Box Score | Photo Gallery | Day 2 Highlights

ATHENS, Ga. – Behind a gutsy pitching performance from Chelsea Kelley, big defensive plays and Sarah Himan's fifth-inning RBI single, Radford rallied past No. 24 Florida State 3-2 and its advancement to it first regional final in school history.

Radford (38-16) will face host and No. 9 Georgia (45-11) at noon tomorrow for the regional title. Should the Highlanders win game one, they would force an if necessary game at 2:30 p.m. It is the third time a Big South school has reached a regional final with Winthrop last doing so in 2007.

After struggling through the first five batters (four hits, two runs) of the game, Kelley (25-8) settled down and scattered just four hits over the final 6.2 innings for the biggest win in her career.

Himan's game-winning hit in the fifth capped off Radford's comeback. Following infield singles by Shifflett and Nichole Beall, Himan dumped her hit into shallow left as the Highlanders forged ahead, 3-2.

The triumph over the 24th-ranked Seminoles (44-18) is the highest ranked victory for the Highlanders, who defeated then-No. 25 Mississippi State in 2009.

A staple of the program all year, defense, once again, proved to be the key factor as Florida State threatened in the seventh. After two quick outs it looked like the game was over but Nichole Beall's throw to her sister Michelle at first was dropped and the Seminoles had a new life with their leadoff Carly Wynn at the plate.

Wynn laced a single into left center, which was cleanly picked by leftfielder Lauren Williams. Williams threw a bullet to third baseman Taylor Cunningham nailing a speedy Morgan Bullock on a bang-bang play to end the contest.

It was not the first big defensive play Cunningham was a part of. She stymied FSU's first-inning rally starting a 5-4-3 double play that ended a threat and held the Seminoles to just two runs.

As it did in the first meeting, Florida State scored early first inning runs to jump out to a 2-0 lead. The Seminole recorded four hits in the frame and scored on back-to-back RBI singles by Ashley Stager and Robin Ahrberg.

Solo long balls by Meredith Moore and Kristen Shifflett evened the game at 2-2 after three frames.

Moore's seventh of the season put the Highlanders on the board in the second. It was also the 73rd of the season, a new Big South team record previously held by Liberty's 2007 squad.

Shifflett tied the game at 2-2 in the third with a solo blast to left. It was the 15th of the season, second of the tournament and when she touched home plate, Shifflett became Radford's all-time leading scorer with her 149th run, breaking Suzie Rath's (1993-96) mark that has held up for 14 seasons.

Shifflett finished 3-for-3 with two runs scored. Wynn, Tiffani Brown and Ahrberg each recorded two hits for the Seminoles.

Terese Gober suffered the defeat in 3.2 innings of relief. She allowed a run on four hits with two strikeouts. Sarah Hamilton started and lasted 2.1 innings. She surrendered two runs on three hits with two strike outs and a walk.


Radford Head Coach Mickey Dean
Opening Statement…
"Reflecting back to the comments I made yesterday, I will say that we felt prepared coming into this game. Yesterday, we played with emotion. Today, we played with passion. Our girls had tremendous discipline at the plate. In the first game, we were able to attack Elon. In this game, we nibbled away at an early lead. Overall, we played very well."

On his team…
"This has been our goal from the beginning of the season. I knew we had the team to do it. We may not have the best player at every position, but we get the job done. After today, there are no doubts about that."

On the defense…
"We made some defensive adjustments early in the game. In the first game [against Florida State], there were too many balls that dropped in front of our defenders. In this game, we cut down on those numbers and it made a significant difference. I think this was the best defensive game from our outfield in a long time."

Radford catcher, #24 Sarah Himan
Opening Statement…
"Our team went 100 percent on every play. We made sure that there were no 'ifs.' We played all out. This is a different level than the conference tournament. We recognized that and stepped up. This is where we want to be right now."

On her team's experience…
"We have a veteran squad this year, and because of that, we have a lot of confidence. Last year, this was the unknown, but this time around we are ready. We made adjustments at the plate and worked together to get hits."

Radford third baseman, #3 Taylor Cunningham
On the comeback…
"We expect a lot out of ourselves. We got down early, but it was only by two runs and we knew we had a chance to come back from that. We knew not to let ourselves get down. The great thing about this team is our ability to score at any time. "

On recording the last putout of the game…
"I saw her (Florida State left fielder Morgan Bullock) rounding second base and knew there was going to be a play at third. The throw from the outfield was good and I applied the tag."

Florida State Head Coach Lonni Alameda
Opening Statement…
"Like I said earlier, it's really any team, any day. They did a great job of making their adjustments after getting beaten up a little yesterday, and they made the adjustment in their game plan that helped them to come out and beat us. You really have to take your hats off to Radford. They played a great game and did what they needed to do to win."

On jumping out to an early 2-0 lead …
"We felt like we were swinging it pretty well, and we thought that it was ironic that today's game started out the exact same way that the game started yesterday, with back to back hits to score the run. We knew that our pitchers were tired and that they were also mentally fatigued after going through the Georgia lineup earlier today. "

On the future of the Seminoles …
"I'm very excited about our youth, and the experience that our younger players have gained is huge. Terese Gober and Carly Wynn, among others, have really passed down a lot to our younger players and they've taught everyone on the team what it truly means to be a Seminole."

Florida State outfielder, #15 Carly Wynn
On the effectiveness of Radford pitcher Chelsea Kelley…
"She is a very good pitcher. She did a great job throwing across the plate on the outside half of the plate and did a great job with her changeup all day. You really have to tip your hat to her for making the adjustment from yesterday to be able to shut us down."

Florida State pitcher, #8 Terese Gober
On her performance today…
"I felt good out there. I was just trying to make my pitches and go after each batter separately rather than worrying about who is coming up next. They were just making good contact off of good pitches and unfortunately they were able to get some runs off of them. It's hard as a pitcher to have them hit good pitches but you can't get too disappointed. It's out of your control."