CMS Softball Rises to No. 5 in Latest NFCA Division III Poll

CLAREMONT, Calif. - The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps softball team moved up to No. 5, the highest ranking in program history, in the latest Division III national poll from the National Fastpitch Coaches Association, the organization announced today.

The top-five designation eclipses the previous high-water mark for the progam of No. 7, which was the Athenas reached during the 2016 season. CMS began this season unranked, but debuted at No. 15 on March 5 after sweeping a doubleheader from then-No. 11 Pomona-Pitzer and has gradually moved up 10 spots since. 

CMS currently stands at 24-5 overall on the year, with one of the losses coming to Vanguard of NAIA in February (when it fell to 1-2 on the season). Since then, the Athenas are 23-3, including a doubleheader sweep of Williams, which currently checks in at No. 7 in the national poll, and a split with current No. 14 Ithaca.

The Athenas have had a propensity for pulling out close games on their way to their current 24-5 record. Since falling to Whitworth in nine innings on opening day, CMS is 11-0 in games that were decided in the sixth inning or later, including three in extra innings. A 4-3 win comeback win over Cal Lutheran on Saturday, with the game-winning run scored in the bottom of the sixth, marked the 11th time that the Athenas have won in their last at-bat, nine of which have come in their 18 conference wins. 

CMS will put its ranking to the test this weekend with four road games against Pomona-Pitzer (DH on Friday at 2 p.m.) and La Verne (DH on Saturday at noon). The Athenas swept both teams in the first meetings this season, with all four games decided in their final at-bat. CMS defeated Pomona-Pitzer on March 1, the opener 3-2 in 10 innings on a walk-off RBI single from Megan Perron, and the nightcap 2-0 on a sixth-inning two-run homer from Maddie Valdez.

On March 8, CMS took the opener from La Verne 8-7 in eight innings on a La Verne error off the bat of Chloe Amarilla, and then took the nightcap 5-3 on a two-run single from Alexa Schulten in the sixth.   

See below for the full NFCA Division III Top 25 poll:

NFCA Division III Top 25 Poll – April 10, 2019