went from receiving votes to spots in the Top 25, and previously-unranked Lake Forest and Ithaca returned this week in the 20th and 24th positions, respectively.
The NFCA Division III Top 25 Poll is selected by eight NCAA Division III head coaches representing the eight NCAA regions. Current 2018 records are listed, with first-place votes in parentheses.
NFCA Division III Top 25 Poll – May 2, 2018
Rank
Team
2018 Record
Points
Previous
1
Virginia Wesleyan (8)
45-2
200
1
2
Texas Lutheran
37-1
192
2
3
Texas-Tyler
35-1
184
3
4
Berry
36-4
176
5
5
Randolph-Macon
38-5
168
4
6
St. John Fisher
27-7
160
9
7
St. Thomas (Minn.)
32-6
152
7
8
Christopher Newport
33-7
144
8
9
Linfield
35-8
136
T10
10
Saint Mary’s (Ind.)
33-3
128
T10
11
Moravian
29-5
120
6
12
George Fox
35-9
102
15
13
Saint Benedict
32-6
96
20
14
East Texas Baptist
31-9
85
13
15
Tufts
28-7
83
21
16
Calvin
29-6
81
RV
17
Central (Iowa)
27-9
68
T16
18
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
29-6-1
55
19
19
College of New Jersey
29-6
53
25
20
Lake Forest
29-9
34
NR
21
Otterbein
30-8
32
RV
22
Williams
32-6
27
24
23
Rowan
28-10-1
24
18
24
Ithaca
25-8
23
NR
25
Amherst
26-5
22
12
Others receiving votes: Luther 14, Coe 12, Hope 10, Emory 7, Emory & Henry 6, Illinois Wesleyan 3, and Lynchburg 3.
Dropped out: Geneseo, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Trine.