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JUNE 3, 2025 | composed by STEVE ULRICH

What administrators, coaches, parents and fans are reading. #whyD3
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☀️  Championship Wednesday

🗓️ What’s Happening Today. The baseball and softball seasons come to a close (weather permitting) today.

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TOP STORY
1. Trine Downs Virginia Wesleyan to Move Within One Win of National Title

Macy Rocha had a pair of hits, scored three runs and drove in a pair to power Trine past Virginia Wesleyan, 8-1, to move one win away from its second NCAA DIII softball title in three seasons.

April Sellers blasted a three-run home run to support the five-hit pitching of Alexis Michon who struck out three for her 25th victory of the season.

Morgan Tucker got the Marlins (49-5-1) on the board right out of the gate with a sacrifice fly that plated Sarah Prosse. A two-RBI single from Kennedy Huckeby in the bottom of the second gave Trine (45-5) a 2-1 lead it would not relinquish. Rocha homered in the fourth and Sellers put the capper on the day with a round-tripper in the sixth.

Catch all the action of game 2 and, if necessary, a deciding game 3 on NCAA.com or the NCAA Championships Pass on most streaming devices with first pitch scheduled for noon ET.

» Complete Recap, Box Score

BASEBALL
2. Whitewater Rolls Past Messiah; Needs One Victory For Championship

UW-Whitewater scored 11 runs in the final two innings to register an 18-3 victory over Messiah in the opening game of the NCAA DIII baseball championship.

The Warhawks (48-6) need one more win in the best-of-3 series to secure their third national title and first since 2014. The Falcons (39-15) must take two straight from UWW to win its first national crown.

Eli Frank went 4-for-6 with a home run and four RBI to lead the victors, while Adam Cootway added three hits, including a long ball, with three runs driven in. Dominik also had a home run with four RBI. Starting pitcher Ben Lee went seven innings, allowing two runs for the mound win.

Catch all the action on NCAA.com or the NCAA Championships Pass on most streaming devices with first pitch scheduled for 11 a.m. ET.

CONFERENCES
3. Luther College Leaves A-R-C for Midwest Conference

“The Midwest Conference (MWC) announced on Tuesday, June 3 that Luther College will join the league beginning with the 2026-27 academic year.

The addition of Luther solidifies the MWC’s regional footprint, increasing membership to 10 schools - three in Iowa (Cornell, Grinnell, Luther), four in Illinois (Illinois College, Knox, Lake Forest and Monmouth College) and three in Wisconsin (Beloit, Lawrence and Ripon).

“While other leagues in our region are primarily state identified, we truly are the DIII athletic conference of the Midwest,” says Executive Director Heather Benning. “When the league was formed 104 years ago, the intent was to establish an interstate athletic union of like-minded institutions; what binds our schools isn’t necessarily geographic proximity but rather a shared vision of the role of athletics in the undergraduate experience.”

» Situational Awareness. “An important factor in the decision to join the MWC was Luther College’s membership in the academic consortium of like-minded liberal arts colleges, the Associated Colleges of the Midwest (ACM). Luther sponsors all 18 league sports, in addition to six others - including men’s and women’s golf.”

» What They’re Saying. On the decision to move from the American Rivers Conference to the Midwest Conference, Luther College President Brad Chamberlain said: “Luther College is a proud Iowa college with a regional presence and a national reputation. At Luther, athletics is about community, character, and competition. Athletics at Luther is part of our holistic approach to learning that develops mind, body, and spirit. In the Midwest Conference, Luther finds partner institutions that share our philosophy towards athletics and that match the geographical diversity of our student body.”

» Membership. The core members of the MWC are Beloit, Cornell College, Grinnell, Illinois, Knox, Lake Forest, Lawrence, Monmouth and Ripon. St. Norbert (men’s and women’s swimming and diving), Chicago (football) and Milwaukee School of Engineering (men’s and women’s swimming and diving) are affiliate members.

» Complete Release

TENNIS
4. Zhou Headlines Academic All-America Women’s Tennis Team

A standout on the court and in the classroom, Pomona-Pitzer Colleges’ Angie Zhou was named the Academic All-America® Team Member of the Year as the 2024-25 Academic All-American women’s tennis team selected by College Sports Communicators, was announced Tuesday.

Zhou was a three-time SCIAC Player of the Year and claims her second Team Member of the Year award. She earned All-America honors for the third time, finishing the regular season with 16 victories and a No. 4 national ranking.

A senior from Ann Arbor, Mich., Zhou compiled a 3.91 GPA majoring in computer science. Five of the 18 honorees boast perfect 4.0 GPAs and the six members of the first team have an average GPA of 3.94.

First Team

Ella Brissett, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, Sr., 3.95, Biology
Emily Kantrovitz, Emory, Jr., 3.97, Sociology
Marissa Markey, Pomona-Pitzer, Sr., 3.99, Psychology
Lily McCloskey, Case Western Reserve, Sr., 4.00, Biomedical Engineering
Sahana Raman, Middlebury, Sr., 3.91, Political Science
Angie Zhou, Pomona-Pitzer, Sr., 3.91, Computer Science

» Complete Team

NEWS YOU CAN USE
5. Lightning Round ⚡️ 

» Track and Field. UW-La Crosse’s Sam Blaskowski and Lauren Jarrett, along with UW-Eau Claire’s Yakob Ekoue and MIT’s Alexis Boykin were selected as the USTFCCCA DIII National Athletes of the Year.

TRANSACTIONS
6. Comings and Goings 

BREVARD - Cassidy Hutto named assistant women’s lacrosse coach
BUENA VISTA - Michael Elliott named assistant wrestling coach
HAMPDEN-SYDNEY - Jared Deaton named cross country/distance track and field coach
HENDRIX - Cesar Terlea resigned as head cross country/track and field coach
LaGRANGE - Baley Coleman named assistant baseball coach
LYON - Casey Fowler resigned as head women’s basketball coach
MIDDLEBURY - Ali Paquette will transition to assistant director of athletics role
MILLSAPS - Griffin Levine named assistant men’s basketball coach
ST. NORBERT - Tyler Molloy named director of gameday operations and equipment manager
TCNJ - Bobby Jones named football offensive coordinator
WILLIAM SMITH - Emme Levenson named head tennis coach

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