BLOOMINGTON, Ill. --- Randolph-Macon College achieved 40 wins for the third time in program history on Friday afternoon, extending its season by at least one game following a 6-3 triumph over Saint Mary's (Minn.) University in an elimination game of the NCAA Division III Softball Championship at Inspiration Field on the campus of Illinois Wesleyan University.
The Yellow Jackets victory also marked the program's first win at this stage of the Division III softball framework. Randolph-Macon (40-13) has at least one more game to play on Saturday at 12:00 p.m. ET. RMC will face either Rowan University or Trine University, which square off in Friday's third game.
Saint Mary's closes its season at 44-7.
The Cardinals were the first to get on the board in the first inning. Starting pitcher Makayla Steffes reached on a fielder's choice sacrifice bunt situation, bringing in second baseman Megan McGinnis.
The Yellow Jackets doubled-up SMU in the bottom of the frame with a little help from the Cardinals' pitching and defense. Centerfielder
Amanda Lanyon and designated player
Naomi Sadler led off with singles and were sacrificed ahead one base each by catcher
Kayla Davis. Two batters later, Lanyon scampered home on a passed ball, and Sadler soon followed on a wild pitch to give RMC a 2-1 lead.
Saint Mary's timed the game in the second inning. SMU registered three singles with knocks from left fielder Naleya Bork and designated player Heather Nordlund preceding a run-scoring hit by centerfielder Alexandra Gerber.
The long ball helped Randolph-Macon double-up Saint Mary's for the second straight inning. Lanyon singled to right-center with one down, but was erased on a fielder's choice by Sadler. The runner did not matter, however, with Davis parking her fourth homer of the season over the left-center field fence for a 4-2 lead.
Right-hander
Gracie Ellis, the Yellow Jackets' First Team All-American and three-time ODAC Pitcher of the Year, went to work through the middle and latter innings. From the final out of the second inning to one down in the seventh, Ellis allowed just one baserunner via a fourth-inning single.
Randolph-Macon backed up their star pitcher with one more run each in the fifth and sixth innings. Third baseman
Charlotte Boswell deposited a 2-0 pitch over the wall in left-center for her first homer of the year in the fifth. Lanyon registered her third hit of the day in the sixth, singling through the left side to bring in Ellis.
Saint Mary's scored one final run in the seventh inning. Right fielder Allison Ciero and Nordlund singled with one out. Reliever Kenzie Gatz singled to center to bring around Ciero for the game's final run.
Ellis went the distance for Randolph-Macon, improving to 27-5. She gave up three runs on eight hits with no free passes and seven strikeouts. She has now struck out a career-best 267 batters in a career-high 210.1 innings. She is up to 934 career punchouts, which puts her second all-time in ODAC history.
Steffes took the loss for Saint Mary's, falling to 21-6 after giving up four runs on four hits with three walks and two strikeouts in 2.0 innings. Gatz worked the final four frames, surrendering two runs on five hits with a walk and two K's.