By Jacob Keppen – Sport Writer for Sentinel of Gloucester County – Published Print Edition Week of 5/16/19
After an NJAC tournament run that saw Rowan finish third in the conference, Rowan received an at large bid for the Division 3 Softball NCAA Regional Tournament. Ranked the #2 Seed in the region, Rowan have played their way into the regional final.
Rowan started off the tournament with a big 3-2 win over Eastern Nazarene. Lauren Shannon earned the victory for the Profs. The Lions jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first with a Kori Bow RBI walk. Rowan would earn their run back in the fourth with a Sonia Sharma RBI single that drove in Cassandra Gerrard. Eastern Nazarene responded with another RBI walk in the fifth to take a 2-1 lead. They would hold the lead into the seventh and final inning, Rowan needed some late game heroics. An era lead to Shea Brenda scoring and trying the game up at two. Another error would score Kristina Mueller, giving Rowan the 3-2 victory.
In the other game, hosts MIT defeated Husson 1-0 in the tenth inning. Coincidentally Rowan would defeat MIT in their next game 1-0 in the tenth inning. In similar scenes to the last victory, the game ended with Kristina Mueller crossing home plate on a throwing error. Rowan would now wait to see who they would play in the final.
On the other side of the bracket, Eastern Nazarene defeated Husson 7-1 to send the Eagles home for the year. Elisabeth Schaffer earned the victory for the Lions. Dominique Santos was 2-4 for the Lions, driving in two runs. Schaffer drove in a run herself. With the victory Eastern Nazarene would play MIT with the winner going onto face Rowan in the Regional Championship, advancement to the super regional on the line. MIT defeated the Lions 5-4.
The game featured a wild seventh inning that saw two lead changes. Entering the seventh tied, Kiley Ozaki drove in her second run of the game to put Eastern Nazarene up 3-2. They would expand their lead to 4-2 with a Corey Bow RBI single. MIT would tie it back up in the bottom of the seventh with a Devon Goetz RBI double that drove in two. Michelle Wist drove in the winning run with an RBI single. Hosts MIT will now get their rematch with Rowan. After dropping their previous encounter in a heartbreaking tenth inning game, the Engineers will look for revenge on home ground.
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