Grab the Broom

20 days ago

It was another sweep for the Radford Highlanders Softball team this past weekend. A much needed one as they close in on the end of the regular season. With just a few more series left in the year, the ladies from Radford have their eyes on the conference tournament and then hopefully the national tournament. Only the top five teams in the Big South Conference get to play in the conference tournament, so they need to finish strong after a shaky start to the season.

I haven't looked at the Big South standings in a while, but from the way it sounds, things have gotten pretty tight and heading into this weekend it wasn't as much of a sure thing as it was last year that they were going to make it to the tournament. Adding to that, they went up against a Gardner-Webb team that as of Friday morning had the best offense in the conference.

Thankfully, the Radford pitching was able to shut that offense down in a big way!

Things kicked off on Friday evening with a 4 PM game against the Bulldogs of Gardner-Webb University. As has been the case for most series, Radford started their ace pitcher Redmon in the first game. She pitched a complete game shut out and Radford was able to win the game 3 to 0. It was a pretty awesome showing and it is important to remember that this team has the best offense in the conference, so not allowing them to score any runs is a big deal.

Saturday the action started at noon with the first game of a double header against Gardner-Webb. This one went a little differently with Cooper taking the mound as pitcher. The Bulldogs took an early 2 run lead in the second inning that they carried into the seventh and final inning. Unfortunately, it wouldn't hold, and The Highlanders were able to make a very late game rally to walk off the game 3 to 2.

It was a pretty amazing complete game by Cooper on the mound. Radford has been on the losing end of a few walk offs this year, so it was really nice to see them finally get one of their own. At just the right time I might add.

Riding that wave, the second game was another pitching masterpiece by Sabo who also threw a complete game shutout with the Highlanders winning 3 to 0 once again. Our niece didn't get to bat at all, but she did get to pinch run and she was one of the scoring runs in that early game on Saturday.

Tomorrow the Highlanders have a one off out of conference game against a Tennessee team that is 9th in the nation right now. Then they finish up their regular season with two series against Winthrop University this weekend, and Queens University down in Charlotte North Carolina in the middle of next week.

I really hope the Highlanders can carry this momentum with them into the post season!