May 16, 2025 By Jonathan Guth 5 min read

It has been a historic year for Robert Morris athletics.

The Colonials’ softball team has added to that history in qualifying for the NCAA Division I tournament for the first time in 20 years after winning the Horizon League tournament on May 10 in Cleveland, Ohio.

Robert Morris freshman Mary Brant hit a two-run, walk-off home run in the Colonials’ 4-2 victory over Purdue Fort Wayne to earn the program its first Horizon League tournament championship.

With the win, the Colonials improved to 30-16 this season, and received an automatic bid to the national tournament. Robert Morris’ last appearance in the NCAA tournament was in 2005.

Robert Morris lost to Florida State, 10-1 in five innings, on Friday at JoAnne Graf Field at Seminole Softball Complex in Tallahassee, Fla. The Colonials will play Auburn in an elimination game on Saturday at 3:30 p.m.

Uniontown graduate Sequoia Dunlap had a hit against Florida State. Teammate and Southmoreland graduate Jess Metheny doubled, tripled and scored for Robert Morris.

Dunlap hit the game-tying home run in the Colonials’ victory over Purdue Fort Wayne in the bottom of the seventh inning. The redshirt freshman’s blast over the left-field wall tied the game at 2-2.

Dunlap couldn’t imagine a better way to advance to the NCAA tournament, and the former Lady Red Raider feels she has found a second home in Moon Township.

“To win the Horizon League tournament like we did was definitely the best way possible for us,” Dunlap said. “It is kind of just believing in the process and trusting in all the work that has been put in this year. It is a good feeling knowing that all the work is paying off, and that I can trust these girls because we have been around each other so long.

“In regards to Robert Morris being like a second home for me, ultimately, the people make the place. I know that’s cliche, but it’s exactly what it is. I wouldn’t have gone on this run with any other girls, but even outside the girls on the team, I feel like this is a second home for me.”

Uniontown’s softball program doesn’t have the legacy of success that programs like Belle Vernon have experienced, but the team has started to come into form. The Lady Red Raiders have qualified for the playoffs the last three years, and battled against Indiana in the first round of the WPIAL Class 4A playoffs before falling short at 3-2.

Dunlap is the first Uniontown softball player to sign with a Division I program, but it appears the list will start to grow in the near future.

“It is a great feeling to know that I am leaving my mark on Uniontown,” Dunlap said. “There are other girls coming up that should help the team out. It is nice to see, and for them, to know it doesn’t matter where you come from, you can get that opportunity to play at the next level.”

Robert Morris was the underdog against the Seminoles, and will be for the rest of the NCAA tournament, but Dunlap believes she and her teammates can surprise some teams.

“Anything can happen in a softball game,” Dunlap said. “Don’t count us out. Our school has had a really good year, athletics wise.”

Dunlap is just one of a large contingent of WPIAL players that not only make up part of the Colonials’ roster, but contribute, as Mount Pleasant graduate Courtney Poulich was named the MVP of the Horizon League tournament.

Poulich hit three home runs in the tournament, which moved her season total to 15.

Poulich couldn’t remember the last time she won an MVP award, but wasn’t worried about the individual accolade.

“It was definitely super special, but I didn’t care as long as we won the tournament,” Poulich said. “Every single person on our team deserved that MVP award. If it wasn’t for my teammates, we wouldn’t have won the tournament. I think I won a few tournament MVPs in travel ball, but this had a little bit more meaning.”

Poulich, like Dunlap, enjoys playing with former WPIAL standouts, but the team embraces everyone, regardless of where they are from.

“It does help having all those girls from the WPIAL,” Poulich said. “We know many players from travel ball. I played travel ball with Anna Resnik, who is from Elizabeth Forward, and Alaina Koutsogiana, who is from Peters Township. I played with Anna when I was nine-years-old, and I played with Alaina when I was 13 or 14.

“It is great to play with all the girls from the WPIAL, but we love everyone on the team, regardless of where they are from. We have a girl, Kai (Kailani Tatro) who is from the state of California, and we educate her on pierogies and teach her Pittsburghese. We have some fun with it.”

Regardless of how Robert Morris fares in the NCAA tournament, a trip to Florida and to be featured on the national stage is important for Poulich, her teammates and the staff of the softball program.

“We are going in there with a lot of confidence, and we know that we are the underdogs, but I think our men’s basketball team proved that Robert Morris can hang in there with those traditional powerhouses,” Poulich said. “It is definitely nice going to Florida, and not just because of the beautiful area because we are going with the intention of winning, but the atmosphere and the crowd will be great. We hope to pull off a big upset and be the Cinderella story there.”