May 14, 2011

Box Score

ROCK HILL, S.C. (www.BigSouthSports.com) -The No. 5 Coastal Carolina University softball team ended its season early as No. 1 Radford scored five runs in the third inning and four runs in the fifth inning en-route to earning a berth to the Big South Softball Championship game with an 11-3 win in game 12 of the 2011 Big South Softball Championship presented by Musco Lighting Friday afternoon at Terry Field in Rock Hill, S.C.

With the win, Radford improves to 38-20, while Coastal Carolina ends its season at 25-34.

Radford moved one runner across to take a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the fifth. With one out, Nichole Beall singled to right center and moved up to third on a wild pitch. Taylor Cunningham brought home Nichole Beall with a single to left field.

Radford tacked on another run in the bottom of the second to extend its lead to 2-0. Vicki Madden led the inning off with a double. Hannah Ojeda moved Madden to third with a groundout. Lauren Williams brought home Madden as she reached on a fielding error at first.

Radford added five runs in the bottom of the third to build its lead to 7-0. Cunningham highlighted the inning with a three-run homer to left field.

Coastal Carolina answered in the top of the fourth after a 30 minute lightning delay as it plated three runners to cut the Radford's lead to 7-3. Jessie Winans led the inning off with a walk and Chelsea Pineda moved her to third with a double. Jazmin Daigle sent Winans home with a single and moved Pineda over to third. Daigle ended up on second on the throw to home. Sarah Maples loaded the bases as she drew a walk. Pineda and Daigle scored on a fielder's choice by Cacia Pierre.

Following another lightning delay, Radford scored four runs in the fifth to pick up the 11-3 win. Michelle Beall drew a walk to lead off the inning. Two batters later, Ojeda brought home Michelle Beall with a single off first base. Jessie Hutchens scored Ojeda with a single and advance to second on the throw home. A single by Williams put runners on the corners. Kristen Shifflett was hit by a pitch to load the bases and Nichole Beall advanced everyone as she reached on a fielding error by the Coastal shortstop. Keefe's single brought in the winning run for the Highlanders.

Chelsea Kelley picked up the win in the circle for the Highlanders and Ashely Bagwell suffered the loss to end the season 15-15.

Radford will now play No. 2 Liberty for the Big South Championship tomorrow at 12:00pm. The game will air live on ESPN3.com.

Quotes
Radford Head Coach Mickey Dean
"I thought we played really aggressive tonight. Chelsea Kelley got us off to a good start. Stephanie Dameron came in and shut down a Coastal Carolina rally. Our defense also stepped up and made some big plays."

Coastal Carolina Head Coach Kelley Green
"We took a lot of positives from the weekend and although it wasn't the outcome we hoped for, we are walking away with our heads held high. In the end, we made too many costly mistakes and didn't give our pitching and offense a chance to stay in the game. Radford is a strong team and they are regular-season champions for a reason."