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Radford University Athletics

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Maggie Rowe
Radford Athletics Communications
4
W. Carolina WCU 10-22
5
Winner Radford RAD 19-17
W. Carolina WCU
10-22
4
Final
5
Radford RAD
19-17
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
W. Carolina WCU 0 0 1 0 0 3 0 4 6 2
Radford RAD 0 0 5 0 0 0 X 5 7 1

W: Huffman, Kayla (5-5) L: Lily Hayes (5-8)

0
W. Carolina WCU 10-23
3
Winner Radford RAD 20-17
W. Carolina WCU
10-23
0
Final
3
Radford RAD
20-17
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
W. Carolina WCU 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Radford RAD 0 0 0 2 1 0 X 3 6 1

W: Morrow, Abby (14-9) L: Kinsey Liscio (0-3)

Game Recap: Softball |

RADFORD SWEEPS TWINBILL WITH WESTERN CAROLINA



RADFORD, Va. – The Radford softball team got back on the winning track at home on Wednesday, sweeping a doubleheader against Western Carolina with 5-4 and 3-0 victories.
 
Kayla Bishton highlighted a five-run third inning of the opener with a two-run homer, while Maggie Rowe went 3 for 4 on the day, including a home run, a double and two RBIs in the second game. Marissa Gagliano went 2 for 3 with a run scored in each game, while Summer Robinson and Sofia Tapia both totaled two RBIs.
 
Abby Morrow led the way with her performance in the nightcap, recording her second career one-hitter with six strikeouts and no walks. Kayla Huffman battled for the complete-game victory in the first game.
 
The Highlanders (20-17) improved to 9-3 at home while recording their third non-conference doubleheader sweep.
 
Game 1
After a two-base error led to an unearned run for Western Carolina in the top of the third, Radford recorded five of its seven hits in the game-deciding bottom of the frame. Gagliano started it by beating out a grounder to short for an infield hit and Bishton followed by with an opposite-field two-run longball, her fifth of the season. The rest of the offense came with two outs as Rowe walked, Brittany Wratchford singled and the ball got past the left-fielder, putting runners on second and third. Robinson then made it 4-1 with a two-run single to center and Tapia capped the inning with an RBI single back up the middle, chasing Catamounts' starter Lily Hayes.
 
Huffman, meanwhile, did a good job working out of trouble most of the game as the Catamounts loaded the bases in three of the first four frames, but tallied just the one run. The sophomore induced foulouts to escape in the first and fourth and got a grounder for a 6-4-3 double play to limit the damage in the third. Playing second base for the first time as a Highlander, Hannah Medlam made the turn to complete the play.
 
Huffman (5-5) then worked a perfect fifth before WCU was able to make it a one-run game in the sixth, thanks to a three-run inside the park home run. After a one-out walk and a double, Erica Hayes sliced a blooper that dropped on the left-field line and when the ball went to the corner, she was able to call home just ahead of the throw.  Huffman, though, rebounded to get the final out of the inning and finished it off with a 1-2-3 seventh. She allowed the three earned runs on six hits, struck out four and walked five.
 
Game 2
Morrow (14-9) was dominant from the start as she struck out the side in the first inning. She added single strikeouts in the second, third and fourth, recorded five perfect innings and threw just 78 pitches, including 61 for strikes. The lone hit against her came on a one-out single to right in the second. She worked around a hit batter and an error in the fifth before retiring the final seven batters to notch her second shutout of the year and eighth of her career. Her other one-hitter came against Jacksonville in the second game of last season.
 
Radford's offense provided the only runs she needed with two in the fourth, beginning with Rowe's one-out homer off the scoreboard in left field, her sixth of the year. Robinson followed it with a single, Medlam walked and Tapia delivered her second run-scoring hit of the day, singling to left.
 
Rowe then tacked on the final run in the fifth, roping a long single over the left-fielder as Gagliano raced home to score easily from first base after a leadoff single.
 
The Highlanders will now finish off the homestand with a key Big South Conference series against Campbell. The teams, who met six times last season, will play a Friday doubleheader starting at 5 p.m. and a single game Saturday at 3 p.m.
 
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