BOONE, N.C. - McKenzie Phillips hit a sacrifice fly to tie the game and Hannah Dow hit the game-winner just past the out-stretched glove of the Radford left fielder to give Appalachian State University softball an 8-7 win over the Highlanders in game two. Radford won game one 7-3.
In a back and forth affair, Radford took a 7-6 lead in the top of the seventh when Michelle Beall hit a homer to straightaway center field.
The Mountaineers responded right away with a Megan Rembielak leadoff single. Katie Boyd followed with a liner off the right center fence for a double, and RU intentionally walked Allie Cashion to load the bases. Phillips drove in Rembielak with a sacrifice fly to center field that also advanced Boyd and Cashion to second and third, respectively. The Highlanders walked Meghan Smith to load the bases again. Chelsea Kelley induced a pop up for out number two but Dow nailed a 1-0 pitch to left center to bring in Boyd with the game-winner.
It was an exciting ballgame, as each team held two leads in a game that wasn't decided until the final at bat.
The Apps grabbed the first lead of the game in the first. Sarah Rappe led off the game for ASU with a single, stole second, advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt by Rembielak and scored on a Boyd sacrifice fly.
Radford got two runs back in the second when Laura Williams and Michelle Beall completed a double steal, with Williams just beating the throw home. Kristen Shifflett knocked in Beall with a double to give RU a 2-1 lead. Hope Creasy made the lead 3-1 with an RBI single and added another run in the fourth on an AUS error.
Appalachian stormed back with a five-run fifth inning to take a 6-4 lead. Smith started the rally with a leadoff homer to left center for her second career homer. Meagan Squartino hit a one-out single to continue the rally and Rappe reached on an error by the first baseman. ASU took advantage of the error and Rembielak knocked a single to center and Boyd followed with a towering home run to center field. The homer was her eighth of the year, and she tied the ASU career RBI record with her 96th and broke the runs scored record with her 110th.
The Highlanders tied the score in the sixth with a two-run homer from Sarah Himan to set up ASU's last inning heroics.
Rembielak, Boyd and Phillips led ASU with two hits apice while Boyd had four RBI and two runs scored while Rembielak had two runs and an RBI. Shifflett led Radford with a 3-for-4 day with two runs and an RBI.
Radford jumped on ASU for five runs in the first two innings and staved off a rally for a 7-3 win in game one.
Shifflett and Michelle Beall had two hits apiece to lead Radford and Rembielak and Gorzelle each had two for ASU.
Kelley earned the win in game one with a complete game, scattering seven hits while striking out seven. Frannie Seader was solid in relief for the Apps, going six innings, giving up three hits and just one earned run.
The Mountaineers close out the season Saturday and Sunday against Western Carolina. ASU hosts WCU in a single game at 6 p.m. tomorrow and host a doubleheader starting at noon on Sunday.
