RADFORD OPENS BIG SOUTH TOURNEY AT LONGWOOD WEDNESDAY

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Live Video vs. Longwood | Tournament Bracket

RADFORD, Va. – After winning a pair of games with its back against the wall on the final day of the regular season, the Radford softball team will hope to carry over that momentum into the postseason as it begins play in the Big South Tournament Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. against host, third-seed and two-time defending champion Longwood.

If the sixth-seeded Highlanders can pull the upset, they would move on to play No. 2 Campbell in a winner's bracket game Thursday. A loss in the opener would lead to an immediate elimination game Wednesday at 5 p.m. against the loser between No. 4 Charleston Southern and No. 5 Winthrop.

Last year, Radford lost its first game before rattling off three straight elimination-game victories to get within one win of the championship contest.

Under the new six-team format, one team will be eliminated each of the first two days, followed by two more on Friday. The championship round is no longer winner-take-all and could require two games on Saturday.

Radford will try again to break through against Longwood, having lost 16 straight to its in-state foe, including a three-game sweep two weeks ago. However, the opener was a 1-0 decision, the second game was just 2-0 heading to the seventh inning and the third was tied at 1-1 entering the sixth.

All of the tournament games on Wednesday and Thursday will air live on the Big South Network, with coverage on ESPN3 Friday and Saturday.

HIGHLANDER HIGHLIGHTS

Record: 27-26, 8-13
Abby Morrow finished the regular season with a conference-leading 20 wins, equaling her total from last season. She also led the league in innings pitched and complete game, was tied for second in shutouts and fifth with her 2.95 ERA.
Morrow had a 1.58 ERA over her 11 appearances and posted seven of the team's eight conference victories.
Kayla Huffman allowed two earned runs over 8.2 innings with 13 strikeouts in her two appearances during the Winthrop series. She finished the regular-season with a 3.12 ERA and was fourth in the league in strikeouts with 118.
Hunter Mundy tied for fifth in the Big South with 33 RBIs, was sixth in on-base percentage (.420) and tied for sixth in total bases (84), including 10 doubles, seven home runs and two triples, seventh in slugging (.564) and ninth in average.
Mundy reached base in each of the last 12 games and hit safely in the final three.
After being held without a home run for 13 straight games, the Highlanders totaled three in the two wins over Winthrop – two by Mundy and one by Marissa Gagliano.
Radford completed the regular season with 37 homers, 65 doubles and six triples.
Summer Robinson hit a team-best .429 in the season-finale series, while Mundy and Hannah Medlam led the way with four total hits.
Medlam had a pair of two-hit games, giving her nine multi-hit outings on the season. She also has a career-best nine doubles on the season.
Kayla Bishton had two RBIs to finish second on the team with 27. Maggie Rowe tied Brittany Wratchford for third on the team with 26 driven in and shared the team lead in doubles with 10.
Gagliano tied for seventh in the conference with her 35 runs scored.
Mundy and Gagliano ranked first and second in the Big South in assists, with 150 and 134, respectively. The next closest total was 113.

SCOUTING LONGWOOD

Records: 24-26, 13-8
Longwood is the hottest team in the conference, with wins in eight of its last nine contests.
The Lancers held their opponents two or fewer runs in all eight of those victories with five shutouts.
The duo of Elizabeth McCarthy and Sydney Gay combined to allow just one run on five hits to Radford during the three-game sweep.
McCarthy worked 12 innings with one run on two hits and 13 strikeouts, while Gay tossed a three-hit shutout in her lone appearance.
For the season, McCarthy owns a 2.74 ERA and 109 strikeouts in the 117.2 innings, while Gay has a 2.20 ERA and 134 strikeouts in 172 innings, while. They ranked second and third, respectively, in ERA during conference play.
Offensively, Radford held each of the Lancers' 2-3-4-5 batters to .250 or below in the series, but leadoff hitter Justina Augustine had four hits, including her first two home runs of the season, totaling five RBIs.
Sixth-place hitter Krista Kelly, with just a .193 average on the season, was 3 for 10 in the series and had the key seventh inning double and run in the 1-0 decision in the opener.
Jordan Clark, the team's leader with a .305 average and 24 RBIs, was 2 for 9 with one RBI against the Highlanders.

LOOKING AHEAD

Radford hosted each of its three potential second-game opponents during the regular season and had three different results against them.
The Highlanders were swept by Campbell in mid-April, dropped two of three to Charleston Southern the weekend before that and posted the 2-1 series win over Winthrop in the finale.

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Players Mentioned

#20 Kayla Bishton: 1B/OF; 5' 8"; Senior; L/L

#5 Marissa Gagliano: SS; 5' 4"; Redshirt Sophomore; L/R

#22 Kayla Huffman: P; 5' 7"; Sophomore; R/R

#24 Hannah Medlam: OF; 5' 6"; Sophomore; L/R

#2 Abby Morrow: P; 5' 10"; Senior; R/R

#6 Summer Robinson: OF; 5' 3"; Senior; R/R

#38 Maggie Rowe: C; 5' 4"; Junior; R/R

#3 Hunter Mundy: 3B; 5' 5"; Freshman; R/R

#11 Brittany Wratchford: INF; 5' 4"; Senior; R/R

Players Mentioned

#20 Kayla Bishton
: 5' 8"; Senior; L/L
: 1B/OF

#5 Marissa Gagliano
: 5' 4"; Redshirt Sophomore; L/R
: SS

#22 Kayla Huffman
: 5' 7"; Sophomore; R/R
: P

#24 Hannah Medlam
: 5' 6"; Sophomore; L/R
: OF

#2 Abby Morrow
: 5' 10"; Senior; R/R
: P

#6 Summer Robinson
: 5' 3"; Senior; R/R
: OF

#38 Maggie Rowe
: 5' 4"; Junior; R/R
: C

#3 Hunter Mundy
: 5' 5"; Freshman; R/R
: 3B

#11 Brittany Wratchford
: 5' 4"; Senior; R/R
: INF