No. 2 Rowan softball split their pair of New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) tournament games on Saturday, May 10, losing game 1 to Ramapo and defeating Kean in game 2 by final scores of 2-0 and 11-0, respectively. They are now 2-1 in tournament play after winning their first game against the Stockton Ospreys 2-0 on May 3. With their win over the Cougars in game two on Saturday, the Profs advanced to their third NJAC Championship game in four years.

“It’s just about focusing on one game at a time, one inning at a time, one pitch at a time,” Liz McCaffery said. “Next we have to focus on taking the [NJAC] title and whatever comes next.”

McCaffery had two of Rowan’s seven hits in game 1 as they were unable to attack Ramapo’s dynamic pitching duo. Kassy Stefanski would go the first two innings for the Roadrunners, followed by Marissa DiaPaolo who went the final five and held the Profs to five hits. The two combined for 24 of Ramapo’s 29 regular season wins and were able to hold Rowan to their first shutout loss of the season.

Ramapo, who faced Rowan’s top ace Rylee Lutz, scored their two total runs of the game in the third inning. Avery Kontura hit an RBI single and Ysabellah Otero would score a few at-bats later from second on a throwing error by Kate Evick for the second run. 

Lutz went three innings and struck out only one versus the Roadrunners, but gave up five walks as she picked up her first loss of the season. It’s also her first in almost a year. Her last recorded loss came on June 2, 2024, during Rowan’s NCAA Championship matchup with East Texas Baptist. Lutz went one inning and allowed three earned runs on five hits in that game.

BethAnne Doderer would come in as relief and retire nine batters in a row to give Rowan a chance to come back. The freshman pitcher allowed no hits with five strikeouts to close out the game. But, the Profs’ bats would go cold as they suffered just their second loss of their season and first in the NJAC tournament.

Head coach Kim Wilson applauded Doderer’s  ability to stay composed in the high pressure situation she found herself in late in the contest.

“I feel like she did a good job staying within the moment,” Wilson said. “It’s a tough situation to come in to and she dominated.”

The loss to Ramapo meant the Profs were forced to play a second game immediately after their first concluded. With their backs up against the wall headed into game 2, Rowan turned Emily McCutcheon to hold off Kean and punch their ticket back to the NJAC championship game. And she did just that, as she allowed just four hits and struck out three to shut out the Cougars.

The bats came alive for Rowan in this game, as they would get one run in the first and two in the fourth before adding insult to injury with eight extra runs in the fifth to tally their 11 total runs. The win advanced the Profs to the championship game with a chance to capture a repeat NJAC title for the first time since the 2001-02 seasons.

“I feel comfortable all the time knowing that they’re [my teammates] going to score runs will score those runs for me,” McCutcheon said. “I’m thankful we[Rowan] were able to put 11 up in that game which isn’t going to happen all the time but I know we’ll always score eventually. It’s about waiting and trusting them.”

The Profs will take on undefeated Ramapo in the championship game, meaning they will have to beat them twice in order to secure the NJAC crown. They lost to the Roadrunners 2-0 earlier in the week, and McCaffery is looking to make sure that mistake doesn’t happen again in their upcoming pair of championship games.

“The next challenge is taking home two [wins] tomorrow,” McCaffery said. “We just have to keep it simple and do what we know how to do. Take advantage of their mistakes and do what we know we can.”

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