ASHLAND, Va. --- Just a few hours after a late-inning loss in game two of the super regionals on Saturday, Randolph-Macon College showed the fortitude of a champion with the Yellow Jackets righting themselves to post a 9-6 victory over Adrian College in the winner-take-all third contest to advance to the NCAA Division III Baseball Championship finals.
Classic Park in Eastlake, Ohio will be the venue for the Yellow Jackets next appearance as Randolph-Macon (32-14) plays for the walnut & bronze as one of the final eight teams in the country. Joining RMC in Northeast Ohio is fellow ODAC member University of Lynchburg, which eliminated the University of La Verne earlier on Saturday.
This will be the first time the ODAC sees two teams enter the Division's final framework. Lynchburg has eyes on a second straight title as the defending 2023 champion, while Randolph-Macon goes in search of its first trophy in its second trip to the final round.
Recap - Super Regional Game 2
Randolph-Macon scored two runs in the top of the ninth inning to take a 4-3 lead, but Adrian (33-15) got a pair of its own in the bottom of the frame to walk away with a 5-4 win.
RMC's ninth-inning runs came via a two-run single by
Carter Schmitt as the Yellow Jackets DH plated both pinch hitter
Jack Bowles and shortstop
Grayson Bush.
The Bulldogs got some help in scoring their two runs as a bases-loaded fly ball went off the right fielder's glove. That allowed two runners to score for a 5-4 AC win.
Third baseman
Zach Wernoski had two hits for Randolph-Macon, including an RBI double in the fourth inning to open the game's scoring. Right fielder
Eli Brooks also had a run-scoring double in the seventh inning.
Recap - Super Regional Game 3
Randolph-Macon's bats came out swinging early with six runs in the first two innings including five in the second. The Yellow Jackets also posted a three-spot in the seventh inning, which proved all important to hold off a late rally by Adrian. The Bulldogs scored three times in the ninth, but after allowing two inherited runners to score,
Connor McAuley got three straight outs to seal RMC's victory, 9-6, and a trip to the final round.
First baseman
Myles Webb plated the game's first run with a double in the first inning.
The five-run second inning included a pair of two-run knocks. Wernoski drove in a pair with a single to right, while catcher
Chaz Harvey followed suit to drive in one more. Bush brought home the final two YJ's of the inning with a single back up the middle.
Adrian got to RMC's pitchers for one run each in the second, fourth, and fifth frames, all via RBI singles to cut Randolph-Macon's lead to 6-3 after five.
Wernoski and Harvey continued their hot hitting with an RBI apiece in the seventh inning to put RMC ahead, 9-3.