GLASSBORO, NJ -- #17 Rowan defeated TCNJ, 8-4, in the third game of the 2026 NJAC Championship Series on Sunday, earning its program's first three-peat and 14th conference title.
The Profs (36-8) capture the NJAC's automatic bid to the 2026 NCAA Division III Tournament where selections will be unveiled on Monday, May 11th at
www.ncaa.com.
Thanks to a huge seven-run first inning, Rowan got out to a sizable margin and were able to steer past the Lions to claim its fourth NJAC crown in the last five seasons. In that first inning, the Profs, who were designated as the visitors, took advantage of three errors and three walks by the Lions to score seven unearned runs.
TCNJ, however, did not go away quietly and used a four-run fourth to cut into the lead and knock out starter
Emily McCutcheon, who allowed only two hits up until that point.
BethAnne Doderer (19-3) entered for McCutcheon during the frame and allowed just four baserunners the rest of way to earn the win and more importantly nail down the NJAC title.
Back-to-back-to-back bases-loaded walks in the first followed by RBI's from
Maggie Funston,
Zara MacNair,
Mikayla Dansky, and
Zoey Rogers staked the Profs to a seven-run lead.
Four-straight singles to open the fourth helped put the Lions on the board. Two more RBI hits and a run-scoring groundout suddenly made it a three-run contest.
In the top of the sixth and with Rogers at first,
Ava Fisher's double put runners in scoring position. Next up was
Kate Evick who sent a ball deep in the hole at short but a misplay helped Rogers to race home to make it 8-4. Fisher made a big play in the bottom half of the frame, snagging a hard liner with one out to double up the TCNJ runner on first and turn things over to the seventh.
With two down and a runner on third in the bottom of the seventh, Doderer induced a fly out to
Abigail Pawlowski in left for the final out.
Fisher had two of the team's six hits while eight different Profs drove in a run. Doderer officially went 3.2 innings, allowing just the two hits and a walk.
Morgan Estelow was 3-for-4 with a run scored for the Lions (26-15).
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