Rock Hill, S.C. -- The second-seeded Radford Highlanders used a suicide squeeze from Amanda Walling in the bottom of the eighth inning to defeat fourth-seeded Elon 4-3, Saturday afternoon in game seven of the 2003 Big South Conference Tournament.
After falling behind 3-1 in the top of the seventh inning, the Highlanders rallied to tie the game and force extra innings. In the bottom of the eighth, Radford (17-35) had runners at second and third when Walling laid down a bunt, scoring Amber Drexel for the win.
The end of the game was delayed by a protest to the official lineup. After a lengthy delay, the lineup in question was determined to be valid.
Elon (20-25-1) broke a 1-1 tie in the top of the seventh when Jamie Dupont's double to left center drove in scoring Danielle Concepcion and Nicole Ellis. Dupont was thrown out after rounding second to end the inning.
Drexel gave the Highlanders a 1-0 lead when she hit a her second home run of the season down the left field line in the second inning. In the fifth inning, Lori Notaro tied the game with a homerun to leftfield to make it 1-1.
Hallie East got the rally going for the Highlanders in the seventh when she was hit by a pitch. Danielle Tompkins pinch ran and eventually came around to score the second run on a Glynn Tolleson double to left center. Then Tina Rogers drove in the tying run on a fielders choice.
Dupont finished 2-for-3 on the day with two RBIs. Notaro, Megan Borgaard and Christina Melton each had two hits for Elon.
Lara Wohlgemuth and Donita Brady each had two hits. Walling, Drexel and Rogers each had one RBI.
Radford advanced to game nine of the tournament to take on fifth-seeded Winthrop after the Eagles advanced with a 6-3 victory over third-seeded Liberty.
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