Taylor Tosses Gem as Highlanders Split with Winthrop

Rock Hill, S.C. - Freshman Ashley Taylor (Ringgold, Va.) tossed a complete game shutout in game two to help Radford earn a split, 2-0 in eight innings, with Winthrop this afternoon from Terry Field. Radford scored two runs in the top of the eighth, and survived runners in scoring position in the bottom half to improve to 27-20 overall and 2-2 in the Big South. The Eagles move to 29-19-1, 4-2 in the Conference.

Radford’s victory gave them their third highest victory total in school history. Taylor, with the win, evened her record at 8-8. She tied a career high with 10 strikeouts, giving up four hits and one walk. Shahna Ashard was the tough luck loser, allowing an earned run on five hits, striking out nine and walking two.

After trading zero’s for seven innings the Highlanders pushed across a pair of runs with two outs. Freshman Shelby Rector (Virginia Beach, Va.) blooped a single to shallow right, scoring junior Danielle Tompkins (Equality, Ill.) from third. After senior Lara Wohlgemuth (Centreville, Va.) double to center, freshman Ashley Carlson (Chesapeake, Va.) lined a single to left scoring Rector.

In the bottom half, Lauren Blaser singled up the middle and went to second on the throw, putting runners on second and third. Taylor bore down, getting Janiva Willis to pop out to second, Katie Kipisz to ground out to short and Stephanie Reid to ground out back to the box.

Tompkins went 2-for-3 for the Highlanders, with Blaser also going 2-for-3 for the Eagles.

Kelli Johnson allowed just an earned run and two hits and the Eagle hit two home run in a 4-3 come-from-behind win over the Highlanders. Johnson struck out five, walked two and did not allow a hit after the first inning. Sophomore Breanna Felix (Spring Valley, Calif.) suffered the loss, falling to 18-10. She gave up eight hits, striking out four and walking one batter.

Radford struck for three runs in the top of the first, courtesy of two Winthrop errors and a two-run double by junior Amanda Walling (Summerville, S.C.). The Eagles tied it in the third on a three-run home run to left center by Stephanie Reed and took the lead in the fourth, 4-3, on a solo round tripper by Jenny Scrymgeour.

The Highlanders hit the road on Tuesday when they face Appalachian State in Boone, N.C. at 4 pm.