No. 6 Radford Edges No. 3 Campbell, Avoids Elimination
The Radford softball lives to fight another day after pulling out a 1-0 victory against No. 3 Campbell in an elimination game shortly after falling to No. 2 USC Upstate, 5-0, to begin Thursday's Big South Championship action at Amanda Littlejohn Stadium.
Jessie Marvin got the nod in the elimination game against Campbell and made the most of the opportunity. She picked up her fourth shutout and 13
thwin of the year. The sophomore only struck out one but only surrendered two hits through seven innings.
Sydney Fisher began the game with a hit, and it moved her into a tie for third on the single-season hit list at Radford. She later took sole possession of third with her second hit of the game and 82
nd of the season.
Fisher's first inning hit didn't amount to anything and neither team crossed the plate until the seventh inning. The Highlanders were close in the sixth as
Hannah Morris started a two-out rally with a clutch two-out pinch hit. Fisher followed that up with a hit of her own but an infield pop out kept the game scoreless.
Douglas reached on a throwing error by the Campbell shortstop to lead off the seventh inning. She moved to second on the error and
Maggie Rowe advanced her to third with a sacrifice bunt.
Destiny Freeman had a big opportunity with the go-ahead run on third and one out.
The Big South Second-Team selection came through with an RBI after she reached on a fielder's choice. The hard-hit ball was hit right to Hannah McCravy, the Camel second baseman, and Douglas took off towards home. The throw came in late as Douglas slid in safely and gave Radford the lead.
The Camels didn't go down without a fight and had the game-tying run in scoring position with two outs. It didn't matter as Marvin made a pitch that Morgan Rios lined towards left field Senior left fielder
Hannah Medlam made the play and extended the season.
With the seven scoreless innings against Campbell on Thursday, Marvin has now thrown 14 innings of shutout softball in the Big South Championship. The sophomore has only allowed five hits through the pair of games. The Camels were held to two hits, which is the least amount of hits an opponent has had all season.
Radford will face No. 4 Winthrop in another elimination game on Friday at noon. The Highlanders won the series against the Eagles back in early April.