LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The Trine University softball team will enter the NCAA Division III Softball Championship tournament as the fourth-ranked team in the country according to the latest National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) GoRout Division III Coaches Poll. They also enter as the second-seeded team after finishing second in the final NCAA National Power Index (NPI) Rankings.
The Thunder received 220 points in the poll, down 20 points from last week, to fall to fourth. Top-seeded and undefeated Viginia Wesleyan University retains a stranglehold on the top spot in the poll. University of Redlands vaulted into the second spot in the poll and Texas Lutheran University rounded out the top three. Despite handing Trine their fourth loss of the season, Calvin University, the only other Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) member to receive votes this season, dropped completely out of the poll.
The final edition of the NCAA NPI Rankings placed Trine as the second-best team in the country. The NPI was used to determine seeding and at-large selections to the 2026 NCAA Division III Softball Championship. Calvin secured a place in the tournament as an at-large after finishing the year 33rd in the metric.
The Thunder won their fifth-straight MIAA Tournament last week, receiving the conference's automatic bid to the national tournament along the way. They finished the week with a 32-4 overall record.
The team will now host a regional bracket for that tournament with games beginning on Thursday, May 14. Trine will take on Earlham College in the first contest, scheduled for 11 a.m., before the University of Rochester (N.Y.) tilts with Loras College at 1:30 p.m.
For more information on the Angola, Ind. Regional visit the tournament website.
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