No. 6 Radford Upsets No. 3 Campbell, 11-0
It was a complete team effort in the opening game of the Big South Championships as the Radford softball team blanked No. 3 Campbell 11-0 in five innings at Amanda Littlejohn Stadium on Wednesday.
Radford tallied eight runs through the first two innings, but the first run of the game was all
Jessie Marvin needed. Marvin, who made her team-leading 27
th start in the circle, pitched her third shutout of the season.
The Highlanders had some momentum in the first inning as
Sydney Fisher reached on an infield single. She was then safe on a fielder's choice play at second and moved to third when
Talia Douglas was hit by a pitch.
Maggie Rowe had the bases loaded with no outs and put a ball in play towards the right side of the field. Fisher scored on the play and gave Radford an early lead.
Destiny Freeman plated
Hannah Medlam and Douglas with a single to right center field before the inning came to a close. The first inning was just a preview of the damage Radford would do in the second inning.
Back-to-back two out singles by Fisher and Medlam, along with a walk by Douglas loaded the bases for M. Rowe for the second time in the contest. She came through this time around and delivered a two-run single that put the Highlanders on top 5-0. The senior picked up her team-leading 12
th and 13
thtwo-out RBIs of the season.
Hunter Mundy and
Sofia Tapia extended the Highlander lead to 8-0 before the inning came to a close.
Marvin allowed her second hit of the game but continued her strong work with her first two strikeouts of the game in the third inning. The Radford offense continued their hot streak in the third but left the bases full. However, the Highlanders made up for it in the fourth.
Ellie Rowe, Medlam and Douglas had three of the four hits in the fourth inning and gave Radford a few insurance runs with an 11-0 lead. After the fourth inning all nine hitters for Radford had at least one hit and all but two had an RBI or more.
Marvin retired six of the final seven batters of the game and tallied her 16
th complete game of the season. She struck out three and only allowed one walk with three hits.
Despite stranding nine runners on base, the Highlanders hit .538 (7-for-13) with runners in scoring position and had a .630 batting average on runner advancement opportunities. The Highlanders also went 3-for-5 with the bases loaded.
Fisher had three of the team's 12 hits in a 3-for-4 performance and moved into sole possession of fourth place on the single-season hits list at Radford. It was her 25
th multi-hit game of the season. Medlam added two hits as well with a pair of runs scored. E. Rowe had the only extra-base hit for Radford with a one-run double in the fourth inning. M. Rowe tallied led all players with three RBIs.
Radford will face No. 2 USC Upstate on Thursday in the winner's bracket at 2:30 p.m.