Belhaven beats Mount Union, advances in DIII NCAA championship finals

May 30, 2026

By Billy Watkins

Belhaven’s Melissa Lopera and Liberty Gillihan homered and ace Macy Funderburk pitched a complete game in a 3-2 victory over Mount Union in an elimination matchup Friday evening at the Division III championship finals in Salem, Va.

It will be a quick turnaround for the Blazers, now 43-11. They play Rowan at 12:30 p.m. (central time) Saturday.

Lopera, who has been one of the best shortstops in Division III this season, smashed a two-run homer in the fourth inning.

In the top of the seventh, Gillihan broke a 2-2 tie with a solo homer to right field.

Funderburk rebounded from a tough start Thursday to grab her 21st win of the season while throwing 87 pitches. She allowed six hits and no walks. She struck out four.

About The Author

Billy Watkins

Billy Watkins worked as a sports writer, features writer and columnist for more than three decades at the Clarion Ledger in Jackson where he earned more than 50 national and regional awards. Prior to that, Watkins was a sports writer and sports editor for seven years at The Meridian Star. He was three times selected by his peers Mississippi’s Sportswriter of the Year. A lifelong Mississippian who grew up in Noxubee County, Watkins has written three books. His 2005 work, Apollo Moon Missions: The Unsung Heroes, was named by the BBC one of the Top 10 books ever written on Apollo. He earned a journalism degree from the University of Mississippi in 1975. In 2018, he received the prestigious Richard Wright Award for Literary Excellence.