BLOOMINGTON, IL -- #4 Rowan was knocked out of the 2025 NCAA Division III Softball Championship Tournament as the Profs were edged out by #24 Randolph-Macon, 1-0, on Saturday in an elimination game.
PRESS CONFERENCE | BRACKET | CHAMPIONSHIP HOMEPAGE | DIVISION III SOFTBALL
It was a pitcher's duel between
Rylee Lutz and the Yellow Jackets' Gracie Ellis. Lutz yielded five hits with the lone one run while Ellis frustrated the Prof bats with seven strikeouts and allowed two hits, all coming after the sixth inning.
The teams were no strangers to meeting in the NCAA Tournament. The Profs and Yellow Jackets met in the 2023 Super Regional with Rowan winning the series in three games to advance to the championship series.
Lutz and the Prof defense kept things scoreless for six innings, getting a nice 4-6-3 double play to end the first and a
key diving grab from Holly Markus on a sacrifice bunt attempt in the fifth.
Randolph-Macon broke through in the seventh with two outs as a single from Amanda Lanyon to center field scored Tori Powell, who singled to lead off the frame.
MacNair led off the seventh with a double to the gap in left. Pinch runner
Mikayla Dansky came on and was sacrificed to third but Ellis induced a foul out and a strikeout for the final out.
Rowan accomplished many program records in 2025, including most wins in a season, best win percentage (.924), longest win streak (which was the longest in all of NCAA Softball), and longest win streak to start a season (31 games). The Profs captured both the NCAA Regional and Super Regional both at home to punch its ticket back to the Championship Series for the third year in a row. Head Coach
Kim Wilson won her 1,000 career game back on March 18th in a win over Wisconsin-Stout. Other team records include: most doubles (102), most shutouts (23), best fielding percentage (.983), most double plays (55), and double plays per game (1.03).
Individually, MacNair leaves the program as the all-time leader in games played (231), at-bats (764), hits (283), and doubles (71). Lutz owns the top pitching marks in games (126), games started (102), wins (79), best season win percentage (22-2/.916), and shutouts (34).
Liz McCaffery is the all-time leader in walks (104) while teammate
Emily McCutcheon owns the best career win percentage (54-6/.900) and saves (7).
The Profs end the 2025 season with a final record of 49-4 for the most wins in school history.
