Glassboro, NJ: The #2 Ramapo College softball team defeated #3 Kean University, 4-3 to advance to the NJAC Championship Game for the second straight season. The Roadrunners fell in a tough matchup in the championship game with #1 Rowan, 1-0.
The Roadrunners, who are ranked #3 in the most recent NCAA Region IV poll, move to 31-10 overall and will wait to see if they earn an NCAA at-large bid during the selection show on Monday morning.
Game One:
Kassy Stefanski (14-4) struck out eight and did not walk a batter in six innings of work while she let up three runs (one earned). Ramapo got on the board with one run in the first and third innings while they tacked on two in the fifth.
Katie Rygiel led off the top of the first with a double to the right-center field gap before moving to third on a fly ball out to right field.
Mahogany Wheeler then laced a single down the right field line to plate Rygiel with the team's first run.
Stefanski got out of a jam in the bottom of the first after three straight singles loaded the bases with no outs for the Cougars. Stefanski then struck out the next three hitters to end the threat. In the bottom of the second, Kean put two runners on with one out before Ramapo got out of the inning with a foul out to first base and an infield pop-up to second. In the top of the third,
Lia Milsom beat out a bunt single and advanced to second on a single to right field off the bat from
Avery Kontura. Milsom advanced to third on the throw and was able to race home when the relay throw sailed high, 2-0. Rygiel and Kontura singled to lead off the fifth before
Avery Bartolomeo put down a key sac bunt to move the runners up. Wheeler then singled home Rygiel before
Alexis Corra lifted a sac fly to right field to plate Kontura, 4-0. The Cougars got back two in the bottom of the fifth when Maya Thompson recorded a two-run home run; they scored their third run in the bottom of the seventh with two outs. Karly Messina laced a single up the middle to plate Eliza Filus who doubled earlier in the inning.
Brooke Knight recorded her seventh save of the season when she recorded the final out for the Roadrunners. Kontura and Wheeler finished 3-4 while Wheeler recorded two RBI for the Roadrunners and Rygiel finished 2-4 with two runs scored.
In the NJAC Championship game, Rowan (34-7) got on the board with one run in the bottom of the fourth. Liz McCaffery led off with a single before Payton MacNair laced a double off the left field wall to give Rowan a 1-0 lead. Ramapo's
Ysabellah Otero worked a walk to lead off the fifth before moving to second on a sac bunt. The Cougar defense put two outs on the board and they intentionally walked Rygiel to put runners on first and second before inducing an infield pop out to end the Roadrunner threat.
In the top of the seventh, the Profs saw Emily McCutcheon enter the circle in relief for starting pitcher Riley Lutz. With two outs, McCutcheon hit
Kori Gargiulo to put the tying run on base before they got the final out on a groundout close play at first base to earn the 1-0 victory. Lutz held the Roadrunners to just two hits in the game while she struck out one and walked three. McCutcheon earned her first save of the season while recording one strikeout.
The Profs earned the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The full NCAA bracket including seedings and locations for the regional round will be announced on Monday on NCAA.com.
