BATS HEAT UP IN FLORIDA; SOFTBALL ROLLS BY QUINNIPIAC & LIU-BROOKLYN

BOX SCORE 1 | BOX SCORE 2 CLEARWATER, Fla. – Radford's offense came alive with 27 hits and the pitching staff allowed two runs as the Highlanders (5-13) rolled past Quinnipiac and LIU-Brooklyn by the scores of 8-2 and 11-0, respectively on Friday afternoon from the Eddie C. Moore Complex.

Radford's 3-4-5 batters of junior Jessie Hutchens, senior Morgan Eye and senior Jessica Agee combined to go 15-for-21 with four doubles, a home run, 11 RBI and seven runs scored.

Hutchens was 6-for-7 with three doubles and home run, five RBI and four runs scored, while Eye was 5-for-7 with a double and four RBI and Agee went 4-for-7 with two RBI and two runs scored. Hutchens and Eye recorded two hits in an eight-run third against LIU, matching a school record.

The Highlanders also stole 10 bases, eight against Quinnipiac. Hutchens and Eye each registered two.

Radford 8, Quinnipiac 2

Radford scored seven runs over the final three innings to defeat Quinnipiac, 8-2, in its first game at the City of Clearwater Invitational. The Highlanders matched a school record with eight stolen bases as they snapped a five-game slide in the process.

Eye and Hutchens each went 3-for-4 with two RBI as Radford matched a season high with 14 hits and eight runs. Freshman Emily Naegele and Agee recorded two hits apiece.

After retaking the lead in the fifth, the Highlanders broke the game open with three-run sixth and seventh innings to give them a comfortable margin late in the contest. In the sixth, Radford received RBI singles from freshman Casey Burns, and Eye and stole five bases to extend its lead to 5-1.

Following a run by the Bobcats, Radford added three more on a two-run double by Hutchens and a run-scoring single from Eye.

Senior Jackie Jenkins picked up her first win of the season with the complete game performance. She scattered seven hits, allowed an earned run and struck out one. She was very efficient, throwing just 70 pitches, which included only 28 between the second and fifth frames.

Radford pushed across a run in the first thanks to a leadoff single and a two miscues at first base, the second allowing Becky Mantel to scoot home from third with the first run of the game. Mantel would score twice in the contest.

The Bobcats answered with an unearned run of their own. After a pair of singles, a one-out grounder back to the pitcher was thrown away and Courtney Solt easily scored from second.

An Agee RBI single in the top the fifth gave Radford its lead back, 2-1, for good. Eye drew a one-out four-pitch walk and immediately stole second. She scored when Agee dumped a single into shallow rightcenter.

Radford 11, LIU-Brooklyn 0 (5)

Powered by 13 hits and an eight-run third, Radford topped LIU-Brooklyn, 11-0 in five innings and won back-to-back games for the first time this season on Friday at the City of Clearwater Invitational. It was the highest offensive output of the season and the first run-rule victory.

Along with the hit parade, freshmen Rachael Walters and Allie Reid combined on six-hit shutout, the first for the pitching staff this season.

Walters (4-4) scattered five hits, walked one and struck out one over four innings, while Reid cleaned things up in the fifth, allowing a hit.

Hutchens continued her hot bat, going 3-for-3 with a double, long ball, three RBI and two runs scored. She reached base in seven of eight plate appearance in the two contests. Eye and Agee each posted 2-for-3 efforts. Eye recorded a double and two RBI, while Agee knocked in one and scored a run as well.

After Walters got out of a bases loaded jam in the top of the first, the Highlanders wasted little time. Mantel led the bottom half off with her first home run of the season. Burns singled and after pinch runner Nia Chiles (Amherst, Va./Amherst County) stole second, Hutchens doubled her home. With two outs, senior Ryndee Ruch (Mechanicsville, Va./Atlee) laced a single back up the middle plating Hutchens for a 3-0 lead.

In the big third, Radford sent 14 batters to the plate and recorded eight hits for its largest single-inning output of the season. Hutchens led off the frame with her third round tripper of the season as the first six batters reached base, five of them via a hit. Along with their two hits, Hutchens and Eye recorded two RBI in the frame. Freshman Whitney Davis also knocked in two runs, while Agee and Naegele plated runs with RBI singles.

Radford returns to action tomorrow and will face Boston College (11:00 am) and Cornell (4:00 p.m.).

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