GARDNER-WEBB EDGES RADFORD IN NINE INNINGS, 3-2

BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. – A one-out single in the bottom of the ninth by Kelsey Witter gave Gardner-Webb a 3-2 walk-off win over Radford, Sunday afternoon in the series finale from Varsity Field.

After a throwing error with one out put a runner on second, Jane Savage singled pinch runner Jessica Milligan to third and Witter singled through the 3-4 hole for the win.

Jessica Childers picked up the victory for the Runnin' Bulldogs (10-17, 3-2 Big South) as she surrendered two runs on four hits with three strikeouts and two walks.

Jackie Jenkins (Mechanicsville, Va./Atlee) suffered the defeat, her first of the season, in 5.2 innings of relief work. Jenkins (9-1) scattered five hits.

Stephanie Dameron (Dameron, Md./St. Mary's Ryken) started for the Highlanders (21-12, 3-2) and went the first 2.2 innings and allowed two runs on six hits with one strikeout.

Back-to-back two-out RBI singles by Lindsea Hutchinson and Savage gave Gardner-Webb the early 2-0 lead after one.

Savage finished 3-for-4, while Witter was 2-for-4. Gardner-Webb recorded 11 hits all singles.

Radford mustered just four hits, which included triples by Lauren Williams (Ashburn, Va./Stonebridge) and Vicki Madden (Virginia Beach, Va./Kempsville).

The Highlanders got one run back in the top of the third when Williams tripled to the fence in rightcenter and scored on a sac fly to shallow right by Kristen Shifflett (Charlottesville, Va./Monticello).

Jenkins got out of a jam in the third. After two singles knocked Dameron out of the game, Jenkins first pitch in the dirt advanced the runners to second and third, but she induced a grounder to shortstop to end the frame.

Madden tied it in the fifth with a one-out triple to right center, scoring Shannon Keefe (Lemont, Ill./Lemont) from second.

The loss snapped a 10-game winning streak against the Bulldogs.

Radford returns home for a mid-week doubleheader against in-state foe Longwood on April 6 at 4 p.m.