MARSHALL, TX --
Mikayla Dansky raced home from third on a stolen base and ensuing throwing error to help lift #16 Rowan to a 2-1 walk-off win in eight innings over St. Thomas (TX) in the NCAA Tournament Regional opener Thursday at host East Texas Baptist.
The Profs will now take on the host #6 ETBU on Friday at 12:00 p.m. ET/11:00 a.m. CT with a berth to the regional final on Saturday. The Tigers defeated Denison, 8-0, in five innings in Thursday's first contest. St. Thomas will take on the Big Red in an elimination game with the winner facing the Rowan/ETBU loser in another elimination game on Saturday. Live video (
LINK) and live stats (
LINK) are available.Â
NCAA REGIONAL HOMEPAGE | NCAA INTERACTIVE BRACKETÂ | PHOTO GALLERY | PRESS CONFERENCE
Starter
Emily McCutcheon went all eight innings, allowing just the one run on five hits with five strikeouts a walk to raise her record to 17-5 on the season.
The Profs improve to 5-2 in extra-inning games this season as well.
Rowan struck first, getting a run in the bottom of the first. With
Zoey Rogers at second and two down,
Kate Evick's grounder down the line at third hit the bag and popped over the head of third baseman Olivia Sanchez, allowing Rogers to score to make it 1-0.
In the second, the Prof defense thwarted an extra base attempt on Samantha Crumrin's ball off the wall in center. However, Dansky was able to get the throw into second to nail Crumrin trying to stretch the single into a double.
McCutcheon allowed just one hit over the next four innings before running into trouble in the seventh. Crumrin made up for her baserunning mistake in the second with a one-out RBI single to knot things up at 1-1.
In the eighth, McCutcheon worked out of a threat with two UST runners on, but got a huge strikeout to send things to the bottom half.
Dansky reached via a lead-off walk and moved to second on Rogers' groundout. In her attempted steal of third, the throw got away from Sanchez into left field where Rowan was able to pull off the walk-off victory.
The Profs and Tigers have met before, as the two teams dueled in the 2024 Championship Tournament here in Marshall.
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