Harrisonburg, Va. -- Radford, held scoreless for the first six innings of both games against James Madison, used a pair seventh inning rallies to sweep the Dukes this afternoon at JMU Softball Complex. The Highlanders scored two runs to tie the game in the seventh and four in the eighth to win game one, 6-4 and exploded for eight runs in the seventh inning to take game two, 8-4.
On the day, the Highlanders roped four triple bringing their season total to 17, tying the single-season high set back in 1997.
In game one, JMU (25-28) opened the scoring in the bottom of the fifth as freshman Katie George had an RBI triple and sophomore Kelly Berkemeier singled to right field punching home George.
Radford (29-30) would even the game in the top of seventh on an RBI triple by junior Ashley Smith (Roanoke, Va./Northside) scoring junior Sara Beth Clayton (Chesapeake, Va./Louisburg College) who started the rally with a single off the third base bag. Sophomore Amanda Walling (Summerville, S.C./Stratford)
followed with a RBI ground out to second.
The Highlanders used the momentum from the previous inning to push four runs across in the top of the eight to grab a 6-2 advantage. With one out a pinch runner Collen Casey (Poquoson, Va./Poquoson) on third, junior Lara Wohlgemuth (Centreville, Va./Chantilly)
tripled off the right field fence to plate the first run. After
sophomore Lindsay Woody (Annapolis, Md./Broadneck)
reach on a bunt single, Clayton double home Wohlgemuth and Woody would score on a RBI single by Smith. Walling knocked in the sixth run with her second RBI groundout to second of the game.
JMU threatened in its bottom half of the inning, scoring a pair on a junior Katie Jaworski double to center field. (Game One Box)
Freshman Breanna Felix (Spring Valley, Calif./Mount Miguel) controlled JMU for most of the afternoon and finished with a career-high 13 strikeouts, one shy of the school record.
In the second game of the twinbill, JMU led 1-0 after one full frame on an RBI single from Jaworski. Jaworski tripled in the third, plating Katie George and junior Liz George, and later scored on a passed ball to widen JMU’s lead to 4-0.
Neither team would score again until the top of the seventh when the Highlanders exploded for eight runs on eight hits and two JMU errors. Sophomore Danielle Tompkins (Equality, Ill./Woodside (Va.)) and junior Kat Peck (Manassas, Va./Young Harris JC) sandwiched infield singles around a strikeout and an illegal picth to put runners on first and third. Peck's extended her hitting streak to 10 games. Sophomore Jen Bosley (Oakland, Md./Southern Garrett) stroked a two-run double down the leftfield line, cutting the JMU lead in half at 4-2. Two batters later, Clayton poked a bases loaded double to right, scoring Bosley and Wohlegumuth to tie the game.
Smith, following Clayton, broke the 4-4 deadlock with at two-run double of her own, her 14th of the year. RU would add two more as Smith and Walling would score on throwing errors by the Dukes. Smith's double tied her for fifth most in a single season and it was her 30th career double, tying her for fourth.
Bosley (13-14) earned the win in relief, shutting out the Dukes over 3.1 innings, allowing four hits, striking out three and walking two. Her win ties her for third most wins in a RU season. Wohlgemuth, who walked twice, brought her season total to 25, tying her with Ashleigh Brooks' mark (2002). She also moved into a tie for fifth in single-season runs scored (35) and
Radford closes out the regular season on Saturday, May 1 when they host Liberty in a key Big South Conference doubleheader. First pitch is a 1 p.m.
(Game Two Box)
