STARKVILLE, Miss. – Senior second baseman Jen Yee has been named the Louisville Slugger/NFCA Division I National Player of the Week for games played between February 22-28. Yee powered her way to a .545 batting average last week by going 12-for-22 with six home runs, eight runs and 14 RBIs. She also walked twice and had one stolen base. The North Delta, B.C.’ native came up with clutch hits for the Yellow Jackets on three separate occasions on the week. Against Arkansas, the senior had her first multi-home run game in a Georgia Tech uniform and had the game-winning home run against Central Florida. Yee also hit a two-run homer in the seventh inning versus Iowa to give her team the lead for the first time since trailing 5-0. Yee had a 1.333 slugging percentage and a .550 on-base percentage at the 2010 NFCA Division I Leadoff Classic, where she took home tournament most valuable player honors. No. 12 Georgia Tech finished the week at 5-1 behind Yee’s performance and is currently 13-2 on the season. OTHER TOP PERFORMANCES Ball State’s Elizabeth Millian went 3-0 with a save, a no-hitter and did not allow any runs over a 4-1 week ...

STARKVILLE, Miss. - For the third time in four weeks, the Washington Huskies received all 30 first-place votes in the latest USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Poll . The Huskies have now held the No. 1 spot for four consecutive editions of the poll. Arizona, Florida and UCLA held on to their spots from last week in second, third and fifth, respectively. Missouri joined the Top 5 at fourth this week, bumping previous No. 4 Michigan down three spots to seventh. Illinois and Oklahoma State both make their 2010 Top 25 debuts in this week’s poll at No. 21 and No. 25, forcing last week’s No. 23 Northwestern and No. 25 North Carolina out of the poll. The USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 poll is voted on by NCAA Division I head coaches, one representing each conference. The next USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 poll will be released Tuesday, March 9. USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Poll - Week #3 The USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 poll is voted on by NCAA Division I head coaches, one representing each conference. 2010 records are shown, first-place votes are in parentheses. Rank Team Record Pts Pvs 1 Washington (30) 12-1 750 1 2 Arizona 12-1 720 2 3 Florida 12-1 659 3 4 Missouri 8-2 645 6 5 UCLA 14-3 591 5 6 Georgia 13-1 582 8 7 Michigan 9-4 548 4 8 Alabama 12-3 548 9 9 Arizona St. 10-2 536 7 10 Stanford 12-2 476 10 11 Oklahoma 11-2 460 12 12 Georgia Tech 13-2 441 11 13 California 11-4 359 13 14 Louisville 13-2 343 15 15 Texas 14-2 330 14 16 LSU 13-4 282 16 17 Ohio St. 10-5 270 17 18 Florida St. 15-2 203 22 19 La.-Lafayette 10-5 164 18 20 Tennessee 8-4 142 21 21 Illinois 14-1 133 NR 22 Fresno St. 9-4 127 19 23 Texas A&M 12-3 87 24 24 Massachusetts 6-4 75 20 25 Oklahoma ...

STARKVILLE, Miss. – Senior catcher Katie Bartlett of Missouri-St. Louis and senior pitcher Katie Petersen of Midwestern St., have been named as the Louisville Slugger/NFCA Division II National Player and Pitcher of the Week, respectively, for games played Feb. 15-21. Bartlett went 8-for-14 over four games and helped guide her team to a 3-1 record on the week. She finished the week with a .571 batting average, four runs, six RBIs, a double and a home run. The Des Moines, Iowa, native gave the Tritons a fighting chance in their lone loss of the week against Union (Tenn.) by tying the game in the top of the seventh with a solo home run. UMSL won its final three games at the Union (Tenn.) Three Team Weekend to start the season at 3-1. In the circle, Petersen led Midwestern to a perfect 5-0 record on the week by not allowing her opponents to score a single run during each of her two appearances, which included a seven-inning perfect game against Western New Mexico. The senior from Plano allowed just three hits, no runs and four walks while striking out 21 over 14.0 innings of work. Petersen now has 26 career shutouts ...

