JUNE 3, 2025 | composed by STEVE ULRICH

What administrators, coaches, parents and fans are reading. #whyD3
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☀️  The first Tuesday in June

🗓️ What’s Happening Today. The softball championship series begins at noon, while the first pitch of the baseball finals is set for 3 p.m.

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TOP STORY
1. Trine, Virginia Wesleyan Meet For Softball Championship

Teams that have won two of the last four NCAA DIII softball titles square off today in the opening game of the best-of-3 series to determine the 2025 champion.

Virginia Wesleyan has three nattys to its credit with the last coming in 2021. Trine captured the national crown in 2023 after falling just shy in the final in 2022.

The Marlins are the top-seed in the finals field, while the Thunder was seeded third.

Catch all the action on NCAA.com or the NCAA Championships Pass on most streaming devices with first pitch scheduled for noon ET.

Tale of the Tape

Trine (44-5)

• National Titles (1): 2023

• Championship Series Appearances (3): 2022-23-25

• Scoring Offense | 7.88. Team ERA | 2.14

• Hitting Leaders | Tyra Marcum (423-19-56), Karley Trine (413-4-25), Debbie Hill (391-21-68), Emma Lee (361-5-36, 32 SB)

• Pitching Leaders | Alexis Michon (24-1, 0.77, 154.1 IP, 5W/198K), Hill (13-2, 3.83, 95.0 IP, 15/92)

• Preview | Complete Team Stats

Virginia Wesleyan (49-4-1)

• National Titles (3): 2017-18-21

• Championship Series Appearances (4): 2017-18-21-25

• Scoring Offense | 7.67. Team ERA | 1.55

• Hitting Leaders | Morgan Tucker (493-5-75), Laci Campbell (392-2-33, 51 SB), Olivia Knight (383-6-32), Mackenzie Myers (371-3-49)

• Pitching Leaders | Hannah Hearl (14-2, 1.34, 109.1 IP, 26/107), Lauren Bible (27-2, 1.88, 153.0 IP, 57/80)

• Complete Team Stats

BASEBALL
2. Falcons, Warhawks Soar to Final

The 2025 NCAA DIII Baseball final has gone to the birds, as the Messiah Falcons meet the Wisconsin-Whitewater Warhawks in a best-of-3 series beginning today in Eastlake, Ohio.

Messiah has become Cinderella, as the eighth-seeded Falcons swept through their bracket, taking out #1 Johns Hopkins and #4 Endicott.

UW-Whitewater ousted #2 Denison, #6 Trinity (Texas) and #7 Rowan to reach its third championship series.

Catch all the action on NCAA.com or the NCAA Championships Pass on most streaming devices with first pitch scheduled for 3 p.m. ET.

Tale of the Tape

Messiah (39-14)

• National Titles (0)

• Championship Series Appearances (1): 2025

• Scoring Offense | 8.26. Team ERA | 4.14

• Hitting Leaders | Evan Wagaman (347-13-60, 31 SB), Jarrett Gordon (324-6-48), Isaiah Parido (322-11-50)

• Pitching Leaders | Zachary Harris (9-2, 3.38, 72.0 IP, 14W/77K), Jason Long (6-2, 3.84, 72.2 IP, 37/67), Christian Foltz (6-3, 4.22, 74.2 IP, 36/95)

• Complete Team Stats

Wisconsin-Whitewater (47-6)

• National Titles (2): 2005-14

• Championship Series Appearances (3): 2005-14-24

• Scoring Offense | 10.00. Team ERA | 3.37

• Hitting Leaders | Adam Cootway (417-20-68), Aaron Holland (396-14-56), Matt Scolan (384-17-60), Andy Thies (348-14-64)

• Pitching Leaders | Logan Eisenbarth (9-0, 2.61, 58.2 IP, 13/54), Cade Hansen (11-1, 2.63, 78.2 IP, 13/80), Max Husboe (6-1, 3.32, 76.0 IP, 6/82)

• Complete Team Stats

SOFTBALL
3. New Owner Takes Over Keystone College as Officials Claim School's Future Brighter

by Borys Krawczeniuk, WVIA

“A Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit has assumed ownership of Keystone College, a long-awaited step meant to assure the school’s survival.

