(ASHLAND, Va.) – The season will continue for No. 16 Randolph-Macon as it captured the regional championship with a victory over MIT on Sunday afternoon. It's the second regional championship for the Yellow Jackets who also won a regional title in 2019.

The Jackets now await the winner of Eastern Connecticut State and Kean to see who they will play in the super regional. That game will be played on Monday.

It did take some waiting for the Lemon and Black as they weren't sure if they would play today or not. Three games were played in total on the day with MIT winning an elimination game against Susquehanna to force a rematch with Randolph-Macon. Susquehanna won the first elimination game of the day as the River Hawks defeated Farmingdale State in the first game of the day.

The Basics

Score: No. 16 Randolph-Macon 3, MIT 1

Venue: R-MC Softball Field

Records: No. 16 Randolph-Macon 34-9, MIT 32-18

How It Happened

• It was a pitchers' duel as both teams were scoreless until the fifth inning. Each team only mustered three hits through the first four frames as Gracie Ellis (Fr., New Kent, Va. / New Kent) and MIT's Becca O'Connor went toe to toe.
• Randolph-Macon eventually broke through in the bottom of the fifth. A couple of extra base hits plated the first run as Amanda Lanyon (Fr., Midlothian, Va. / Midlothian) doubled followed by one from Naomi Sadler (Fr., Emporia, Va. / Brunswick) to bring her home.
• After a Rilee Baughan (Jr., Warsaw, Va. / Rappahannock) single moved Sadler to third, Sadler scored on a wild pitch to make it 2-0 in favor of the Jackets. Baughan advanced to third on the play and scored on a Kayla Davis (Fr., Powhatan, Va. / Powhatan) sacrifice fly to center.
• Randolph-Macon wasn't out of the woods quite yet, however, as MIT made one last attempt to keep its season alive. The Engineers rallied to score one run as Kennedy Adkison doubled down the left field line to score Jordan Sell with two outs, but Ellis forced Mackenzie Bivin to pop up to Lanyon two batters later to end the game and seal the championship.

Inside The Numbers

• Ellis recorded the win to improve to 22-5 on the season. She allowed the one run on nine hits and struck out three on the day. O'Connor took the loss and ended the year 11-5.
• Ellis recorded the win in all three tournament games for the Yellow Jackets. She finished with an ERA of 1.00 and 17 total strikeouts. For her efforts, Ellis was named Most Outstanding Player for the regional tournament.
• R-MC sweeps the season series with MIT with wins in all three contests against the Engineers.
• Lanyon finished 2-for-3 on the day and went 4-for-7 in two games against MIT. She doubled twice and scored three runs during that span.
• The Yellow Jackets have now won a regional championship in their last two full seasons of play.

All-Tournament Team
Brooke Walker – Farmingdale State
Ashley Warner – Susquehanna
Kennedy Adkison – MIT
Anya Chase – MIT
Jordan Sell – MIT
Amanda Lanyon – Randolph-Macon
Naomi Sadler – Randolph-Macon
Rilee Baughan – Randolph-Macon
Kayla Davis – Randolph-Macon
Gracie Ellis (Most Outstanding Player) – Randolph-Macon

Up Next

The Super Regional will take place on Friday and Saturday. The location will be determined Monday following the game between Eastern Connecticut State and Kean. Information will be provided on RMCathletics.com when available.