Highlanders Power to Sweep of UNCG

Radford, Va. - Radford (20-14) hit four home runs and got two solid pitching performances as it swept UNC Greensboro (7-18) in softball action from Dedmon Center field this afternoon.

Ashley Smith and Amanda Walling belted home runs and Breanna Felix (Spring Valley, Calif.) struck out a career high 12 batters as Radford won game one, 4-1. Felix allowed three hits and did not walk a batter as she improved to 14-8 on the season. In game two, freshman Ashley Taylor (Ringgold, Va.) came within two outs of tossing a perfect game and the Highlanders hit three more round trippers to complete the sweep, 5-2.

Game One Box

Game Two Box

In game one, Radford struck for single runs in the first, third and fourth innings. In the first, freshman Ashley Carlson (Chesapeake, Va.) tripled into the leftfield corner with one out. She scored on a bloop fielder’s choice by Taylor. Senior Ashley Smith (Roanoke, Va.) homered in her second straight game, making it 2-0 with solo shot to center in the third. In the fourth, junior Amanda Walling (Summerville, S.C.) scored from second when the second baseman overthrew first after initially misplaying the groundball hit by senior Lara Wohlgemuth (Centreville, Va.).

UNCG cut it to 3-1in the top of the sixth with a two-out rally. Krista Judge started it with an infield single and stole second. She scored on a double by Adrianne Audley. Walling provided RU with an insurance run belting her third home run in as many games, a solo shot to right center.

Lynsi Pierce (1-5) suffered the loss for UNCG. She allowed three earned runs on seven hits, striking out six and walking a batter. Clayton went 2-for-3 at the plate for RU. Audley was 2-for-3 with a pair of doubles for UNCG.

RU started game two putting a run on the scoreboard in the first when Carlson, who reached on an infield single, scored on a throwing error by the second baseman. Clayton made it 2-0 with a solo home run to left in the fourth. RU would plate two more in the fifth on a two-out two-run double by Taylor. Junior Danielle Tompkins’ (Equality, Ill.) belted her fourth round tripper of the season to give RU a 5-0 lead after six.

The Spartans made some noise in the seventh, plating two runs on four hits, while breaking up Taylor’s perfect game bid. Audley broke it up with an infield single off of Taylor’s glove, followed by a Gwen Johnson single. The next two batters, Kelly Allen and Jennifer Bonilla each knocked in a run with RBI singles. Taylor settled down and was able to retire the final two batters for the win.

Taylor finished the game, allowing four hits and striking our a career high 10 batters as she improved to 5-4. She also helped herself out at the plate, going 2-for-3 with two RBI. Tompkins also went 2-for-3 at the dish for the Highlanders.

Vanessa Oakes (5-5) suffered the defeat for UNCG, allowing four earned runs on eight hits. She struck out six and walked one batter.

Radford's next contest will be on Wednesday, March 23 when it host Virginia at 2 pm.