Highlanders Split with Coastal

Conway, S.C. --Radford rallied from a 2-0 seventh inning deficit in game one to defeat Coastal 5-2 in nine innings as they split with the Lady Chanticleers this afternoon. CCU rallied with five runs in the bottom of the sixth to pull out a 6-4 win in game two.

The Highlanders move to 26-27 overall and 4-4 in the Big South, while the Lady Chant go to 19-23 overall and 5-5 in the Conference. The victory in game one tied RU for the second most wins in school history which also occured in 1998.

In the opener, the game was scoreless until Coastal got on the board in the bottom of the sixth with a pair of runs. With one out, Hostetler doubled to left center and eventually scored on Nelson's single to left center to make it 1-0. Kelly Feely singled through the left side to put runners on first and second with two outs. Diana Mendez then singled to center to score pinch runner Kimberly Cillis and give the Lady Chants a 2-0 lead.

Radford then extended the game with two in the top of the seventh on three hits, finished off by a two-RBI single by Colleen Casey (Poquoson, Va./Poquoson) to know the game at two.

After shutting down the Highlanders in the top of the eighth, Coastal appeared to have a threat going after a sacrifice bunt moved Kristina Sheppard, who had been placed on second to start the inning under the tiebreaker rule. However, Sheppard was returned to second after a controversial call by the home-plate umpire, declaring Nelson had not properly been re-entered the game and was not the proper batter at the time. CCU could not score and the game went to the ninth, where Radford got three runs on three hits on RBI base knocks by Hallie East (Roanoke, Va./Glenvar), Danielle Tompkins (Newport News, Va./Woodside) and Lara Wohlgemuth (Centreville, Va./Chantilly) for the victory.

For Radford, Breanna Felix (Spring Valley, Calif./Mount Miguel) picked up the win in relief to move to 8-7, going 3.1 innings and giving up just one hit. Danyelle Gerdts went the distance for CCU in the loss, striking out seven but falling to 6-10.

In the second game, Radford jumped on top early, getting a run in the top of the first off Kat Peck's (Manassas, Va./Young Harris College) single to right field that scored Wohlgemuth for a 1-0 lead. The Highlanders added another in the top of the third, as Sara Beth Clayton (Chesapeake, Va./Louisburg College) had an infield single and stole second. With two down in the inning, Amanda Walling (Summerville, Va./Stratford) singled to right field and put Radford up 2-0. Coastal responded in the bottom half of the third with a pair of their own. Delane Oscarson led off the inning with a bunt single. After a sacrifice bunt moved Oscarson to second, Sara Hostetler hit a shot over the right field fence or her second home run of the year and knotted the game at two.

Radford again took the lead in the fifth, scoring two runs on three hits, as Tompkins double scored to score Walling. Tompkins later scored on Ashley Smith's (Roanoke, Va./Northside) single to make it a 4-2 lead in favor of the Highlanders.

Coastal's drama came up in the sixth. Kelly Feely led off the inning with a blast over the left center field fence to cut the lead to 4-3. After RU
changed pitchers, Daneylle Gerdts and Jennifer Britton put together back-to-back, one-out singles to put runners on first and third. A groundout moved both runners into scoring position. Trish Kretchman, a walk-on freshman in only her fifth collegiate at bat, took a 3-2, two-out pitch over the left center field fence for the first pinch-hit home run in CCU history that put the Lady Chants up 6-4.

Brittany Nelson made it stand in the seventh, getting the complete-game win to move her record to 9-10. Jennifer Bosley, who came on in relief in the bottom of the sixth, took the loss and fell to 12-14.

Radford's next opponents will be Tennessee and East Tennessee State at the Bristol Classic in Bristol, Tenn. on April 21. Game times are 5 p.m. and 7 p.m.

Game 1
Game 2