The Lady Bucs of ETSU softball played a non-conference doubleheader on Wednesday against the Lady Highlanders of Radford.
The Lady Bucs came into the contest 3-13 overall, while the Lady Highlanders were 11-7. ETSU was looking for a couple of big wins against Radford after their disappointing performance at the Georgia Tech Buzz Classic earlier this month.
In the first game the Lady Bucs jumped out to an early lead, up 2-0 after the first inning of play following an unearned run by Stephanie Gaynord and a RBI by Mary Catherine Vercoe. They hit a wall offensively after that; they were three-up and three-down in the second, third, fourth and fifth.
While the Bucs began to struggle offensively throughout those innings, their defense faltered as well. They made two errors; one at shortstop and the other in center field. These allowed the Lady Highlanders to tie the game at 2-2.
Despite the troubles, ETSU seemed to get back into their rhythm in the sixth; when they turned two on a line-drive to shortstop, Gaynord, who then threw to first, making the play and sending the Bucs to bat.
The Lady Bucs were unable to capitalize offensively though, and the game was still tied at the end of the sixth.
Neither team could gain an advantage in the seventh, leading to an extra inning and a tiebreaker situation. Radford led off with Ashley Carlson on second and they managed to score an additional run before ETSU was able to force the final out.
By this time the Lady Bucs had their work cut out for them and the crowd was electrified. Stephanie Cope was placed on second, but Victoria Gast ran pinch for her. The Bucs batted her in on a single by Brianna Knight, which tied the game at 3 all. The final run came as Amanda Haverman hit a single and Gaynord scored.
The second game turned out to be more of an uphill battle for the Lady Bucs. Offensively, ETSU never got rolling, getting only two hits in the entire game.
At the same time the Lady Highlanders were on point in terms of their offense, going up 2-0 in the second inning. They got 11 hits during their second contest with the Bucs.
With their scoring drought, and Radford’s barrage of runs, ETSU could not dig out of the hole, and lost the game 8-0.
The Lady Bucs will be at home, in Metro-Kiwanis Park, again today when they play a double header against Eastern Kentucky.

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