TYLER, TEXAS - The University of Texas at Tyler softball program stayed at no. 1 in the third edition of the 2023 NCAA Division II South Central Regional rankings as announced by the regional advisory committee on Wednesday afternoon.
Wednesday's rankings are the third and final edition of the regional rankings that will be released prior to the selection of the 2023 NCAA Division II South Central Regional Tournament field on Monday May 7th. The winners of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) and Lone Star Conference (LSC) Postseason Tournaments will receive the two automatic qualifying bids into the tournament, while the final six teams of the eight-team field will receive at-large bids based on the top six remaining highest teams in the South Central Regional Rankings.
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The eight-team bracket will be split into two brackets, one at each of the top two ranked teams in the rankings host site on May 11-13, with the winners of each side of the bracket advancing to the NCAA Division II Super Regionals on May 18-19.
The winner of that Super Regional Tournament will advance to the NCAA Division II World Series scheduled for May 25-31 in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
The Patriots finished the regular season 51-4 on the year and claimed a third straight Lone Star Conference Regular Season Championship with a league mark of 39-2. UT Tyler leads eight Lone Star Conference representatives in the third edition of the regional rankings and have been ranked as the no. 3 team in the nation according to the 2023 NFCA Division II Top 25 Coaches Poll for six straight weeks.Â
West Texas A&M (no. 2), Oklahoma Christian (no. 4) and Lubbock Christian (no. 5) all sit within the top five of this week's regional rankings alongside Colorado Christian (no. 3), who is one of two teams from the RMAC included in the rankings. St. Mary's (no. 6), St. Edward's (no. 7) and Cameron (no. 8) all sit within the top eight, while Angelo State (no. 9) and MSU Denver (no. 10) round out the rankings.
The Patriots enter postseason play on a Division II best 28-game winning streak and will host the 2023 Lone Star Conference Softball Championships at Irwin Ballpark as the no. 1 seed in the 10-team field this weekend. UT Tyler will take on the winner of the first round match-up between no. 8 seed Angelo State and no. 9 seed St. Edward's in Thursday's quarterfinal round at 6:30 p.m.
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| SOUTH CENTRAL REGIONAL RANKINGS |
| Rank |
Team |
DII Record |
In-Region Record |
| 1 |
UT Tyler |
51-4 |
45-3 |
| 2 |
West Tex. A&M |
46-5 |
46-5 |
| 3 |
Colo. Christian |
52-4 |
52-4 |
| 4 |
Okla. Christian |
34-14 |
33-14 |
| 5 |
Lubbock Christian |
39-14 |
36-13 |
| 6 |
St. Mary's (TX) |
29-22 |
27-22 |
| 7 |
St. Edward's |
26-25 |
24-25 |
| 8 |
Cameron |
30-22 |
30-22 |
| 9 |
Angelo St. |
29-24 |
28-23 |
| 10 |
MSU Denver |
33-20 |
33-20 |
