BUIES CREEK, N.C. – Campbell dropped its Big South series opener Friday evening to Radford, 5-4, inside Amanda Littlejohn Stadium.
Becky Mantel led the offense for Radford, going 2-for-4, including a grand slam to open the scoring. Rachel McCollum and Amber Schisler each notched multi-hit efforts in the contest for Campbell.
Campbell drops to 23-29 and 9-13 in conference action, while Radford improves to 32-22 and 13-9 in league play. With Friday's result, Campbell can be seeded as high as fifth in next week's Big South Championship.
Both teams were slow on the offensive side of the ball until the third inning. After a pair of singles and walk, Mantel opened up the scoring for the Highlanders with a grand slam to centerfield, taking a 4-0 lead.
The Fighting Camels answered back in the bottom with one run half of the inning as McCollum singled off the pitcher's foot, plating Cierra Harris from third base.
The Highlanders scored their fifth run of the night on Mantel's RBI double to left centerfield, extending the Campbell deficit to 5-1. The gap was closed to two, 5-3, in the bottom half of the fifth inning. McCollum connected on her second RBI single of the night, clearing the bases, scoring Katie Baker and Megan Mozingo.
In the bottom of the sixth, the Fighting Camels closed the gap to one run on Christa Hall's RBI single up the middle. With two outs on the board in the bottom of the seventh, Campbell had one runner on second, threatening to tie the contest, but a strikeout ended the evening.
McCollum went 2-for-4 with three RBIs, leading the Camels offense. Schisler also went 2-for-4 along with 6 2/3 innings pitched, striking out four batters in her fourth loss of the season. Eight batters reached base via a hit for the Fighting Camels Friday evening.
The Highlanders offense went through Mantel's two hit, five RBI performance. Only three other Radford batters recorded a hit on the night. Abby Morrow went 5 2/3 innings, earning her 18th win of the year.
Friday's contest was delayed two and a half hours due to lightning and rain, along with a 17-minute delay in the bottom of the sixth due to the stadium lights shutting off.
Saturday's doubleheader will begin at 1 p.m. with senior day recognition beginning after game one. Game two is scheduled to begin 30 minutes following game one.
