MARSHALL, TX -- #20 Rowan pounded out 14 hits with Liz McCaffery going 4-for-5 with two doubles, a triple and three RBI's as the Profs took down #5 Trine, 11-4, Thursday night in its NCAA Championship Tournament opener.

The Profs move on to face #21 Coe tomorrow evening at 7:30 PM (ET) / 6:30 (local). The seventh-seeded Kohawks were 3-0 winners over second-seed Linfield. Other first-day action included eighth-seeded Moravian taking down top-seeded Salisbury, 3-1, and fifth-seeded Berry posting a 3-0 shutout of fourth-seeded Christopher Newport.

CHAMPIONSHIP CENTRAL | NCAA SOFTBALL | POST GAME INTERVIEW

FULL REPLAY OF GAME (via NCAA)

Sixth-seeded Rowan would build a 7-0 lead into the fifth and starter Rylee Lutz would hold the Thunder without a hit until the bottom half of the frame.

McCaffery's triple came in the third as her three-bagger plated two of the four runs in the inning. Payton MacNair drove in pinch-runner Gabbie Fonollosa to get the Profs on the board on the evening. Two batters later, McCaffery smoked one to left center where she legged out a triple to score MacNair and Grace Shukaitis. It became 4-0 when Cat Thomas grounded to short but not before McCaffery scored.

In the fourth, Shukaitis doubled in Abigail Pawlowski and would later come around to score on Breanna Bryant's single to left.

Pawlowski took advantage of an error in center on a two-out single in the fifth. Now at second, Devyn DiPasquale singled in Pawlowski with an unearned run to make it 7-0.

Trine would score two runs on three hits and an error in the bottom half of the fifth. Freshman Emily McCutcheon came on in relief of Lutz and worked out of a bases loaded spot thanks to a great catch by Pawlowski in left with two down.


 

@RowanAthletics Softball's Abigail Pawlowski ...what a play in #WhyD3 World Series @GoETBUTigers Bell Park at Taylor Field ... PHENOMENAL CATCH ... check out the slow mo!!! #NCAASoftball in @Marshall_Texas #SCTop10 @NCAADIII @NCAASoftball @SportsCenter @espn @ESPNAssignDesk pic.twitter.com/lVcl5zhdOR

— Adam Ledyard (@adam_ledyard) June 2, 2023

Rowan added to the lead in the sixth as McCaffery struck again with an RBI double. Later in the inning, Melvin knocked in two runs with a double to right and came around to score on Pawlowski's infield hit.

After the Thunder crossed two runs in the sixth, McCutcheon spun a 1-2-3 seventh to sow up the win.

For the game, MacNair, Bryant, and Pawlowki each collected two hits as the team totaled five extra-base hits on the day. Lutz (4.1 IP, 2 ER) had three strikeouts along with two walks. McCutcheon went the other 2.2 innings, yielding two runs on three hits with no walks.