Sophomore Klara Van Beuge hit her first career home run on April 25, but Radford Highlanders fell to the Winthrop Eagles in a 7-4 loss at Rock Hill, South Carolina.
The game saw the Eagles take an early lead, scoring three runs each in the first and second innings. All six of those runs came with two outs. Radford struggled offensively at first but started to rally in the fourth inning when Amanda Lee led off with her second home run of the season, cutting into Winthrop’s lead.
In the fifth inning, Van Beuge was called on to pinch hit and delivered a three-run homer to left field. This brought Radford within two runs at 6-4. However, Winthrop responded with a solo home run in their half of the fifth inning—the only run allowed by Morgan Cooper during more than four innings of relief pitching for Radford.
Malli Groves tried to spark another comeback for Radford with a double leading off the sixth inning, but she was left stranded after three consecutive outs. The Highlanders were unable to mount any further offense in the seventh and ultimately lost by three runs.
With this result, Radford concludes its regular season with a record of 10-8 and has qualified for the Big South Tournament. The team will wait for official tournament bracket announcements while preparing for games set to begin May 6 in Spartanburg, South Carolina.
