Central climbs up to No. 9 in softball poll

Central College

PELLA — With a trio of wins last week, Central College moved up one more spot to No. 9 in the NFCA Division III softball coaches’ poll, the program’s highest spot this season.

The Dutch (34-87) closed out the regular season Tuesday with a 2-0, 8-2 sweep of the University of Dubuque. They knocked off Loras College 8-0 in the Iowa Conference tournament semifinals. They pushed the host school and regular season champions Luther College to nine innings in the title game, but came up short 4-3.

Virginia Wesleyan (43-2) remains a unanimous choice at No. 1 in the poll, with Luther (37-3) maintaining its slot at No. 3. Coe (29-9) dipped five more spots to No. 25.

Hosting a four-team NCAA softball regional this weekend, Central opens with No. 23 St. Thomas (Minn.) Friday at 3:30 p.m. Washington-St. Louis (Mo.) and No. 25 Coe complete the regional.