Box Score
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Radford scored six unanswered runs, courtesy of four home runs, two by freshman
Leigh Godfrey (Perth, Australia/Seton Catholic College), to defeat Campbell, 9-5 and earn its first NCAA Tournament win. It also marked the first NCAA tournament victory for any Radford athletic team.
The Highlanders will take on the third-seeded Tar Heels of North Carolina in approximately 30 minutes for the right to take on Georgia, tomorrow in the regional final.
Godfrey finished 3-for-4 with three runs and two RBI.
Radford struck for two runs in the top of the first on a RBI single by freshman
Nichole Beall (Culpeper, Va./Culpeper County). Beall scored on the next pitch when she stole third and scooted home when the throw went into left.
Sophomore
Kristen Shifflett (Charlottesville,Va./Monticello), who scored on the single, crossed the dish for the 50th time this season. It marks the first time in program history, two Highlanders have scored 50-plus runs in the same season.
The Camels took the lead with a three-run second on a pair of RBI singles by Brittany Stanley and Robin Leathers, sandwiching a successful double steal when the tag for the third out at second was missed.
The Highlanders tied it in the third taking advantage of two Camel errors, the second with two outs, allowing Godfrey to tally Radford’s third run of the contest. She singled earlier in the frame, extending her hitting streak to 14 games.
Karlie Love quickly gave the Camels their lead back with a two-run bomb to right in the bottom of the third.
Back-to-back long balls by Godfrey and Shifflett to start the fifth knotted the game at 5-5. The Highlanders threatened to take the lead with runners on second and third, but a fly ball to left ended the rally.
Campbell forged a potential rally in the bottom half of the fifth, putting runners on first and third with no outs, but sophomore
Chelsea Kelley (Roanoke, Va./Cave Spring) reentered and got out of the jam. She struck out the first batter and induced a slow roller to short for two quick outs. After an intentional walk, Kelley stuck out Katie Hinton for the final out.
With two outs in the sixth, Godfrey put Radford ahead for the first time since the first inning with her second round tripper of the game to leftcenter. It was her first multi-homer game of the season and the fourth for the Highlanders.
Radford tacked on three insurance runs to push its lead to 9-5 in the seventh. Two of those came on sophomore
Shannon Keefe’s (Lemont Township, Ill./Lemont) two-run shot over the scoreboard in the left.
Nichole Beall and junior Hope Creasy (Christiansburg, Va./Christiansburg) each had two hits. Both of Creasy's were doubles.