Softball Opens 2026 Season Ranked #16 In The NFCA Top 25 Preseason Coaches Poll

LOUISVILLE, Ky.- Prior to the start of the 2026 season, the NFCA has released their Division III Preseason Coaches Poll, where the Huntingdon Hawks are slated as the #16 team in the nation. 

Trine University, which captured its second national championship in three seasons last year, opens 2026 as the unanimous No. 1 team in the NFCA/GoRout Division III Preseason Top 25 Coaches Poll, the Association announced on Tuesday.

The Thunder went 46-5 and swept top finals seed Virginia Wesleyan in the best-of-three Division III championship series, 8-1 and 3-1, at Illinois Wesleyan's Inspiration Field last June. It was Trine's third appearance in the finals in the past four years, resulting in the program's first-ever national title in 2023 and a runner-up finish to Christopher Newport in 2022.

Trine tied its 2023 school mark for most wins, but accomplished it in 2025 with one fewer loss. The Thunder won their fourth straight Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) title and defeated Wisconsin-Eau Claire for the NCAA Regional crown and Wisconsin-Stevens Point in the Super Regionals.

Coming off the heels of a 38-7 season that concluded with a loss to #15 ranked Emory in the Regional Championship, Huntingdon returns a host of all-conference and all-region performers as they look for their third consecutive national postseason appearance. A seasoned pitching staff featuring CCS Pitcher of the Year, Allie Roberts, CCS Rookie Pitcher of the Yea Addison Gaines, and second team all-conference performer Madisyn Fruge will anchor the Hawks defense that returns all three starting outfielders(Kylie Stephens, Kamryn Miller, and Riley Rudick), with all-conference and all-region third baseman Maddie Grace Hubbard locking down the infield. 

Meanwhile, the 2025 national runner-up and three-time NCAA champion Marlins led the remaining seven World Series teams who all open the season ranked in the top eight. Virginia Wesleyan went 49-6-1 and won its record 16th Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) title, rolling through its first 12 postseason contests before falling to ODAC rival Randolph-Macon, 6-2, to force a second game in the double-elimination World Series semifinals to determine who would face Trine in the championship series.

Linfield (tied for third nationally at World Series) and Redlands (tied for fifth) rank No. 3 and 4 in the preseason poll, while Saint Mary's, Rowan, Randolph-Macon and Texas Lutheran round out the first eight. Super Regional participant East Texas Baptist and Christopher Newport complete the top 10.

Elsewhere, all but one of the Super Regional squads from a year ago start somewhere in the Top 25, including Wisconsin-Whitewater (11th), Moravian (12th), Wisconsin-Stevens-Point (13th), Emory (15th), Salisbury (18th) and Illinois Wesleyan (20th).

Gettysburg, whose school-record 41-win season ended with a pair of defeats to eventual national runner-up Virginia Wesleyan in its first-ever Super Regional appearance, graduated top two pitchers Paige Forry (30-7) and Audrey Wright (11-1), and lost its head coach to an NCAA Division I job in the offseason, causing the committee to take a wait-and-see approach before putting them in the poll mix.

The NFCA/GoRout Division III Top 25 Coaches Poll is selected by 10 NCAA Division III head coaches representing the 10 NCAA regions. Final 2025 records are listed, with first-place votes in parentheses.

NFCA/GoRout Division III Top 25 Softball Coaches Poll – Feb. 3, 2026

Others receiving votes: Wisconsin-Eau Claire 2, Central 1, Ithaca 1, Messiah 1.

Hawks Softball opens their season at home on February 14th, kicking off a three game series against Millsaps with a double-header. Games are scheduled for 12:00 and 2:00.