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Softball

Marlins Lose for First Time in 2026 in NCAA Final Round Opener

VWU Drops 1-Run Outing to Rowan, Meets Linfield in Elimination Game Next

SALEM, Va. --- For the first time in nearly a calendar year, Virginia Wesleyan University softball finished a game on the wrong side of the scoreboard with a 3-2 loss to Rowan University in the opening game of the final round of competition in the Division III Softball Championship at the James I. Moyer Sports Complex in Salem on Thursday.

The Marlins (50-1) drop down to the losers' bracket where they must now win four games to reach their second straight championship series. The Profs (43-9) continue in the winners' bracket with a date against the University of Redlands on tap for Friday morning. VWU squares off with Linfield University (42-7) in the day's second contest.

Virginia Wesleyan's ODAC record-setting offense (491 runs entering the game) could not get untracked against RU lefty Emily McCutcheon. The Profs' senior went the distance on the way to improving to 22-5. She gave up two runs on four hits with a walk and two strikeouts in a full seven frames.

Marlins' righty Hannah Hearl -- named the NFCA Division III Pitcher of the Year on Wednesday -- gave up one run on four hits with two walks and four strikeouts over four innings. Her record stood at 26-1 following the outing. Fellow First Team All-American lefty Emma Adams worked the final three frames, giving up two runs (one earned) on three hits with two punchouts.

Rowan got on the scoreboard first with an RBI single by catcher Kate Evick in the first inning. 

The scoreboard remained unmoved before Rowan tacked on two more runs in the fifth. Left fielder Abigail Pawlowski plated shortstop Zoey Rogers with a single back up the middle. Then third baseman Emma Dobkin drove in pinch runner Lauren Foltz with a single down the left field line for a 3-0 RU advantage.

The Marlins made things interesting with two runs in the seventh. After right fielder Morgan Tucker left off with a single and moved to third on a double to center by designated player Taylor McQueen, first baseman Alison Pollack brought in Tucker with a sacrifice fly to center. Catcher Olivia Knight drove in McQueen with a single to right center. With just one out in the inning, McCutcheon righted the ship for RU and got a pair of pop-ups to close the game.