STARKVILLE, Miss. - Despite suffering their first loss of the season last week, the Washington Huskies held on to the top spot in the USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 poll for the third consecutive poll. Arizona, Florida and Michigan maintained their respective positions at two, three and four, while UCLA moved into the top five for the first time this season. Baylor, who came in at No. 25 last week, was the only team to drop from the poll and was replaced by the lone newcomer, Texas A&M, at No. 24. The USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 poll is voted on by NCAA Division I head coaches, one representing each conference. 2010 records are shown, first-place votes are in parentheses. The next USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 poll will be released Tuesday, March 2. Rank Team Record Pts Pvs 1 Washington (23) 7-1 735 1 2 Arizona (4) 7-1 712 2 3 Florida (3) 8-1 672 3 4 Michigan 6-2 642 4 5 UCLA 9-1 626 7 6 Missouri 3-2 588 6 7 Arizona St. 7-2 575 5 8 Georgia 8-1 555 8 9 Alabama 7-2 525 9 10 Stanford 8-1 470 11 11 Georgia Tech 8-1 470 10 12 Oklahoma 8-1 436 13 13 California 7-3 362 12 14 Texas 11-0 340 20 15 Louisville 9-2 297 15 16 LSU 7-4 238 19 17 Ohio St. 6-4 233 14 18 Louisiana-Lafayette 8-2 211 16 19 Fresno St. 7-1 204 17 20 Massachusetts 4-1 172 18 21 Tennessee 5-2 137 22 22 Florida St. 10-1 130 23 23 Northwestern 5-5 107 21 24 Texas A&M 10-1 96 NR 25 North Carolina 6-3 56 24 Others receiving votes: Illinois 43, Baylor 29, Kentucky 24, Hawaii, 21, Oklahoma St. 13, Southern Mississippi 9, BYU 8 , Cal St. Fullerton 7, San Diego St. 6, Cal Poly 3, Southern Illinois 3, Mississippi St. 1 Dropped out: No. 25 Baylor Click To Watch Washingtons Head coach Heather Tarr Interviewed on The Fastpitch TV Show ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The ...

STARKVILLE, Miss. – Freshman pitcher/first baseman Melissa Martinez of New Mexico Highlands has been named the first Louisville Slugger/NFCA Division II National Player of the Week of the 2010 season. In the first two weeks of the season, Martinez excelled both at the plate and in the circle. Through the first nine games of the season, Martinez posted a .372 batting average with 11 runs, 16 RBIs, one double and seven home runs. The Albuquerque, N.M., native jumpstarted her collegiate career by completing two amazing feats in back-to-back games. In her first-ever collegiate at bat, Martinez went yard against Eastern New Mexico. Since then, Martinez has added six more homers to her tally, including a three home-run performance against Grand Canyon. For the season, Martinez has a slugging percentage of 1.269. In the second game of the season-opening doubleheader against Eastern New Mexico, Martinez took to the circle and threw a no-hitter in the first start of her collegiate career. Martinez retired 21 of 23 batters faced, while striking out 10. After the no-hitter, Martinez continued to excel as a pitcher by recording 27 strikeouts through 20.2 innings of work. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Fastpitch News Blog is sponsored by SportJunk.com Follow The ...

