Sparkill, N.Y. - On the strength of its first-place standings in the East Coast Conference, St. Thomas Aquinas College is ranked ninth in the NCAA’s first weekly East Region poll of the top Div. II softball teams released on Wednesday.
STAC’s doubleheader split yesterday with Mercy College pushed their overall record to 20-16 and 13-4 in the ECC. The Lady Spartans have now reached the 20-win milestone in three straight full seasons. (The 2020 season was suspended due to the pandemic.)
“This is another indication that our program is continuing to grow and improve,” said STAC Head Coach Kristen Sullivan. “It’s very rewarding to be mentioned with some of the top Division II programs in the Northeast. This team has shown great resiliency this season. I am very proud of them.”
Adelphi (26-10) is ranked first in the poll with Georgian Court (25-11), Caldwell (26-7), Franklin Pierce (16-4) and Wilmington (23-15) rounding out the top five, respectively.
The East Region poll ranks the top 10 among 34 teams from three conferences -- ECC, Northeast 10 and Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference. The region includes teams from eight states – Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Vermont.
The regional ratings are used to help determine the eight teams selected to compete in the East Region post-season tourney, which awards automatic bids to the post-season tournament champions in the NE-10, ECC and CACC and five at-large teams from those three conferences.
The East Region tourney is scheduled May 12-20 and the NCAA Division II National Championship tournament will be in Denver, Colorado beginning May 26.
The East Region poll is familiar territory for the Lady Spartans, which climbed to as high as seventh in the 2022 regional ranking. In 2019, STAC was ranked in every weekly East Region poll en route to a school-record 25 wins.
NCAA Division II Softball East Region Poll (Through Games 4/17/22)
- Adelphi (NE10): 26-10
- Georgian Court (CACC): 25-11
- Caldwell (CACC): 26-7
- Franklin Pierce (NE10): 16-4
- Wilmington (CACC): 23-15
- Saint Anselm (NE10): 19-12
- Pace (NE10): 20-9
- Bridgeport (ECC): 25-12
- St. Thomas Aquinas (ECC): 19-15
- New Haven (NE10): 14-14