ASHLAND, VA -- And then there were eight. Eight teams remain in the 2023 Division III Softball Tournament and one of them is #20 Rowan who punched its ticket to the Championship Finals with a 5-3 win over #9 Randolph-Macon in the final game of the Ashland Super Regional on Saturday.

The Profs move on to the NCAA Softball Championship Finals for the first time since 2018 season and seventh time in program history.

Payton MacNair was named the most valuable player with teammate Rylee Lutz selected as the most valuable pitcher of the Super Regional.

Liz McCaffery was 3-for-4 with a run and RBI while McKenzie Melvin added a two-run double to go along with two hits as the Profs built a 5-0 lead and had to hold off a last-inning surge from the home Yellow Jackets.

Starter Emily McCutcheon threw six scoreless innings before Randolph-Macon answered with three runs in the bottom of the seventh. Lutz came on in relief as the defense turned a line-out double play with a runner on and one down to claim its trip to Marshall, Texas.

Melvin singled to lead off the second and would score on Abigail Pawlowski's double for a 1-0 advantage. McCaffery added to the lead with her RBI single to plate Pawlowski to make it 2-0.

The Profs struck again in the fourth, this time scoring three times all with two outs. After a two-out single from Breanna Bryant and double from McCaffery, Cat Thomas walked to load the bases for Korie Hague, who also drew a base on balls to force home a run for a 3-0 score. Melvin then smoked a two-run double to the left field fence, scoring two more runs to increase the lead to 5-0.

McCutcheon worked out a spot with two runners on in the fifth and the defense turned a double play in the sixth on a liner to Bryant at third and throw back to Devyn DiPasquale at first for the double play.
 

The Yellow Jackets tried to answer in its final at-bat, plating three runs on an RBI single from Naomi Sadler and a two-run home run from Rilee Baughan. After Lutz gave up a single to her first batter, the Bryant-to-DiPasquale combo struck again for a double play to wrap up the Super Regional for the Profs.

Selections and schedules for the NCAA Championship Finals will be announced on Sunday. Be sure to check out the Rowan University Athletic website and our social media channels for the latest information.