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Radford University Athletics

Home Of The RadFord Highlanders RadFord Highlanders
RachelSmith
Rob Simmons
1
Radford RAD 3-2
2
Winner Georgia Southern GS 4-1
Radford RAD
3-2
1
Final
2
Georgia Southern GS
4-1
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 R H E
Radford RAD 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 4 1
Georgia Southern GS 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 2 5 2

W: Pettit (1-1) L: Cooper, Morgan (1-1)

Game Recap: Softball |

Cooper Continues Incredible Start to Season, but Radford Falls in Extras

STATESBORO, Ga. – The Radford softball program got another incredible start out of freshman Morgan Cooper Sunday afternoon in their weekend finale at the Bash in the Boro before ultimately falling to the hosts Georgia Southern in eight innings 2-1.

Both teams were locked into a pitcher's duel throughout the afternoon match up as offense was hard to come by. Cooper wouldn't allow her first run until the seventh inning while her opposing starting pitcher wouldn't surrender a run until the sixth inning.

Cooper would strand a pair of hits in the first two innings of work while the offense tried to break the ice. In the top of the second Radford got two runners on thanks to a single from Kari Shedrick and a walk by Amanda Lee but the duo was left stranded.

An error allowed Lexie Roberts to reach base to start the third, but a tough leaving early call uprooted the scoring opportunity of that inning. Neither team threatened again until the sixth inning where Radford would finally strike.

Abby Bossler made her collegiate debut with a pinch-hit appearance and got a single through the right side. Roberts successfully sacrifice bunted her to second and Grace Bechtol took over to pinch run. With two outs, Rachel Smith delivered the clutch hit to left field that allowed Bechtol to score for the 1-0 lead.

After a scoreless bottom half of the sixth, Radford came close to extending their lead. Cassi Barbato reached on a bloop single and Shedrick advanced her to second on a groundout. Emily Smith roped what appeared to be an RBI single to center, but the center fielder made a great diving catch that ended Radford's scoring threat.

The first batter in the bottom of the seventh carried that momentum for Georgia Southern, hitting a home run to left field to tie the game up at one-all. Cooper didn't let that rattle her as she sat down the next three straight batters to force extras.

Radford would get a runner over to third with one out in the top of the eighth, but she was stranded. Georgia Southern got some timely calls in their home half of the inning to ultimately scratch across the winning run for the 2-1 final.

KEY STATS
  • Radford and Georgia Southern have now gone into extra innings in their last two games against each other. Last season the two squads went 13 innings before the Eagles also came out as winners.
  • Cooper seals up a great first weekend with the Highlanders tossing 14 innings, 10 strikeouts and only allowing two earned runs.
  • The RBI by R. Smith was her eighth on the season so far, a team-high.
 
UP NEXT
Radford returns home this upcoming weekend for their first action at Radford Softball Stadium for the 2024 season. Radford will host Bucknell starting this Friday, February 16th, for a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m.
 
Follow Softball on Social Media
For more information on the Radford softball team, follow @RadfordSoftball on Twitter and Instagram or Radford Softball on Facebook.
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