STARKVILLE, Miss. - Senior Danielle Lawrie of Washington has been named as the NCAA Division I Louisville Slugger/NFCA National Player of the Week for games played during the week of Feb. 11-14. Lawrie, who split time between pitcher and designated player, was 6-for-15 at the plate on the week with five runs, nine RBIs and four home runs, including a grand slam against Cal State Northridge. The Langley, B.C. native was equally effective from the circle, as she threw 21 shutout innings over three complete games. Lawrie also recorded the first Division I perfect game of the 2010 season in the Huskies’ season-opener against Auburn. Lawrie allowed just four hits and one walk on the week, while recording 45 strikeouts. Lawrie helped guide No. 1 Washington to a 5-0 record at the Kajikawa Classic in Tempe, Ariz., allowing the Huskies to hold on to the top spot in the USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 poll for the second consecutive poll. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Fastpitch News Blog is sponsored by SportJunk.com Follow The Fastpitch News Blog on Twitter at Twitter.com/FastpitchNews Become a fan of the Fastpitch News on Facebook at Facebook.com/SoftballMedia Don't forget to check out our other softball websites Fastpitch.FM ...

STARKVILLE, Miss. - On the strength of a 5-0 opening weekend record, Washington received all 30 first place votes for the second-consecutive week to lead the first USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Poll of the 2010 regular season. Fellow unbeaten Arizona jumped four spots to claim the No. 2 position in the poll, while Florida, Michigan and Arizona St. rounded out the top five, respectively. DePaul was the only team to fall out of the poll this week dropping from No. 21, while Texas was the only addition and joined the fray at No. 20. The USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 poll is voted on by NCAA Division I head coaches, one representing each conference. 2010 records are shown, first-place votes are in parentheses. The next USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 poll will be released on Tuesday, Feb. 23. USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Poll - Week #1 The USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 poll is voted on by NCAA Division I head coaches, one representing each conference. 2010 records are shown, first-place votes are in parentheses. Rank Team Record Pts Pvs 1 Washington (30) 5-0 750 1 2 Arizona 6-0 689 6 3 Florida 3-1 645 3 4 Michigan 2-1 635 4 5 Arizona St. 5-1 613 5 6 Missouri 2-1 600 9 7 UCLA 3-1 579 8 8 Georgia 3-1 546 7 9 Alabama 1-2 486 2 10 Georgia Tech 4-0 477 13 11 Stanford 4-1 450 10 12 California 4-1 410 12 13 Oklahoma 2-1 399 11 14 Ohio St. 4-1 369 14 15 Louisville 4-1 301 22 16 La.-Lafayette 5-0 226 24 17 Fresno St. 6-0 210 35 18 Massachusetts 4-1 198 20 19 LSU 2-3 182 18 20 Texas 5-0 173 NR 21 Northwestern 2-3 159 15 22 Tennessee 1-2 152 16 23 Florida St. 4-1 134 23 24 North Carolina 2-3 104 19 25 Baylor 2-3 84 17 Others receiving votes: DePaul 40, Texas A&M 26, Hawaii 23, Kentucky 14, BYU ...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - A 4-0 start to the season was enough to move previous No. 4, Siskiyous, past Sierra and into the No. 1 spot in the latest California Community College Athletic Association Softball Top 20 Coaches’ Poll. Former No. 1, Sierra, dropped just one spot to No. 2, while East Los Angeles made the week’s biggest jump soaring 15 spots from No. 18 to No. 3. COACHES’ POLL - TOP 20 (STATE-WIDE RANKINGS) FOR WEEK BEGINNING FEBRUARY 7 IN SEASON 2010 Rank Team (Record) Points 1 Siskiyous (4-0) 44 (1) 2 Sierra (0-0) 43 (1) 3 East Los Angeles (7-0) 40 (1) 4 Cypress (0-0) 38 T5 Cerritos (6-1) 34 (1) T5 Sacramento City (0-0) 34 T7 Ohlone (1-1) 33 T7 Saddleback (3-0) 33 T7 Mt. San Antonio (1-0) 33 10 Feather River (0-0) 30 11 Palomar (0-0) 29 12 Fullerton (5-2) 27 13 Santa Ana (3-1) 26 14 San Mateo (3-2) 25 T15 Long Beach City (5-3) 23 T15 Ventura (6-2) 23 T17 Fresno (2-1) 22 T17 Shasta (0-1) 22 T17 Santa Rosa (2-1) 22 20 San Joaquin Delta (1-0) 20 All records shown are from the 2010 season. First-place votes are in parentheses. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Fastpitch News Blog is sponsored by SportJunk.com Follow ...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Defending national champion California Baptist has been tabbed as the No. 1 team in the NAIA Softball Coaches’ Top 25 Preseason Poll, the NAIA announced Tuesday. The Lancers were the unanimous pick, earning all 23 first-place votes and tallying 653 points. Dickinson State (N.D.) is listed second with 629 points. Oklahoma City and Point Loma Nazarene (Calif.) are tied for third with 594 points and Lubbock Christian rounds out the top-five teams with 549 points. No. 1 California Baptist returns 12 starters from its 2009 national championship team, including 2009 NAIA Pitcher of the Year, Tory Ferreira. Ferreira became the first pitcher in NAIA history to go undefeated and have at least 20 wins, as a freshman. The 2009 NAIA National Championship MVP Ashley Boyd returns for her senior season. The senior shortstop set school single-season records for home runs (16), hits (100), runs scored (82) and total bases (178). The Lancers finished last season with a school record 61 wins, on their way to winning the school’s first softball championship. No. 22 Auburn Montgomery (Ala.), No. 23 Savannah College of Art and Design (Ga.) and No. 25 McKendree (Ill.) all make an appearance ...

