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4⃣ D3Playbook’s 4 Things. Redlands Dethrones Trine As DIII Softball Champion. Mareedu Headlines Academic All-America Men’s Tennis Team. Denison Downs Endicott To Move Within Game of National Title. Saint Francis Unveils New Identity.

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Redlands rallied with three runs in the sixth and the game-winner in the seventh to defeat defending national champion Trine, 7-6, and capture the DIII softball championship in Salem, Va.

The Bulldogs (48-6) trailed 6-3 entering the top of the sixth after an Emma Lee 2-run blast gave the Thunder (41-8) a three-run lead. An RBI single from Natalie Lopez closed the deficit to 6-4 and Natalie Lowthers tied the game with a two-run single moments later.

Avery Provenzano delivered the championship-winning hit, plating Maya Holshoe, and Brianna Garcia shut the door with a 1-2-3 seventh.

Redlands captured its first-ever softball national title and became the first SCIAC team since Chapman in 1995 to win the title.

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Claremont-Mudd-Scripps’ Advik Mareedu highlights the 2025-26 Academic All-America men’s tennis team selected by the College Sports Communicators and was selected as the Academic All-America® Team Member of the Year for Division III.

A senior with a 3.87 GPA as a computer science and mathematics major, Mareedu repeated as Academic All-America® Team Member of the Year while being named to the first team for the third consecutive year.

He won the NCAA Division III singles title for the second consecutive year, capping a season in which he set program records for singles wins (43) and combined singles and doubles victories (75). Mareedu posted a combined 84-3 singles record over the past two seasons with only two losses to NCAA Division III opponents and finished his career with a 144-15 mark.

The four-time 2025 Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Athlete of the Year, Mareedu was named the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) National Player of the Year and was named a regional winner of the ITA Arhtur Ashe Leadership & Sportsmanship Award.

The six members of the first team have an average GPA of 3.87.

First Team
Gage Gohl, Gustavus Adolphus, Sr., 3.97, Communication Studies & Sport Management
Ethan Green, Denison, Sr., 3.88, Financial Economics
Advik Mareedu, Claremont-M-S, Sr., 3.87, Computer Science & Mathematics
Michael Melnikov, Swarthmore, Sr., 3.83, Mathematics & Computer Science
Kael Shah, Denison, Sr., 3.87, Global Commerce
Julian Wu, Middlebury, Sr., 3.80, Economics

» Complete Team

Cooper Marrs improved to 7-0, tossing seven innings of four-hit shutout baseball to lift Denison to a 6-0 triumph over Endicott in game one of the best 2-of-3 DIII baseball championship series in Eastlake, Ohio.

The Big Red (50-2) jumped on Gull starter Jeremy Krendal for three runs in the first for all the runs it would need. Eron Vega, Jack Lutte, and Erik Sundgren each had two hits for Denison who needs just one win to capture its first-ever DIII baseball crown.

Game two of the championship series is set for 11 AM today with an “if necessary” game to follow. Endicott (43-13) needs two wins to bring the title back to Beverly, Mass.

“Saint Francis’ athletic teams are about to make the transition from Division I to Division III competition and will do so with a new identity as the Red Wolves replace the Red Flash as the school’s nickname.

The university announced Wednesday a new mascot and logo during a campus-wide event with alumni, students, faculty, staff, donors and fans.

Saint Francis will begin Division III competition in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference next fall for the 2026-27 school year.”

» What They’re Saying. “Today is not about leaving behind the proud tradition that generations built here,” director of athletics Jim Brazill said in a statement. “It’s about honoring that legacy while building momentum for the future.”

» Tennis. “Babson College senior Matia Cristiani was selected as the Division III Honda Athlete of the Year finalist for women's tennis. The most decorated player in Babson women's tennis history, Cristiani is a three-time NCAA champion and eight-time Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) All-America selection.”

» In Memoriam. Our condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of former Emory & Henry football coach Curt Newsome. Newsome spent 10 seasons as Emory & Henry’s head coach, compiling a 53-42 record and posting six winning seasons. He was named Old Dominion Athletic Conference Coach of the Year in 2014 after guiding the Wasps to an 8-2 record. He also led the program to the ODAC championship game during the spring 2021 season.

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