As of Friday, Keystone merged into a new controlling entity, Keystone College LLC, which is solely owned by the Washington Institute for Education and Research (WIER), the school said in a news release.

The release said the merger would allow “Keystone to continue operations under its current name and educational mission.” The school did not disclose the merger’s financial and other terms.”

» Driving The News. “Like many small colleges, Keystone has long struggled financially. For most of the last 16 years, the U.S. Department of Education has listed Keystone as requiring heightened cash monitoring. That triggers closer scrutiny of finances. The department cares about schools’ financial health because of its financial aid to students.”

» Yes, But. “While the commission has accepted the merger with WIER, Keystone must continue to explain why Middle States shouldn’t withdraw accreditation. In a notice the commission posted on its website Thursday, Keystone must provide, among others:

• A report on the merger’s progress by Sept. 2.

• Written approvals of the merger by the state attorney general’s office and the U.S. Department of Education.

• Evidence of “a comprehensive financial planning process” that includes a multi-year budget, annual independent audits that verify financial viability and internal financial controls and a “documented funding base adequate to support the educational purposes and ensure financial stability.”

• An update on recruiting a qualified chief financial officer.

• Evidence the school implemented a written conflict of interest policy to ensure the impartiality of its board of trustees.

• A governance structure, “clearly articulated and transparent,” that “outlines roles, responsibilities, and accountability for inclusive decision making by each constituency, including the institution's legally constituted governing body and any related entities.”

• Keystone must also allow the commission to visit to review the merger by the end of November.

» Continue Reading

NEWS
4. New Sports Committee Appointments

The DIII Championships Committee held an electronic vote on May 19 and approved these appointments to DIII sport committees: Basketball (W): Meg Barber (NYU); Fencing: Peter Grandbois (Denison); Lacrosse (W): Christa Burgess (Trinity Washington); Soccer (M): Tom Galbraith (Randolph); Softball: Dani Bishop (Brandeis); Tennis (W): Mark Murphy (Kalamazoo); Volleyball (M): Justin Beachy (Messiah).

» Read More

NEWS YOU CAN USE
5. Lightning Round ⚡️ 

» Finances. “Amid more federal funding and research cuts, Johns Hopkins University is pausing pay increases, freezing staff hiring and reducing capital projects by up to 20%.” “Averett University’s new president says he has a plan for financial recovery that includes repaying the school’s vendors and endowment, and could include further limiting academic options and selling more real estate. But the school’s ongoing financial issues are “not fatal,” and Averett will not close, Thomas Powell said.

» Philanthropy. “Software executive Larry Leinweber gave a total of $90 million through his Leinweber Foundation to establish Leinweber Institutes for Theoretical Physics at four research universities: the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of California at Berkeley, the University of Chicago, and the University of Michigan.”

» Student Aid. “The Trump administration wants to lower the maximum Pell Grant by $1,685 for the 2026–27 academic year as the program faces an estimated $2.7 billion shortfall.”

» Football. After four seasons in a divisional structure, the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference announced that it will return to a single round-robin schedule beginning with the 2025 season.

» Administrative Leave. “Newly-hired Husson athletic director Amanda Nelson has been placed on administrative leave on her second day on the job. Nelson is named as a defendant in a civil lawsuit in San Diego County stemming from a 2023 incident when she was the Del Norte High School athletic director.”

TRANSACTIONS
6. Comings and Goings 

COLORADO COLLEGE - Ashley ‘AJ’ Johnson named head women’s lacrosse coach
DePAUW - Gabby Smart named head softball coach
EMORY - Mak Krause named assistant men’s basketball coach
FITCHBURG STATE - Jonathan Mandeldove named head women’s basketball coach
FRANCISCAN - Announced addition of men’s volleyball as a varsity sport beginning in 2026-27. Jen Hickey named head coach
HAMPDEN-SYDNEY - Duncan Wheeler named head golf coach
HIRAM - Giselle Bahena named head softball coach
JOHN JAY - David Muchnick named interim head men’s basketball coach
MARYVILLE - Myles Rasnick named assistant men’s basketball coach
MCLA - Will Brown resigned as head women’s basketball coach to take same position with Queens College
NORTH CENTRAL (Minn.) - Madi Hecox named head softball coach
PIEDMONT - JC Cavin named head men’s basketball coach
WOOSTER - Kaleb Jarrett named football offensive coordinator

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