MARSHALL, TX -- #13 Rowan took down #16 Wisconsin-OshKosh, 7-2, in an elimination game in the 2024 Division III Softball Championship Tournament Saturday afternoon at Taylor Field on the campus of East Texas Baptist University. The Profs will now take on the host ETBU Tigers tomorrow at 1:30 p.m. CT/2:30 p.m. ET needing two wins against the hosts to advance to the championship finals that begin on Tuesday, June 4th.

Saturday's other elimination game saw #10 Belhaven defeat #17 Tufts, 3-0. The Blazers move on to play #1 Linfield in Sunday's other contest, also needing a pair of wins to play in the championship finals. All games (including any if necessary games) will take place on Sunday.
 
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McKenzie Melvin went 3-for-4 with two runs scored and Cat Thomas blasted a three-run home run in the sixth to help keep the Profs alive in the national championship tournament.

Emily McCutcheon (21-2) yielded one run on six hits in seven innings of work as Rowan jumped ahead early and held off the Titans to survive and advance.

Rowan struck first, scoring a pair of runs in its first at-bat. With Liz McCaffery at third and McKenzie Melvin at second, McCaffery stole home on a pitch that bounced off the catcher in front the plate to put the Profs on the board. Melvin then scored on an RBI groundout from Payton MacNair to make it 2-0.

The Titan's Morgan Rau knocked in Haylie Wittman in the second to cut the RU lead in half.



McCutcheon wiggled out of a spot in the fourth with two on and one out, getting a line out to McCaffery and a grounder to herself to keep it a one-run contest.

Back-to-back singles from Abigail Pawlowski and Breanna Bryant to open the bottom half of the fourth, put two on the basepaths and after a sacrifice from Morgan Tripodi, moved the two in scoring position. Zara MacNair's single to center plated Pawlowski for a 3-1 edge. McCaffery then sent one to the wall in left where OshKosh's Brianna Davis made a leaping grab to rob a potential homer, but not before Bryant tagged from third for an RBI sac fly and now a three-run cushion.

Davis opened the fifth with a solo shot to left off of Rylee Lutz, who entered the circle for McCutcheon to make it 4-2.

In the top of the sixth with a runner on first and one out, McCaffery snared a sharp liner at her feet and was able to throw back to Thomas at first for the double play.

Rowan rode that momentum into the bottom half where Thomas smoked her third homer of the season with two on and two outs to pad the lead to 7-2.

The Titans gave it one last push in the seventh, getting two on with two down, but Pawlowski ended things with a nice reaching stab down the line in left for the final out of the game.

Sophie Wery and Morgan Rau each had three hits for OshKosh. Brianna Bougie (2.0 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, K) suffered the loss for the Titans.