GLASSBORO, NJ — #4 Rowan is heading back to the NCAA Division III Championship Series for the third year in a row as the Profs won the Glassboro Super Regional on Friday taking the best-of-three series with two wins over #8 Salisbury, 15-1 in game one, and 6-2 in the second.
Eight other Super Regional winners will head to Bloomington, Illinois for the NCAA Softball Championships with action kicking off on Thursday, May 29th. Pairings and the championship schedule will be posted once it becomes available.
SUPER REGIONAL HOMEPAGE | INTERACTIVE BRACKET
Super Regional Most Outstanding Player McKenzie Melvin and Most Outstanding Pitcher Rylee Lutz helped key Rowan to its ninth appearance in the championship finals. Melvin went 5-for-8 with three runs, two RBIs, and a stolen base in the two games with Lutz earning the victory in game one to help set the stage for the Profs to capture game two.
Game one
Lutz (21-1) struck out seven, allowing just one run on five hits as the offense scored early and often in taking the first game in five innings.
Five players had multiple hits led by Breanna Bryant who went 3-for-3 with three RBIs and two runs scored. Bryant, Melvin, Aly Reim, and Payton MacNair all scored at least twice with MacNair tying a career high with four.
The Profs batted around in both the first and third innings, producing six runs in each frame.
Rowan came out firing in its first at-bat, putting together five hits and two walks to chase out Salisbury starter Sydney Adolfson. Bryant doubled in two runs as did Holly Markus with her two-run single to go up, 6-0.
The Sea Gulls crossed a run in the top of the second but the Profs answered in the bottom half as a pair of sacrifice flies from Bryant and Kate Evick helped tack on two more runs for an 8-1 lead.
Liz McCaffery’s two-run single capped another six spot in the third.
Game two
Rowan totaled seven hits but took advantage of seven walks, four errors, and a hit batsman to scratch out runs in the second, fourth, and sixth innings.
Melvin helped lead the charge, going 3-for-5 with two RBIs and a run scored. McCaffery and Evick added doubles while Reim walked three times, a career best.
Starter Emily McCutcheon (7.0 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 4 SO, 0 BB) settled in after yielding two runs in the first, allowing just one hit the rest of the way to help lock up the team’s trip back to the NCAA Championship Series.
The Sea Gulls went ahead 2-0 on a two-run single from Emily Stockman in the bottom of the first. Rowan, who was designated as the visiting team, countered with a three spot in the second, all on just one hit, three walks, a hit by pitch and an error. With the bases loaded, Zara MacNair reached off an error at third, allowing Reim to score. McCaffery followed with a walk to plate pinch runner Mikayla Dansky, then Melvin singling home Markus to put the Profs back on top, 3-2.
After 1-2-3 innings in the second and third, Melvin added some insurance as she knocked in Zara MacNair, who reached on an error again, for a two-run edge.
Two Salisbury errors in the sixth led to two unearned runs for a 6-2 advantage. McCutcheon (21-1) was perfect over the final two innings to wrap up the Super Regional.
