Tarleton State Softball cracks top-25, ranked 25th in D1 Softball’s Mid-Major Rankings

STEPHENVILLE – After impressive back-to-back upsets of the top-two teams in the WAC in Seattle U and Grand Canyon, Tarleton State Softball has cracked the top-25 as they are ranked No. 25 in D1 Softball’s Week 8 Mid-Major Rankings.

Including the Texans, the WAC has three of nine members ranked in the top 25 through eight weeks of play. Grand Canyon sits in the No. 5 spot while Seattle U sits just inside of the top 20 at No. 17. Tarleton State is responsible for a combined four conference losses for the Lopes and Redhawks accounting for all conference losses for both teams.

In week seven of the season, the Texans headed west to Phoenix for the first time since 2023 looking to avenge their last trip to the Lopes when they fell in the series 1-2. No. 24/RV GCU came into the three-game series with a perfect conference record of 2-0 after game three of the Lope’s series with Utah Valley was cut short due to winter weather. The squad from Phoenix finished the weekend with a conference record of 3-2 and an overall record of 23-6.

Tarleton State handed Grand Canyon bookend losses shutting out the Lopes 3-0 in Game 1 followed by an impressive 5-2 rubber match victory in Game 3 to secure the series. The 3-0 win in Game 1 marks just the second time the Lopes have been shutout this season with the first coming at the hands of then No. 8 Oregon on Feb. 15, 2025, when they were shutout 4-0. Both shutouts this season have come on home turf for the squad from Phoenix.

After securing the series win with the 5-2 victory, the Texans not only earned their first ever conference series over the Lopes but handed GCU their first home series loss since 2022 and their first conference series loss (home or away) since 2023.

With a successful road trip out west complete, Tarleton State returned home to the friendly confines of the Tarleton State Softball Complex. The Purple and White welcomed the Red and Black from Seattle U to town and gave Texan Nation plenty to cheer about. The Redhawks came into the weekend with a perfect 6-0 conference record but the Red and Black didn’t leave the Ville with a perfect conference record.

After a combined 18 runs in Game 1 of the series, Seattle U took the opening game of the series moving to 7-0 inside Western Athletic Conference Play. With a Game 1 loss, the Texans had to win two straight to secure their second-straight conference series. Tarleton State did just that handing Seattle U their first two conference losses as the Purple and White took Game 2 4-2 followed by a 10-2 (5) run-rule walk-off in Game 3 to secure series wins over the top-two teams in the conference in back-to-back weeks.

Tarleton State has faced four other teams in the top-25 bringing their total to six teams played in the top-25. The four other programs include No. 9 North Texas, No. 15 Marist, No. 16 Austin Peay and No. 24 ULM.

Tarleton State Softball is currently 20-15 on the year, fourth-best overall record in the WAC as of March 23, 2025, five games ahead of the next closest team in the conference. The Texans are now 6-6 in the WAC sitting fourth in the conference, just a game back from UT Arlington in the No. 3 spot.

The Purple and White have scored 191 runs on 275 hits thus far with 178 RBI and are hitting .302 as a team with three hitters hitting .413 or better. Tarleton State has also hit 30 home runs, 55 doubles and seven triples. The Texans have also drawn 139 base on balls to date.

Tarleton State is set to return to action on Friday as the Texans will travel west once again as they head to Utah Tech Friday-Saturday for a three-game conference series. Friday will feature a doubleheader at 3 p.m. CT and 5:30 p.m. CT followed by Game 3 on Saturday at 1 p.m. CT. All three games will air live on ESPN+ and live stats will be available as well. Tickets are available for the three-game series here.

The full Week 8 Mid-Major Rankings by D1 Softball is listed below

1. Florida Atlantic
2. Liberty
3. Nevada
4. Coastal Carolina
5. Grand Canyon *
6. South Florida
7. San Diego State
8. Texas State
9. North Texas ^
10. UConn
11. Fresno State
12. Belmont
13. Marshall
14. Jacksonville State
15. Marist ^
16. Austin Peay ^
17. Seattle U *
18. Eastern Kentucky
19. North Florida
20. Southern Illinois
21. Southeastern Louisiana
22. Idaho State
23. Georgia Southern
24. ULM ^
25. Tarleton State *

WAC Conference Members *
Teams that Tarleton State has faced through eight weeks ^