SOFTBALL DROPS TWO ON DAY 1 OF WAR EAGLE CLASSIC

BOX SCORE 1 | BOX SCORE 2 AUBURN, Ala. – Radford Softball dropped two games on the opening day of the War Eagle Classic. The Highlanders fell 7-4 in their opener to Ball State and then was defeated by host and No. 23 Auburn, 9-0 in five innings.

Ball State 7, Radford 4
Radford could not overcome a 3-0 hole and fell to Ball State, 7-4 in its opener. Sophomore Casey Burns went 3-for-3 at the plate with senior Jessie Hutchens and sophomore Whitney Davis providing home runs for the Highlanders.

A wild pitch on a strikeout to start the third led to three Ball State runs in the top of the frame. Following the wild pitch, Briana Evans stole second, moved to third on an infield single and scored on an error. The final two runs came on a two-out run scoring double by Taylor Rager and a two-out RBI single by Audrey Bickel.

Leadoff home runs in the third and fourth by Hutchens and Davis cut Radford's deficit to 3-2. A pickoff at second and a strikeout with Hutchens on deck end a 1^st and 2^nd one-out rally in the fourth.

The Cardinals extended their lead to 7-2 in the fifth with three coming on Jennifer Gilbert's long ball.

An RBI fielder's choice by Hutchens, followed by a RBI single from sophomore Nia Chiles cut the Ball State lead to 7-4.

Freshman Abby Morrow suffered the defeat in four-plus innings of work. She struck out a career-high six, but allowed seven runs on nine hits.

Rager went 4-for-4 with two doubles, two runs and one RBI for the Cardinals.

No. 23 Auburn 9, Radford 0

The Highlanders were defeated by the host Tigers, 9-0 in five innings, in their second game of day one of the tournament.

A leadoff home run put Auburn up 1-0 in the bottom of the first and three-run two-out rally pushed its lead to 4-0 after two innings. The Tigers would score another in the third and four more in the fourth.

The Highlanders were held hitless, but drew five walks, including two by Hutchens. She has reached base safely in 11 of her last 12 games and 16 of 18 this season. RU had a base runner in every inning, but only two reach second.

Sophomore Rachael Walters, who allowed four runs on four hits with three strikeouts in 1.2 innings, suffered the defeat.

Radford returns to action tomorrow morning at 10:00 a.m. to face Alabama A&M, followed by Savannah State at approximately 12:00 p.m.

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