ALFRED, NY – Alfred University and Rowan University will meet Sunday for the NCAA Division III softball championship regional championship on Sunday. The two teams met Saturday morning, with Alfred scoring a 1-0 victory, but Rowan bounced back with an elimination-game win in the afternoon, setting up a rematch with the Saxons.
 
In Saturday morning's winner's bracket contest between 12^th-ranked Rowan and 15^th- ranked Alfred, the Saxons took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first, when senior Alison Wickwire (Towanda, PA/Towanda) hit a two-out double to score junior second baseman Dana Torchia (Pompton Plains, NJ/Pequannock Twp.) from first.
 
The run was all the support Alfred freshman pitcher Kerri Keeler (Jamesville, NY/Jamesville-DeWitt) would need, as she shut the Profs out on two hits, striking out three to improve to 16-0 on the season. The win improved Alfred's record to 37-4, with the 37 wins tying the school single-season record set by the 2010 squad.
 
Rowan pitcher Beth Ann Hyland took the loss, allowing a run on six hits and striking out five over seven innings. Hyland kept the game close by stranding 10 AU baserunners, but fell to 18-5 on the year.
 
Junior outfielder Samantha Jauregui (Lindsay, CA/Lindsay), freshman third baseman Haley Powers (Newark, DE/St. Georges Tech) (double), Torchia, Wickwire (double), freshman outfielder Shannon Schaefer (Westfield, NJ/Westfield) and senior outfielder Alyson Hampton (Oxnard, CA/Oxnard) had hits for Alfred, which improved to 37-4 on the year. Jessica Phillips (double) and Alyssa Sims had Rowan's two hits.
 
After the AU-Rowan game, Lebanon Valley edged Penn State-Behrend, 2-1, in an elimination game of the loser's bracket. Lebanon Valley then met Rowan in another elimination game Saturday afternoon, with the Profs rallying for a 13-9 win to advance to Sunday's championship round.
 
 
Lebanon Valley 2, Penn State-Behrend 1
 
Lebanon Valley scored a run in the bottom of the sixth to break a scoreless tie before Behrend knotted things up with a run in the top of the seventh. Emily Johnson's RBI single plated Tessa Deardorff with the winning run with two outs in the bottom of the seventh, sending the Dutchmen to an elimination-game matchup with Rowan.
 
Haley Neff earned the pitching win for Lebanon Valley, allowing four hits and striking out three to move to 12-12 on the year. Rachel Miller took the loss for Behrend, allowing two earned runs on seven hits and striking out four to fall to 14-6.
 
Lebanon Valley took a 1-0 lead in the sixth when Sammy Bost singled, stole second and advanced to third on a sacrifice before scoring on a fielder's choice. Behrend answered in the top of the seventh. Alexa Bupp led off with a double and Leah Griffin reached on a fielder's choice with one out, putting runners on first and second. Miller singled to load the bases and Sarah Blagg singled to score Bupp from third. Griffin, trying to score from second, was thrown out at home.
 
Deardorff walked with one out in the Lebanon Valley seventh and moved to second on a Cheyanne Brown single. Bost lined out for the second out before Johnson singled to center to plate the walk-off run.
 
Behrend ended its season with a 25-16 mark, while Lebanon Valley advanced to face Rowan.
 
 
Rowan 13, Lebanon Valley 9
 
Rowan, the top seed in the four-team regional, found itself in a hole midway through their matchup with Lebanon Valley in the late elimination game.
 
After spotting the Dutchmen a two-run lead on Bost's two-run first-inning homerun, the Profs tied it with a pair of runs in the top of the third. Lebanon Valley answered in the third, scoring four runs on four hits to take a 6-2 lead.
 
That's the way the score stayed until the sixth, the Rowan exploded for five runs to take a 7-6 lead. The Profs loaded the bases with no outs and Morgan Smith tied the game with one swing of the bat, launching a grand slam over the right field fence to make it 6-6.  Rowan promptly loaded the bags again and scored the go-ahead run on a fielder's choice.
 
Rowan scored six runs on seven hits in the seventh to take a13-6 lead. Smith and Demariz Mercado had an RBI doubles to highlight the Profs' big inning.
 
Lebanon Valley plated three in the bottom of the seventh to close out the scoring and end their season at 18-24.
 
Smith was 2-for-4 with a double, homerun, run scored and five RBI to pace Rowan (38-7). Shilah Snead (2-for-4) scored two runs and drove in two, Sims had two RBI; Sammy Vradenburg scored twice; and Mia Baldassari had two hits and drove in a pair of runs.
 
Hyland earned with win with 4.2 innings of six-hit relief, allowing three earned runs and striking out one to improve to 19-5. Starter Allison Nolan (two innings) and reliever Ashley Lesch (one-third inning) each allowed three earned runs.
 
Bost was 3-for-3 with three runs scored and two RBI for Lebanon Valley. Johnson was 2-for-4 with two RBI; Jasmine Dutton drove in two and Brown was 2-for-4 with two runs scored.
 
Haley Christensen took the loss in relief of Neff, allowing seven runs on nine hits and striking out one in two innings. Neff went five innings and allowed six runs (four earned) on four hits over five innings.
 
Rowan plays Alfred at 10 a.m. Sunday. If Alfred wins, the Saxons will be regional champs. If Rowan wins, it will set up a winner-take-all regional title game at 12:30 p.m. The tournament winner advances to next weekend's Super Regional round, with eight winners of two-team best-of-three series will advance to the Division III College World Series May 21-26 in Salem, VA.