Box Score
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – A pair of solo home runs by No. 8 Georgia was the difference as Radford fell in its first NCAA appearance, 3-1, Thursday afternoon from Anderson Field on the campus of North Carolina. Junior
Sarah Himan (Woodbridge, Va./Hylton) recorded a pair of hits and scored the Highlanders’ (40-14) lone run of the contest.
Radford will return to play tomorrow, May 15 at 3:30 p.m. in an elimination game against Campbell.
“I thought defensively we played well,” stated head coach
Mickey Dean. “We hustled – early on we got caught flat-footed a couple of times on some pop-ups that we should have gotten to. But we didn’t swing the bats. We made zero adjustments as hitters. We had every opportunity to win the ballgame, we just made no adjustments.”
Sophomore
Chelsea Kelley (Roanoke, Va./Cave Spring) had a solid outing against one of the top offenses in the country. She scattered 10 hits, struck out three and walked one. Her defense was on top things all game, making several heads up and outstanding plays in the field.
Georgia’s Sarah McCloud held Radford’s offense to just four hits. She struck out three, but walked four. McCloud also was benefited by a strong Bulldog (40-10) defense that turned two double plays.
Freshman
Leigh Godfrey (Perth, Australia/Seton Catholic) and Himan recorded the first two hits of the game, but a fielder’s choice and a caught stealing in between the base knocks thwarted the early threat. For Godfrey, the hit extended her hitting streak to 13 games as the Big South Freshman of the Year has hit safely in 31 of her last 32 contests.
Georgia struck for an early run in the bottom of the first. After a leadoff double by Taylor Schlopy and a sac bunt moved her to third, Alisa Goler blooped a RBI single just in front of a diving.
Kristin Schnake made it 2-0 lofting a solo home run down the leftfield line in the third.
The Highlanders cut the Bulldogs’ lead in half, manufacturing a run in the fourth. Himan and freshman
Nichole Beall (Culpeper, Va./Culpeper County) started the inning with bloop singles and advanced a base on freshman
Michelle Beall’s (Culpeper, Va./Culpeper County) sacrifice bunt. Himan crossed the dish when sophomore
Shannon Keefe (Lemont Township, Ill./Lemont) lifted a sac fly to right.
In the bottom of the fifth, a two-out long ball by Brianna Hesson gave the Bulldogs a 3-1 advantage.
Radford had another chance to put a run on the board in the sixth. Sophomore
Kristen Shifflett (Charlottesville, Va./Monticello) drew a leadoff walk and advanced to third on a sac and stolen base, but was stranded.
Goler and Ashley Pauly each recorded a pair of hits for the Bulldogs.