SAU Sports Information
After beginning the year nationally-ranked at fifth in the country by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association, the Southern Arkansas Lady Mulerider softball team is holding strong at that preseason nod. It was announced Wednesday that SAU remains at No. 5 in the first weekly NFCA DII Top 25 Coaches Poll of 2017.
The Lady Muleriders (7-1) are coming off a pair of productive weekends beginning with their own season-opening SAU Softball Invite in which they went 4-0 with two run-rule victories as well as a pair of one-run wins. Last weekend, SAU competed in the North Texas Softball Bash in Grand Prairie, Texas, and posted a 3-1 stay that saw the team score at least a dozen runs three times and collect a pair of run-rule wins, while suffering their first setback of the season in an 13-12 extra-inning loss to Lubbock Christian, which is receiving votes in the latest poll.
The NFCA's first weekly poll of the 2017 season features a shakeup among the top-four spots with unanimous preseason No.1 North Alabama (8-2) dropping to the third spot with a pair of first-place votes. National Runner-Up to UNA a year ago, Humboldt State (5-0), takes over the top spot with nine first-place votes after a 5-0 start to the season. West Texas A&M (11-0) jumps from fourth-place to the second with five first-place votes after winning their first 11 games of the year. Armstrong State (4-1) dropped a single spot from No. 3 to No. 4.
Three teams previously-ranked in the top-15 dropped out of the first weekly poll of the season: No. 10 Wayne State (Mich.), No. 11 Arkansas Tech, and No. 14 Central Washington. ATU is the only school of the three that is receiving votes this week.
No. 13 Chico State (5-0) and No. 17 UC-San Diego (8-0) enter the poll for the first time after having received votes in the preseason poll, while No. 18 Harding (6-0), No. 22 Angelo State (10-1), and No. 23 Dixie State (8-1) join the top 25 after not having previously received votes in the preseason poll.
No. 5 SAU returns to action this weekend in Bentonville with four games in the scheduled at the UAM 8-State Classic.