COLUMBUS, Ga. – St. John Fisher and No. 22 University of Redlands are heading into the final day of the 2025 Division III Leadoff Classic with undefeated marks. Each program improved to 4-0 at the tournament with two wins on Saturday at the South Commons Complex.
A host of teams – No. 1 East Texas Baptist, No. 2 Linfield, No. 7 Case Western Reserve, No. 25 Huntingdon, Gettysburg and University of Wisconsin Eau Claire - are sitting at 3-1 following Saturday’s action.
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After jumping out to an 8-0 first-inning lead against Spalding, St. John Fisher held off a late-inning rally for an 11-7 victory. Game two was vastly different for the Cardinals, as Molly Kuhn twirled a five-hit shutout in a 1-0 victory over DePauw. Redlands recorded 23 runs and 23 hits, three of which left the yard, two off the bat of Katlyn Gandara, in its two wins. The Bulldogs opened with an 11-3 win over Saint Benedict and then slugged out a 12-9 triumph against No. 5 Belhaven.
Matching St. John Fisher and Redlands with two wins on Saturday were LaGrange, Pfeiffer, UWEC, Pacific Lutheran and ETBU.
LaGrange and No. 18 Pfeiffer rebounded from 0-2 starts to even out their tournament records at 2-2. The Panthers knocked off Gettysburg with two runs in the bottom of the eighth for a 7-6 win and followed up with a 10-1 thumping of Spalding.
The Falcons launched four home runs, including back-to-back dingers in the bottom of the seventh, to walk-off Belhaven, 6-5. Trailing 5-3, Gracie Griffin hit a two-run shot to tie the game and Charly Cooper won it with a solo blast to left. Pfeiffer carried the momentum into its 11-3 win over Wartburg, which was highlighted by a seven-run second.
UWEC started its day with a 9-8 walk-off win over University of Chicago. Trailing 8-5 entering the bottom of the seventh, a two-run homer by Kenna Strunsee cut the deficit to one run. With two outs, Brooklyn Swanepoel stroked a two-run, walk-off single to win it for the Blugolds. They then went on to defeat Denison 5-2.
PLU cranked out 20 hits, three that left the yard, in a 16-6 defeat of LeTourneau and then scored eight unanswered runs, which included two in the top of the seventh to edge Piedmont, 8-6. Meanwhile, top-ranked East Texas Baptist trumped Tufts, 12-4 in five innings, and topped Huntington, 8-3.
After Gettysburg dropped that contest to LaGrange, Paige Forry twirled a perfect game in a 8-0 (five innings) win over Stevens.
There were numerous nationally-ranked matchups, including three 2-1 ballgames. No. 7 Case Western Reserve and No. 10 Trine were both on both ends of that score. After being no-hit by No. 25 Huntington’s Addison Gaines in eight innings, they rebounded for a win over the seventh-ranked Spartans. Just hours earlier, CWRU nipped No. 2 Linfield.
Linfield bounced back with a 10-2 five-inning win against No. 6 Tufts.
Along with the previously-mentioned teams, Alma, College of Saint Benedict, DePauw, Denison and LeTourneau also split their contests on Saturday, and are 2-2 after two days.
The tournament concludes tomorrow, March 2, with 24 games, six of which start at 9:00 a.m.
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