The NFCA Division II Top 25 is voted on by 16 NCAA Division II head coaches, two representing each of the eight NCAA regions. Final 2009 records are shown. First-place votes are in parentheses. Rank Team Record Pts Pvs 1 Alabama-Huntsville (14) 54-6 398 2 2 North Georgia 50-5 375 3 3 Winona St. (1) 50-13 345 5 4 Dixie St. 41-13 331 6 5 Indianapolis 37-21 316 10 6 Valdosta St. 57-8 287 8 7 Le Moyne 45-12 252 7 8 Missouri Western St. 47-12 244 NR 9 California (Pa.) 35-10 233 25 10 Saginaw Valley 39-11 217 14 11 Humboldt St. 38-20 214 NR 12 Nebraska-Omaha 45-17 210 24 13 S.C. Aiken 34-16 206 12 14 Kutztown 46-12-1 196 9 15 Nova Southeastern 49-15 157 18 16 Metro St. 40-12 151 NR 17 Abilene Christian 43-15 130 NR 18 C.W. Post 34-18 114 NR 19 Angelo St. 50-10 104 4 20 Wayne St. (Mich.) 40-16 85 NR 21 Wayne St. (Neb.) 41-21 81 NR 22 West Texas A&M 35-21 73 NR 23 Mesa St. 30-21 65 16 24 Carson-Newman 32-17 62 21 25 Lock Haven (1) 51-6 58 1 Others receiving votes: Bloomsburg 46, Rollins 37, Caldwell 31, Georgia College 29, Cal St.-Monterey Bay 28, Hawaii Pacific 21, Georgian Court 19, St. Edwards 16, Emporia St. 15, Ashland 10, Augustana (S.D.) 10, Ferris St. 8, Midwestern St. 6, Southwest Minn. St. 6, East Stroudsburg 3, Montana St.-Billings 3, NYIT 3, Concordia-St. Paul 2, Florida Southern 1, Lewis 1, Regis (Colo.) 1 The Fastpitch News Blog is sponsored by SportJunk.com Follow The Fastpitch News Blog on Twitter at Twitter.com/FastpitchNews Become a fan of the Fastpitch News on Facebook at Facebook.com/SoftballMedia Don't forget to check out our other softball websites Fastpitch.FM Home of the Fastpitch Radio Show. Fastpitch.TV Home of the Fastpitch TV Show. FastpitchSearch.com A seach engine just for softball. SoftballJunk.com The best place online to buy softball equipment. SoftballMedia.com One site for all our softball media.