Rowan softball returned to its home field on Saturday, April 20. After a road stretch in which the team went 2-2 against No. 18 nationally-ranked Ramapo and The College of New Jersey (TCNJ), Rowan was able to pick up a doubleheader sweep over Rutgers-Newark, picking up 8-0 and 12-1 victories.
The Profs scored the first run of the day, as McKenzie Melvin ripped a double that eventually led to a Liz McCaffery RBI for the first run of the ballgame.
In the circle, it was more of the same for Rylee Lutz as she once again had a dominant outing. The junior finished the game pitching five innings, striking out seven, and only allowing four hits.
“Depending on the batter, I thought everything was working for her,” head coach Kim Wilson said. “She did a nice job of keeping them off-balance with the changeup. She knew when to throw it for strikes and when not to. She also did a great job with her screwball and kept them off-balance.”
Rowan’s offense was able to consistently score one run per inning but was missing the blow-up inning until the fourth. With two outs, Cat Thomas got things going with a single into left field and scored in the very next at-bat, as Payton MacNair blasted a triple that was nearly a home run. After Kaitlyn Riggs reached base, she came around to score on another triple by Abigail Pawlowski, her third of the year, and a throwing error allowed her to score, bringing Rowan’s lead to 7-0.
One inning later, the Profs were one run away from run-ruling the Scarlet Raiders. Breanna Bryant and Zara MacNair were able to get on base, which brought up McCaffery, who ended the game with a double to score Bryant.
“I knew I needed to hit the ball hard and somewhere in the gap,” McCaffery said. “I was trying to wait for my pitch.”
Going into Game 2, McCaffery was able to ride the momentum that she obtained from Game 1 to finish 2-2 at the plate with two runs scored.
“I was a little frustrated early on,” McCaffery said. “I felt like I was making okay contact early on, but that walk-off was a good segue going into Game 2.”
The Scarlet Raiders would actually be the ones to score first in Game 2 off Emily McCutcheon. Her teammates were able to pick her up on the other side of the inning, scoring five runs.
“I think coming back after the first inning and recognizing my team has my back,” McCutcheon said. “Throwing my pitches and my game and not letting past games get in my head.”
McCutcheon was shut down after that, finishing with five strikeouts, allowing four hits, and giving up just one run in the first inning.
“A lot of outside and off-speed pitches were working for me today,” McCutcheon said. “Really, everything was working for me today.”
The Profs were able to score 12 runs in total in Game 2, once again run-ruling Rutgers-Newark. It was an all-around team victory, with everyone on the roster getting some playing time.
“This is not travel ball where everybody gets to play,” Wilson said. “So when we can get kids an opportunity to play that work as hard as anyone else at practice every day and go to lift, to get them at bat, play in the field, or to have them hit is just awesome because they need the experience too.”
The Profs also might have had some extra motivation with alumna Nicole Kraus bringing her 10U team, the Marlton Thunder, to watch the Profs in action. Wilson was happy to see them there.
“It is awesome to have them come here. It is fun to have an alumna to have brought her travel team,” Wilson said. “Women’s sports are important, so it is really good for them to see what it is like to be on a college campus. This is their future.”
With these wins and Ramapo’s loss against Stockton, Rowan controls its own destiny down the stretch. If the Profs win out, they will have the No. 1 seed and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.
“We are coming off of two splits,” McCaffery said. “This week we focused on getting our team chemistry back and working to improve. I think today showed that what we have been doing at practice has been working. Hopefully, that segues into this upcoming and NJACs.”
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