Pitcher Emily McCutcheon anchors Rowan softball’s Division III championship chase

During her college graduation ceremony two weeks ago, Emily McCutcheon was a bit preoccupied.

Wearing her cap and gown, the senior pitcher on Rowan’s softball team was glued to her phone. She was watching the NCAA Division III softball tournament regional selection show, waiting to see where her team would be traveling.

Then, after walking across the stage, she went home — with a diploma in her hand — to pack for Texas.

“[The seniors] watched it apart from the team, but we all pretty much had the same reaction,” McCutcheon said.

McCutcheon, who was named to the National Fastpitch Coaches Association all-region IV first team, dominated in the regionals hosted by East Texas Baptist.

She pitched complete games for the New Jersey Athletic Conference champion Profs against St. Thomas (Texas) and East Texas Baptist, respectively. In the tournament’s clinching game, against East Texas Baptist, McCutcheon, an Audubon High School graduate from Mount Ephraim, threw a six-hit shutout and was named the tournament’s most valuable player.

As Rowan played host to the super regionals, the newly minted college graduate was able to return to campus. In the regionals closeout game against Colby, McCutcheon played hero again.

Entering the game in the fourth inning, she allowed just one hit while striking out four batters. She was named the super regional’s most valuable pitcher as her teammates celebrated the Profs’ fourth consecutive Division III Championship Series appearance, which marks a first in program history.

» READ MORE: Rowan baseball and softball punch their tickets to the Division III championship

Now, McCutcheon is looking to cap off her stellar postseason run with the program’s first national championship. The first round of the championship starts Thursday, with No. 8 Rowan (42-9) facing top-seeded Virginia Wesleyan in Salem, Va. (11 a.m.).

McCutcheon looks to make the moment feel smaller than it is — for her teammates and herself.

“We had talked about when we got to regionals in Texas, just controlling what you can control,” said McCutcheon. “I’m a pitcher. I can’t control the hitters and how many runs we score in a game. Just kind of like dialing in on something you can control and just fighting for something bigger than yourself.

“We have been in these situations before, throughout our season, and [we are] just trying to not make it bigger than the game itself. Each game is just a game, and we’re just playing another team.”

One area that helped maintain a sense of normalcy in the locker room last week was the chance to return to Glassboro. Of course, they had the added stress of playing in elimination games, but the Profs’ home-field advantage during the super regionals should not be understated, McCutcheon said.

“We definitely did a lot of team bonding, like we went and got ice cream and just tried to stay together as a team since school’s over now,” she added. “Being able to host super regionals helped us continue to stay together — even if we just watched a movie at someone’s house.”

In last season’s championship, the Profs won in their opening matchup against Texas Lutheran before falling to Trine and Randolph-Macon in the double-elimination style tournament.

Although the team made it to the championship round last season, McCutcheon is one of the few Profs with experience on that stage. Just four players who played in the Profs’ most recent game against Colby saw game action in last season’s elimination loss to Randolph-Macon.

» READ MORE: Rowan softball, baseball to host NCAA super regionals in the same season for the first time

“Basically, everybody in our infield was brand-new,” coach Kim Wilson, a six-time super regional champion, told The Inquirer last week. “We have one junior that came out of the outfield. She was an outfielder for two years; now she’s playing second base. So all of those kids have just continued to work hard, and their growth has been unbelievable.”

Added McCutcheon: “This was our biggest incoming freshman class since I have been here, so just like taking it all in and allowing them to learn from us, giving them all we have. We wouldn’t be at the World Series right now if we didn’t do that and weren’t so trusting and confident within one another.”

McCutcheon’s stellar pitching will only take the team so far. The team’s bats will need to warm up.

Through the Profs’ seven regional and super regional matchups, the team has scored just 2.1 runs per game. In comparison, Virginia Wesleyan are streaking offensively, averaging 9.6 runs in their five postseason outings.

Two Rowan batters to look out for are sophomore Ava Fisher and senior Kate Evick. Fisher, a Blackwood native who transferred from East Carolina after her freshman year, is leading Rowan in hits (57) and RBIs (42). To close out the super regional series against Colby, she hit her team-leading ninth home run of the season to take a 2-0 lead. Meanwhile, Evick is batting .372 with 51 hits and 32 RBIs.