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Radford University Athletics

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Rowe
9
Winner Radford RAD 28-15
4
Western Carolina WCU 14-30
Winner
Radford RAD
28-15
9
Final
4
Western Carolina WCU
14-30
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Radford RAD 0 0 4 0 0 0 5 9 13 1
Western Carolina WCU 0 0 0 1 0 0 3 4 5 2

W: Huffman, Kayla (9-4) L: Brewer (0-2) S: Marvin, Jessie (1)

6
Winner Radford RAD 29-15
2
Western Carolina WCU 14-31
Winner
Radford RAD
29-15
6
Final
2
Western Carolina WCU
14-31
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Radford RAD 0 0 2 0 0 2 2 6 11 1
Western Carolina WCU 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 4 0

W: Morrow, Abby (18-9) L: Brogden (5-7)

Game Recap: Softball |

ROWE’S BIG DAY LEADS RADFORD IN DOUBLHEADER SWEEP



CULLOWHEE, N.C. – Maggie Rowe totaled four hits, including two home runs and a double, along with six RBIs in the doubleheader sweep over Western Carolina. The Highlanders won the first 9-4 and scored six unanswered in the second game with a 6-2 victory.
 
Radford totaled 24 hits in the doubleheader win. Sofia Tapia was only retired once on the day. She went 4-for-5 with one RBI and three runs scored.
 
GAME ONE
  • Score: Radford 9, Western Carolina 4
  • Records: Highlanders (28-15) | Western Carolina (14-30)
  • Location: Catamount Softball Complex | Cullowhee, N.C.

It only took two innings for Radford to tally nine runs with crooked numbers in the third and seventh innings. Rowe was the key component in those crooked number innings as she recorded the first multi-home run game of her career and set a career-high with five RBIs.
 
The scoring began in the third as Talia Douglas drove in Marissa Gagliano, who reached with a leadoff walk. Hannah Medlam laid down a bunt that was placed perfectly for a hit and an RBI as Tapia scored from third. The Tapia run made gave Radford a 2-0 lead. That's when Rowe stepped in and delivered her first home run of the game – a two-run shot down the left field line – that gave Radford four runs in the inning.
 
The Highlanders had a couple of hits here and there until the seventh inning. Gagliano led off the inning with a single in between the Catamount shortstop and third baseman. On the ensuing at-bat, Tapia picked up her third hit of the game. This one was a double down the left field line that scored the speedy Riviera Beach, Fla., native from first and gave Radford a 5-1 lead.
 
Douglas, with already one RBI in the game, picked up her second with a double to left field in the next at-bat. The back-to-back RBI doubles from the Highlanders gave them a 6-1 lead. Medlam drew a walk, before Rowe stepped into the box. Rowe cleared the bases and gave Radford a 9-1 lead with her team-leading ninth home run of the season and second of the game.
 
The Radford pitching had a solid outing and only allowed four runs on five hits, with three runs coming in the seventh inning. With two outs in and two runners on base in the seventh inning, Hunter Gibbons hit her 10th home run of the season. The three-run shot made it a 9-5 game, but a groundout to Douglas ended the game.
 
The one Catamount run before the seventh came in the fourth when Kailey McNeil drove in Madison Armstrong with a double to right center.
 
Kayla Huffman (9-4) only allowed three hits and one earned run, while striking out four in the win. Jessie Marvin picked up two strikeouts and her first career save in two innings pitched.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
  • Win: Kayla Huffman (9-4) | (5.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K)
  • Loss: Kayla Brewer (0-2) | (3.0 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 0 K)
  • Save: Jessie Marvin (1)
  • The win gave Radford a six-game winning streak, the longest of the season.
  • The Highlanders knotted 13 hits, just shy of a season-high 14 that occurred last weekend.
  • Eight of the nine starters had at least one hit in the game.
  • Rowe went 3-for-4 with two home runs, two runs scored and five RBIs. The multi-home run game and five RBIs set a career-high for the senior.
  • Tapia had a 3-for-3 game with two singles and an RBI double. The three hits tie a career-high for Tapia.
  • Douglas had the other multi-RBI game for Radford in a 2-for-4 performance with her ninth double of the season and two RBIs.
  • Medlam had the other RBI in a 1-for-2 game with two runs scored.
  • Among other career-firsts, Abby Morrow saw the field from a different angle. She stood at home plate inside the batters box with a bat in her hand for the first time in her career. She saw four pitches, fouling off two of them, but struck out swinging in a valiant effort.
 
