Radford Softball Rallies Past Campbell with the Long Ball to Win First NCAA Tournament Game
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Radford scored six unanswered runs, courtesy of four home runs, two by freshman Leigh Godfrey (Perth, Australia/Seton Catholic College), to defeat Campbell, 9-5 to earn its first NCAA Tournament win. It also marked the first NCAA tournament victory for any Radford athletic team.
 
The Highlanders will take on the third-seeded Tar Heels of North Carolina in approximately 30 minutes for the right to take on Georgia, tomorrow in the regional final.
 
Radford struck for two runs in the top of the first on a RBI single by freshman Nichole Beall (Culpeper, Va./Culpeper County). Beall scored on the next pitch when she stole third and scooted home when the throw went into left.
 
Sophomore Kristen Shifflett (Charlottesville,Va./Monticello), who scored on the single, crossed the dish for the 50th time this season. It marks the first time in program history, two Highlanders have scored 50-plus runs in the same season.
 
The Camels took the lead with a three-run second on a pair of RBI singles by Brittany Stanley and Robin Leathers, sandwiching a successful double steal when the tag for the third out at second was missed.

The Highlanders tied it in the third taking advantage of two Camel errors, the second with two outs, allowing Godfrey to tally Radford’s third run of the contest. She singled earlier in the frame, extending her hitting streak to 14 games.
 
Karlie Love quickly gave the Camels their lead back with a two-run bomb to right in the bottom of the third.
 
Back-to-back long balls by Godfrey and Shifflett to start the fifth knotted the game at 5-5. The Highlanders threatened to take the lead with runners on second and third, but a fly ball to left ended the rally.

Campbell forged a potential rally in the bottom half of the fifth, putting runners on first and third with no outs, but sophomore Chelsea Kelley (Roanoke, Va./Cave Spring) reentered and got out of the jam. She struck out the first batter and induced a slow roller to short for two quick outs. After an intentional walk, Kelley stuck out Katie Hinton for the final out.
 
With two outs in the sixth, Godfrey put Radford ahead for the first time since the first inning with her second round tripper of the game to leftcenter. It was her first multi-homer game of the season and the fourth for the Highlanders.

Radford tacked on three insurance runs to push its lead to 9-5 in the seventh. Two of those came on sophomore Shannon Keefe’s (Lemont Township, Ill./Lemont) two-run shot over the scoreboard in the left.

Radford Softball’s Storybook Season Comes to an End in NCAA Regional
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Radford softball’s storybook season came to an end, falling to North Carolina, 9-4, in the second elimination of the NCAA Chapel Hill Regional. Just prior to their matchup with the Tar Heels (47-12), the Highlanders (41-15) won their and the school’s first team NCAA tournament contest with a 9-5 victory over Campbell.
 
“I could not be more proud of our team this season,” said Dean. “We had a tremendous year with a lot of firsts. Our first conference championship, first team NCAA victory for our athletic program and our first all-region first-team selections.”
 
Sophomore Kristen Shifflett (Charlottesville, Va./Monticello) paced the Highlanders, hitting a pair of home runs and knocking in three. Her two long balls brought her school record total to 16.
 
Freshman Leigh Godfrey (Perth, Australia/Seton Catholic College) recorded a double and finished the season with a 15-game hitting streak and a school-record .469 batting average. Her average was 49 points higher than record holder Melissa Pickel (.420) and she became only the second player to bat .400 in a season and the first since 1996.
 
Godfrey also registered a hit in 33 of Radford’s final 34 games and reached base safely in all but three contests this season. Her .503 on base percentage also set a new single-season mark.
 
The teams traded blows in the third, each tallying three runs. The Tar Heels jumped on top 3-0 with a two-out rally. The first run came across on a RBI single Brittany McKinney. Emily Troup launched what at first was a three-run home run to left. However, Troup was out for not touching home plate and the fourth run did not count.

The Highlanders got some two-out magic of their own in the bottom half of the frame. With senior Jenn Everhart (Purcellville, Va./Loudoun Valley) on second courtesy of a walk and a steal, Godfrey laced a double off the wall in right, plating Everhart. A few pitches later, Shifflett hit a mammoth home run deep into the leftfield trees tying the game.
 
North Carolina broke it open with a six-run sixth. Lisa Norris and Danielle Spaulding highlighted it with three-run and two-run two-out home runs.

Shifflett went yard for the second time of the game and third of the regional, hitting an opposite shot over the rightcenterfield fence in the sixth, making it 9-4.

Norris earned the victory with 4.1 innings of one-hit, one-run relief. She struck out one and walked one.

The Highlanders finished the season with several records, including 71 home runs a .369 on base percentage and a .535 slugging percentage. The slugging was the first time a Highlander team finished above .500.