Game One l Game Two

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Radford dropped a pair of contests at Virginia by the scores of 5-2 and 4-2, Wednesday evening from the Park.

Virginia (29-18) jumped on Radford (29-12) for four runs in the first inning and Melanie Mitchell struck out 10 as the Cavaliers took game one, 5-2. The game was delayed prior to the top of the fifth for one hour and 41 minutes due severe weather in the area.

The game one defeat snapped a season-long 13-game winning streak for the Highlanders. The sweep marked the first back-to-back losses since an early season four-game losing streak (Feb. 27-March 5).

The first four Cavalier batters recorded hits in the first, capped off by a Sarah Tacke's two-run home run.

Abby Snyder added another run in the second with a leadoff home run to left.

Nichole Beall and Kristen Shifflett hit solo home runs in the sixth and seventh innings, respectively, but those came too late as the Highlanders fell in game one. Beall's was her team-leading 13th.

It was Shifflett's ninth of the season and 30th of her career putting the junior one behind career leaders Melissa Pickel (1995-97, '99) and Hope Creasy.

The Highlanders had their opportunities against Mitchell, but they left eight runners on base including the bases loaded in the sixth.

Beall and Shifflett each recorded two hits for the Highlanders. Chelsea Kelley suffered the complete game loss. She allowed eight hits and struck out three.

Behind a two-run sixth, Virginia rallied past Radford 4-2 in game two.

In the sixth, a RBI triple by Giannina Cipolloni broke the 2-2 deadlock and it was followed by Clara Kendal's run-scoring single.

Radford put runners on second and third in the top of the seventh, but a foul out to rightfield ended the threat.

With that, Radford left seven runners on base in game two and 15 for the doubleheader.

Kellie Snooks allowed four run on eight hits in the loss for the Highlanders. She struck out three and did not walk a batter.

Sarah Himan started things for Radford with a two-out home run in the first. The senior laced an opposite field shot for her career-high eighth of the season.

The Wahoos tied it in the bottom of the third in a one-out wild pitch.

The Highlanders retook the lead in the fourth on a RBI single by Meredith Moore. She knocked in Shannon Keefe, who led off with a single left and moved to second on a passed ball.

A two-out RBI single by Alex Skinkis in the fifth knotted the game at 2-2.
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Moore went 2-for-3 with a RBI for the Highlanders.

Radford will close out Big South Conference play this weekend at Winthrop. The teams will play two on Saturday, April 24 with game one at 11 am. The series will wrap up on Sunday with a national televised contest at 2 p.m. on ESPNU.