In the midst of a 10-0 start to the 2023 season, Northwest has risen from No. 8 to No. 4 in the latest NJCAA Division II national softball rankings, the organization announced on Monday afternoon.
These are the first rankings of the regular season from the NJCAA, after the organization unveiled its preseason polls back in January. It is also a new program-best ranking for the Rangers, who are off to a 10-0 start for the first time since 2007.
Northwest is coming off a grueling weekend stretch that consisted of four games in two days across two different invitational tournaments. The Rangers faced Coastal Alabama-North and current No. 6 team Parkland College during the JUCO Classic in Vicksburg, scoring a pair of 8-1 and 5-4 victories. Then, Northwest defeated Frontier and Kaskaskia by a pair of 10-6 and 9-1 wins in the Mississippi-Illinois Challenge on Saturday night in Booneville.
For the first time in recent history, the Rangers are also the highest-ranked team from the MACCC and NJCAA Region 23. Fellow conference foes Copiah-Lincoln and Jones College are ranked fifth and seventh, respectively, while LSU-Eunice holds a No. 7 ranking.
Additionally, Northeast is ranked 11th after an 18-0 start, followed by Pearl River at 15th and Itawamba at 16th. Holmes is unranked, but the Bulldogs are receiving votes after upsetting LSU-Eunice on Friday.
Murray State (Okla.) tops the national rankings at No. 1 overall, followed by Des Moines Area at No. 2 and third-ranked Phoenix College.
Up next for Northwest is a trip to Hot Springs, Ark. on Friday, where the Rangers will take part in the Nighthawk Round Robin, hosted by National Park College. Current opponents lined up for Northwest are Navarro College at 12 P.M. and Allen County at 2 P.M.
Northwest will return home on Saturday, March 11 for its conference-opener against Southwest Mississippi. The Rangers and Bears will play a 12/2 P.M. twinbill, with live coverage available on Ranger TV.
