DAMERON, JENKINS SHUT DOWN GARDNER-WEBB IN DOUBLEHEADER SWEEP

BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. – Stephanie Dameron (Dameron, Md./St. Mary's Ryken) and Jackie Jenkins (Mechanicsville, Va./Atlee) tossed complete game shutouts as Radford swept a Big South doubleheader at Gardner-Webb, Saturday afternoon from Varsity Field.

The duo combined to scatter nine hits with only two runners reaching third base the entire game as the Highlanders improved to 21-11 overall and 3-1 in the league.

Dameron tossed a four-hit shutout as Radford took game one 7-0. She struck out four and the defense behind her turned three double plays to erase all Bulldog (9-17, 1-3) scoring threats.

The first two double plays came in the first and fourth innings after Samantha Meenaghan singled and then walked. A 5-4-3 twin killing ended the first. In the fourth, Meenaghan led off with a free pass and was quickly erased when Kristen Shifflett (Charlottesville, Va./Monticello) snagged a sinking liner and doubled her off first.

The final double play ended the game and preserved Dameron's shutout. After the Bulldogs put runners on the corners with one out, third baseman Vicki Madden (Virginia Beach, Va./Kempsville) started her second double play of the contest.

The Highlanders struck for two early runs on a two-out two run triple by Michelle Beall (Culpeper, Va./Culpeper County) in the top of the first.

RBI singles by pinch hitter Morgan Eye (Bridgewater, Va./Turner Ashby) and Lauren Williams (Ashburn, Va./Stone Bridge) highlighted a four-hit, three-run fourth that pushed Radford's lead to 5-0.

Radford added single runs in the fifth and seventh innings. Shannon Keefe (Lemont, Ill./Lemont) doubled down the leftfield line on a hit-and-run run scoring Michelle Beall from first in the fifth.

Nichole Beall (Culpeper, Va./Culpeper County) added Radford's final run on a solo blast to left in the seventh. It easily cleared the leftfield fence despite a very strong wind blowing in.

Michelle Beall and Shifflett each had two hits as seven different Highlanders recorded at least one of their 10 base knocks. Beall knocked in two and scored two runs.

Jenkins surrendered five hits and struck out three as she improved to 9-0. She threw just 62 pitches, 52 of them for strikes (82 percent).

The Highlanders scored single runs in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings giving Jenkins all the offense she would need.

Radford tallied the first run of the contest in the fourth. Taylor Cunningham (Fairfax, Va./Robinson Secondary) tripled to right and scored when the relay throw went into Gardner-Webb's dugout.

A couple of Gardner-Webb miscues and a RBI groundout by Shifflett doubled Radford's lead to 2-0 in the fifth.

Nichole Beall's second home run of the day, a shot to leftcenter in the sixth, pushed the Highlanders' advantage to 3-0.

Jessica Childers suffered the loss despite holding the Highlanders to just four hits and one earned. She struck out three and walked one.

The teams close out the three-game series tomorrow at 1 p.m.