Trailing 3-1 after one inning, Gettysburg exploded to score eight runs over its final five at-bats. That means for the first time in program history, the Bullets will enter an NCAA regional final as the 2-0 team. The Bullets will also do so as a 40-win team for the first time after defeating MIT 9-4 in the semifinal of the 2025 NCAA Div. III softball championship regional at Gettysburg.
Anika Pelekis led the Bullets’ offense with three hits and three RBIs. She was one of three Gettysburg players with multiple hits.
Gettysburg jumped on the board in the top of the first inning. Jamie Shaw beat out a one-out infield single before Elliana Hopple poked a single through the left side. A two-out Renee Laczkowski single through the left side scored Shaw from second for a 1-0 lead. Layla Theissen opened the bottom of the inning with a single up the middle before Mikayla Cable beat out a bunt. Ava Ladd followed with a single back up the middle to tie the game before a one-out Arianna Kumar single scored both runners for a 3-1 advantage.
In the top of the third, Hopple reached on a short single to start a two-out rally. Morgan DeFreitas added an infield single before Laczkowski walked to load the bases. A two-run Pelekis single to right tied the game at 3-all. Lauren O’Leary and Elie Lardiere drew walks to force in the go-ahead run.
In the fourth, Audrey Bergan led off the inning with an infield single before an error put two on. After a sacrifice, DeFreitas walked to load the bases. A Laczkowski RBI groundout made it 5-3 before Pelekis singled home Shaw for a 6-3 advantage.
MIT got one of those runs back in the bottom of the inning. Kennedy Adkison singled with one out before a two-out Maggie Feng single made it 6-4.
A Pelekis walk and walks to O’Leary and Lardiere loaded the bases to start the seventh. After a pitching change, a groundout scored Pelekis to make it 7-4 before Bergan doubled home O’Leary, and a Shaw squeeze bunt set the final margin.
Maggie Feng led the MIT with a 2-for-3 day.
The weather in the area forced the suspension of play late in the afternoon on Saturday. The first elimination game between Ramapo and John Jay was halted in the middle of the sixth inning and will resume at 12 p.m. on Saturday. The winner of that game will face MIT 40 minutes following the conclusion of that contest in a second elimination game, with the winner advancing to the regional final at approximately 3:30 p.m., with the need to win twice. Game Seven, if necessary, will be played on Sunday at 11 a.m.
Gettysburg is just the second team in Centennial Conference history to record 40 wins in a season.
Gettysburg will await its opponent after the completion of Games 4 and 5 in the regional. The Bullets need just one more victory for their first regional title. Game time for the Bullets will be approximately 3:30 p.m. on Saturday.
This story first appeared on the Gettysburg College website.