GLASSBORO, NJ -- #2 Rowan celebrated Senior Day with a pair of NJAC wins over Rutgers-Camden on Tuesday, taking game one, 9-1, and the second, 9-2.
The Profs (37-1, 15-1 NJAC) have secured a first-round bye in the upcoming NJAC Tournament and can clinch the top playoff seed and regular season title with a win in its final doubleheader of the season this Saturday at Montclair State.
At the conclusion of the second game, the team and coaching staff took time to honor the team's six seniors and families;
Breanna Bryant,
Maeve Lougheed,
Rylee Lutz,
Liz McCaffery,
McKenzie Melvin, and
Makayla Veneziale.
Game one
McCaffery, Melvin,
Payton MacNair,
Abigail Pawlowski, and
Kate Evick all had two hits apiece while Pawlowski drove in three runs as the Profs walked it off in the sixth via the run rule. Melvin also walked and scored three times
Lutz gave up just one run on seven hits with a pair of strikeouts and a walk to go to 16-0 this season.
Leading 1-0 in the second, Pawlowski made it 3-0 with her two-out, two-run single.
Lutz worked out of a spot in the fourth with runners on the corners and one out, getting a pair of fly outs to send it to the bottom half. The Profs tacked on a run in each of the fourth and fifth innings before the Scarlet Raptors got on the board in the sixth with a two-out RBI single.
Rowan crossed four in the bottom of the sixth highlighted by Melvin's single with the bases loaded to go up 9-1 and kick in the run rule.
Game two
Both Payton and
Zara MacNair were 2-for-3 with two runs scored as the Profs scored three runs in the second to take the lead for good in nailing down the sweep.
After
Aly Reim's RBI single in the first made it 1-0, Rutgers-Camden's Emily Dubiago doubled in two runs in the following inning to give the visitors its first lead.
Rowan scored three runs in the bottom of the second, all with two outs, capped by a big two-run double from Pawlowski to put the home team back on top, 4-2.
McCaffery's sac fly and later an RBI double from Melvin in the third added to the lead.
Now with the bags full in the fifth, Bryant's single to left got away from the left fielder, allowing all three runs to score for a 9-2 edge.
BethAnne Doderer picked up the win in relief of starter
Emily McCutcheon (3 IP, 3K, 5 H, 2 ER, 0 BB), going three scoreless innings of one-hit softball. Veneziale finished it off with a 1-2-3 seventh.
Rowan will close out the regular season on Saturday at Montclair State. The NJAC Tournament gets underway with first-round action starting on Tuesday, April 29th, and continues through May 10th.
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