Rowan softball has once again swept a doubleheader, this time against the Stockton Ospreys on Wednesday, April 9. The team has now moved to 30-0 on the season, continuing their historic start. This time, they did it by a score of 1-0 in Game 1 and 3-0 in Game 2.

The top of the lineup once again got things going for Rowan in the bottom half of the third inning. Liz McCaffery led off the inning with a double. This brought up McKenzie Melvin, who laid down a bunt to the right side of the infield that was fielded by the first baseman for the Ospreys’ first baseman, Alexa Panagopoylos, who overthrew the ball, allowing McCaffery to score from second base.

The aforementioned double was McCaffery’s 200th career hit. She is now just two hits away from being tied for tenth all-time in Rowan softball history.

“That is at least 50 hits a year over her four-year career, and we’re only around halfway through this year,” head coach Kim Wilson said. “It shows her consistency. She may not be a home run hitter, but she constantly is hitting doubles, triples, and singles.”

That was the only bit of offense the Profs had in Game 1. The only hits in the game were from the McCaffery and singles hit by Melvin and Abigail Pawlowski in the fifth.

The Profs’ struggles can be attributed to the pitcher for the Ospreys, Nerina Tramp. Last year, Tramp held Rowan scoreless for six innings but gave up a walk-off in the bottom of the seventh. The only difference this year is that she gave up that one run in the third inning instead of the seventh.

“She kept us off balance,” Wilson said. “The defense made good plays behind her, but overall she is a good pitcher. Luckily, we were on the winning side the last two times, and we gotta make more things happen going forward.”

The Profs did not need to score that much with how starting pitcher Rylee Lutz was throwing the ball in Game 1. The only hit that Lutz gave up was in the top of the first inning. Including her two walks, Lutz only allowed three base runners in the game. Lutz also finished with six strikeouts on the day. She is now down to a 0.79 earned run average, which is tied for tenth in all of Division III softball.

Game 2 featured the Profs getting the scoring going in the second inning. This time around, it was the bottom half of the lineup getting things done. It began with a Bre Bryant single into left field. Aly Reim then reached on a fielder’s choice and made it to third when Kate Evick hit a double. The next batter was Holly Markus, who sent a ball just in between the second baseman and first baseman to drive in the first run of the game.

“I felt the first game I had pretty good at-bats,” Markus said. “I took her deep into the count in the first game when I struck out. Coming into the second game, they told me the first pitch is there, so I’m an aggressive hitter. I attacked early and hit it to the right side.”

Cami Morgan and McCaffery were unable to score Evick from third to end the inning.

Rowan had a few more opportunities to score throughout the game, even having the bases loaded in one particular spot, but they were unable to execute.

In the bottom of the sixth, the Profs added on two insurance runs. Markus led off the inning with a single and was pinch-run for by Mikayla Dansky. Back-to-back singles from Zara MacNair and McCaffery brought up Melvin, who hit a sacrifice to score Dansky from third. Payton MacNair then came up to the plate and doubled down the left line to bring in one more run for Rowan.

In Game 2, Emily McCutcheon followed up Lutz’s phenomenal performance in Game 1 with a gem of her own. McCutcheon, similar to Lutz, pitched a complete game seven-inning shutout. She gave up four hits while striking out four.

“I was just jamming them inside,” McCutcheon said. “Then later in the counts I was off-speed, without an outside pitch to make their eyes go in a different way.”

Stellar defense played a big part in keeping the Ospreys off the board. Perhaps the highlight of the game was when Payton MacNair made a leaping grab to take away a hit in the fifth.

“I know she has good range, but she is not as fast as other people on the team,” McCutcheon said. “So it was really cool to see her reach and grab that.”

With the way the pitching and defense has been playing, it sometimes feels almost impossible for opposing teams to come back against the Profs.

“When we score one and then put on another one or two,” Markus said. “With how great our defense has been, we have confidence in our pitchers to get it done.”

The Profs will be in action once again this Saturday, April 12, which is also the team’s senior day.

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