Virginia Wesleyan, ranked fifth in the latest NFCA Div. III coaches’ poll, jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the top of the first inning before ultimately ending the season of No. 16 Gettysburg 10-1 in five innings in the second game of the 2025 NCAA Div. III softball championship super regionals Friday afternoon in Virginia Beach. Wesleyan now moves on to the championship round.
With one out in the top of the first inning, Julia Piotrowski tripled to the gap before scoring on a Laci Campbell single for a 1-0 lead. Virginia Wesleyan added two more singles in a row to make it 3-0 before a two-out Olivia Knight double capped a four-run first inning.
With two outs in the bottom of the inning, Gettysburg’s Elliana Hopple was hit by a pitch, and Morgan DeFreitas walked before Anika Pelekis singled back up the middle to make it 4-1.
A Samantha Deitsch walk led off the top of the fourth before Knight doubled her home. Two more singles loaded the bases with one out before a Piotrowski sacrifice fly and another walk reloaded the bases at 6-1. An infield single and bases-loaded walk pushed the lead to 8-1 before Deitsch came up again in the frame and doubled for two more runs and the final margin.
Pelekis led the Bullets with a 1-for-2 and drove in the lone run of the game. Morgan Tucker led the Marlins with two hits, two runs scored, and two RBIs.
Gettysburg finished the season with a program-record 41 wins and advanced to a superregional for the first time in softball team history.
This article first appeared on the Gettysburg College website.