IRVINE, Calif. – For the second time in program history, the Concordia University Irvine softball team has been recognized as the No. 1 team in the country among all NCAA DII schools.
The Eagles were the unanimous pick for the top spot in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association Top 25 Coaches Poll. CUI had been ranked No. 2 in each of the previous four weeks and entered this week as the last undefeated team in the entire Top 25.
CUI began the week a perfect 32-0 record and has won its first 20 PacWest Conference games. The Concordia pitching staff also boasts the best earned run average in all of NCAA DII with a microscopic 0.94 ERA entering Tuesday's doubleheader with Hawai'i Pacific.
For the full NFCA DII Poll:
CLICK HERE
Remarkably, four different pitchers for the Green and Gold have an ERA of 1.20 or lower entering Tuesday.
Working closely with associate head coach
Rose Imbriano, CUI pitchers
Cortney Koelmans (0.57 ERA),
Katlin Entrup (0.84),
Erika Morris (0.90) and lefty
Rae Flores (1.12) have done an amazing job limiting opponents over these first two months of the season. CUI already had posted ten shutouts and opponents have been held to two runs or less in 26 of CUI's first 32 games.
Entrup was recently named PacWest Pitcher of the Week for the second time.
CUI softball head coach
Crystal Rosenthal was recently awarded the Women of Influence: Game Changer Award by the Greater Irvine Chamber at the group's annual leadership forum. Rosenthal's leadership extends past the dugout as well, as she serves as the Athletic Director of CUI's 24 sports and is a former softball student-athlete and passionate alum of Concordia.
CLICK HERE to read more about Coach Rosenthal Being Honored By the Greater Irvine Chamber
Last week's eight victories over Chaminade and Hawaii Hilo saw tons of contributions from up and down the lineup. Against Chaminade,
Megan Massa crushed a walk-off home run to put
an exclamation point on a Monday sweep of the 'Swords and then
Sydney Sprinkle hit a pair of home runs to
carry the offense on Tuesday.
Then on Friday,
Missy Nemeth and
Rylie Rohr hit back-to-back homers (
in BOTH games that day) to slide past the Vulcans.
Rohr went yard again in the Saturday sweep to finish off an impressive week both at the dish and in the field.
The Eagles host Hawai'i Pacific on Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon. The new game times for those doubleheaders are 3pm and 5pm on Tuesday at Eagles Field followed by 1 pm and 3pm scheduled starts on Wednesday.
CLICK HERE for the full CUI softball schedule
