University of Redlands plays for NCAA Division III title Tuesday

For the third time at the NCAA Division III Softball World Series, University of Redlands turned the game around with a five-run inning.

Sunday’s explosion sparked the Bulldogs to a 6-3 win over Simpson College of Indianola, Iowa, and a first-time berth in the championship series that starts Tuesday.

The Bulldogs will face defending Division III champion Trine University of Angola, Indiana, at 8 a.m. PDT on Tuesday. The game will be streamed live on the Redlands athletics website: goredlands.com. Trine defeated Belhaven (Mississippi) 5-2 in the other semifinal game in Salem, Va.

The victory raised Redlands' record to an all-time high at 46-6. Trine enters the best-of-three title series with a 41-6 record as the No. 2 seed. The Bulldogs are the No. 5 seed.

Paige Ellinger pitched four innings in the circle to get the win, improving her 2026 record to 6-3, giving up four hits, two runs with four walks and a strikeout in a 76-pitch effort. Caitlynn Griffith relieved her in the fifth and gave up a solo home run to Simpson’s Kate Shaner among the three hits off her in a 36-pitch inning.

Leading 5-3 in the bottom of the fifth, Redlands added an insurance run on a run-scoring sacrifice fly by Natalie Lowthers (Wrightwood/Serrano High) for a 6-3 advantage.

Senior Katelyn Gandara pitched the final two innings for Redlands, facing the minimum six batters and retiring them in order on just 11 pitches to earn her second save of the season.

The pivotal second inning for Redlands began with Lowthers singling to center and Jenay Scott’s sacrifice bunt moving her to second. Mya Holshoe (Redlands High School) reached on a fielder’s choice to shortstop. Adyson Kim singled to left with Lowthers taking third and Holshoe second to load the bases.

Avery Provenzano then doubled to right-center, allowing Lowthers and Holshoe to score to make it 2-0. After Natalie Lopez popped out for the second out, Kim scored on a wild pitch by Simpson pitcher Emma LaFave as Provenzano took third. Brooklyn Bard then singled to center, scoring Provenzano. Bard then stole second and Leila Gomez (Aquinas High School/San Bernardino) followed with an RBI single to center as Bard scored.

Marina Cronin relieved LaFave in the circle for Simpson. After Gomez stole second, Cronin struck out Gandara to end the inning.

Bard, Gomez and Provenzano each had two hits in the game. Gomez’s 2-for-2 effort increased her strong showing in the tournament to nine hits in 11 at-bats through three games. Bard had two steals to give her 45 for the season in 54 attempts. Gomez has 33 steals in 34 attempts. The team has 128 steals on the season.

The Bulldogs will take on a Trine Thunder team that swept Virginia Wesleyan in two straight games in their best-of-three series for the 2025 Division III title. The two teams have played only once before — in the opening game of the 2025 Division III Softball World Series. Trine shut out the Bulldogs 8-0 in a five-inning mercy-rule game en route to the championship.

Redlands beat Texas Lutheran in an elimination game before bowing out of the tournament with a 9-1 loss to Linfield University of McMinnville, Ore.