BOX SCORE RADFORD, Va. – Marshall scored four runs with two outs in the eighth inning and defeated Radford, 5-1, on a blustery Wednesday afternoon at RU Softball Field.
 
With runners on second and third, Katalin Lucas doubled down the leftfield line to give the Thundering Herd (11-12) their first lead of the contest. An RBI double by Alysia Hively and a run-scoring single by Shaelynn Braxton added the final two runs.
 
The Highlanders (3-13), which stranded seven runners, had the potential game-winning run on second in the sixth and seventh innings, but failed to score. In the sixth, Marshall's Andi Williamson recorded two of her 13 strikeouts and in the seventh she induced a pop up to end both threats.
 
Williamson (11-11) picked up the win for the Herd. She surrendered three hits and walked five. Senior Jackie Jenkins put in her strongest effort of 2013, but suffered the complete game loss. Prior to the eighth, she scattered four hits, struck out five and did not allow and earned run.
 
Radford grabbed a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first when junior Jessie Hutchens sent one deep over the centerfield fence for her second long ball of the season.
 
The Herd tied it in the top of the second without a hit. Two Highlander errors, the second with two outs, allowed Lucas, who also reached on a miscue, scoot home from third.
 
Hutchens, senior Morgan Eye and freshman Casey Burns recorded hits for the Highlanders. Eye also made two diving catches in right and doubled the runner off first on the second one.
 
Radford hits the road for Clearwater, Fla. where it will take part in the USF Under Armour Invitational from March 15-17. The Highlanders open with Quinnipiac at 1:15 p.m. on Friday and will also face LIU-Brooklyn, Boston College, Cornell and Rhode Island.