SOFTBALL SWEPT BY LONGWOOD IN BIG SOUTH DOUBLEHEADER

BOX SCORE 1 | BOX SCORE 2 RADFORD, Va. – Radford was swept by Longwood in a Big South doubleheader on Wednesday from RU Softball Field. The Lancers (29-11, 11-5 Big South) defeated the Highlanders (14-22, 7-5) by the scores of 9-1 (5) and 12-3 to earn the league series sweep.

Behind an eight-run third and a two-hitter by Libby Morris, Longwood took game one, 9-1 in five innings.

Brooke Short, Megan Baltzell and Jordan Cox homered for the Lancers. Freshman Casey Burns (Copley, Ohio/Copley) produced the Highlanders only run with her first collegiate round tripper.

Morris struck out one, walked one and allowed a run for the complete game victory.

In the third, the Lancers exploded for those eight runs on just three hits. The first eight batters reached base and scored. Three-run home runs by Baltzell and Cox sandwiched around a two-run double by Carly Adams knocked in the runs before an out was recorded.

Senior Morgan Eye picked up RU's other hit with a fourth-inning double.

Rachael Walters suffered the defeat, allowing four runs, three earned, on two hits in two-pluss innings of work. She struck out one and hit a batter.

Longwood jumped out to a 7-0 lead after three innings and went on to defeat Radford, 12-3, in the nightcap and earn the doubleheader and Big South series sweep.

Kori Nishitomi (3-4) and Short combined to go 6-for-7 with three RBI and five runs scored, hitting a home run apiece.

The Lancers sent 10 batters to the plate and scored four runs in the first. Erin Murphy knocked in the first run with a RBI single down the leftfield line. After the bases were loaded, a free pass and two fielder's choices knocked in the next three.

Murphy added two more in the second with a two-run home run to leftcenter, while Katie Shinrock's sacrifice fly posted another run in the third.

A three-run third, highlighted by a two-run round tripper by Jessie Hutchens (Berwyn, Ill./Riverside Brookfield), cut the deficit to 7-3. A three-base error and a RBI ground out by sophomore Hilari Hopkins (Cottondale, Fla./Gulf Coast State) put Radford on the board.

Freshman Alle Reid (Lovettsville, Va./Woodgrove) kept the Lancers off the board for the next three innings, before a five-run seventh gave the Lancers a nine-run cushion.

Ashley Cornell earned win with 3.2 innings of one-hit shutout relief. She struck out three and did not walk a batter.

Senior Jackie Jenkins (Mechanicsville, Va./Atlee) suffered the defeat as she allowed seven runs on seven hits with four walks in the 2.2 inning of work.

Radford hits the road this weekend for a three-game series at Presbyterian on April 13 (DH) and 14. First pitch is set for 1:00 p.m. each day.

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