GAME TWO
  • Score: Radford 6, Western Carolina 2
  • Records: Highlanders (29-15) | Western Carolina (14-31)
  • Location: Catamount Softball Complex | Cullowhee, N.C.

Radford scored six unanswered on the way to its 29th win of the season, after falling behind 2-0 in the first inning.
 
Trailing 2-0 in the third inning, Marissa Yow began the inning with a double to left field. Following a Lauren Maddrey walk and a groundout to second base, Tapia was hit by a pitch to load the bases.
 
The scoring threat seemed to be over when Talia Douglas put a ground ball in play that the Armstrong, the Catamount third baseman, corralled and threw to home plate for the force and second out of the inning. Stepping in was Medlam with 10 two-out RBIs already on the year. She picked up her 11th and 12th with a single to center field and tied the game at two.
 
Radford tallied two hits in the fifth, but couldn't get a run across and stranded two on base. That was not the case in the sixth inning. With one out, Hunter Mundy hit a no-doubt solo home run to straightway center field for the go-ahead run. Brianna Mills followed that up with a dinger of her own that gave Radford a two-run lead, 4-2. It was the second time in less than a week the Highlanders hit back-to-back home runs as they did it last in the opening game against Gardner-Webb on Saturday.
 
Medlam recorded her second hit of the event with one out in the seventh inning; this one was a double in the right center field gap. She scored the Highlanders fifth run when Rowe doubled down the first base line.
 
After a strikeout, Mills drove in pinch-runner, Callie Morgan, with a single to right field with her second hit of the game and third of the inning. The run gave Radford six runs in a row and a 6-2 lead.
 
Abby Morrow (18-9) only allowed two runs on four hits and picked up her 14th complete game of the season. She only made one mistake and it came with two outs in the first inning. The Catamounts leading home run hitter, Hunter Gibbons, hit a two-run home run to right center field after Ashlyn Long reached on an infield single.
 
She closed out the contest retiring nine of the last 10 batters she faced.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
  • Win: Abby Morrow (18-9) | (7.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 3 K)
  • Loss: Haley Brogden (5-7) | (7.0 IP, 11 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 2 BB, 4 K)
  • With the win the Highlanders have won seven in a row, which is the longest winning streak of the season.
  • Every Highlander but one in the starting lineup got a hit in the doubleheder finale.
  • Three players had multi-hit games including Medlam, Mills and Yow.
  • Mills and Medlam had two RBIs as well, while Rowe and Mundy contributed with one.
  • Yow, Medlam and Rowe each had doubles. Rowe now has a team-high 42 RBIs on the season.
  • The 42 RBIs in a season is a career-high and doubles her previous year, where she had only 26.
  • Morrow recorded her 17th game with no walks allowed.
 
QUOTABLE
"Seven wins in a row is a big time accomplishment for this team. Again, we're playing some of our best ball right now and it's showing. Abby and Kayla were great in the circle and one through nine in the lineup had great at-bats with quality hits. We need to stay focused and close out our home schedule on the right foot this weekend." – Hope Creasy
 
ON DECK
The Highlanders will close out the regular season home schedule with a three game set with Presbyterian. The first begins on Friday at 5 p.m., while the second game and finale are set for Saturday at 1 and 3 p.m.
 
Three players will be honored on Friday night in Kayla Huffman, Abby Morrow and Brittany Wratchford.
 
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