Box Score

CONWAY, S.C. – Junior Chelsea Sciacca/Whittier, Calif. went 2-for-4 with a pair of RBI to help the No. 2 seeded Longwood University softball team win a 6-4, come-from-behind thriller against No. 3 Radford University in an elimination game of the 2014 Big South Conference Championship on Friday afternoon in Conway, S.C. The Highlanders jumped out to a 4-0 lead before the Lancers scored six unanswered runs en route to the comeback decision. Junior Katie Shinrock/Fountain Valley, Calif. added three hits (.750), one run and one RBI, while sophomore Jamie Barbour/Amelia hit .667 (2-3) with two runs in the outing. Freshman Elizabeth McCarthy/Dunnsville went the distance in the circle for the Lancers, notching three strikeouts and allowing six hits to improve to 20-5 on the season. Radford finishes their 2014 campaign with a 22-30 overall record, while Longwood (39-15) advances to take on No. 5 Winthrop this evening at 7 p.m.
 
"I was really happy to see us battle back," said head coach Kathy Riley. "What we are really working to do is establish an edge before the game starts, and if we do that, we're going to get a lot more opportunities. I think we did a great job getting people on base today. We had a couple chances to put them away late in the game and just didn't get that hit, but we have to be really proud of how hard the team fought and I think we did the Lancer Faithful proud today."
 
Neither side was able to put a run on the board in the first inning, as Radford went three-up and three-down with a pair of strikeouts and a fly out, and junior Megan Baltzell/Stafford (0-2, 1 RBI) drew a walk for the Lancers, but was thrown out on a fielder's choice. The Highlanders left a runner stranded in the top of the second, and although Longwood threatened in the home half of the inning when sophomore Carly Adams/Colonial Heights (1-2) was hit by a pitch and advanced on a sacrifice bunt by freshman Justina Augustine/Warrenton (0-1, 1 run), the scoreless tie remained intact.
 
Radford broke the game open in its next trip to the plate, taking a 4-0 advantage. The team's leadoff batter struck out, but was safe at first following a wild pitch before moving up on a sacrifice bunt and scoring on a RBI single to left field. Back-to-back base hits down the right field line scored a pair of runs, and an infield single gave the visitors the four-run margin. The Lancers got one run back in the bottom of the third, as Shinrock sent a one-out line drive up the middle, advanced on a fly-ball out and scored on a ball hit hard to right field by Sciacca. Longwood held Radford in the fourth and carried the momentum into the bottom of the inning. Augustine got things started with a walk and Barbour legged out a single to the pitcher, bringing up senior Amy Putnam/Poquoson (1-3, 1 run, 1 RBI), who found the gap in left center to cut the difference in half. Baltzell also recorded a RBI on a groundout and Sciacca connected on a swinging bunt to the pitcher to plate the tying run and make the score 4-4.
 
The Lancers' defense played with a new confidence in the fifth, retiring the Radford side in order with the help of a great catch by Augustine in foul territory over the fence to the first base dugout. Longwood rallied for two more runs on three hits, including a RBI single to center by Shinrock, in the home half of the fifth to take its first lead of the day and the tournament at 6-4. Neither side was able to make noise in the sixth, and the Lancers forced three quick outs in the top of the seventh to seal the 6-4 decision.