RADFORD, Va. - Charleston Southern dropped game three of the opening Big South series, falling 15-7 vs. the Radford Highlanders Sunday, at the RU Softball Field. Despite 10 hits and four homeruns in the game, the Bucs lost in five innings after allowing 17 hits and committing two errors in the game. CSU dropped to 16-18-1 with a 0-3 mark in the Big South, while Radford improved to 16-9 and 5-1 in league play.

Erin Kegley had two hits, two RBI and a run scored, including a two-run homerun that set the pace for the game. Trea Steele also tallied a pair of hits, with a homerun coming in the fifth inning. Six other Buccaneers recorded hits, with homeruns coming from Megan Lombard and Kristin Kelleher. Shannon Keefe paced Radford with three hits, four RBI and three runs scored.

CSU took an early lead in the top of the first, after two hits and two runs in the inning. Lombard reached base as the leadoff batter, after being hit by a pitch. From there two batters were retired, to bring up Kegley, who sent a two-run homer over the left field fence. Jana Matthews also tallied a hit, but couldn't reach home, as the Bucs took a 2-0 advantage to the bottom of the inning.

Radford didn't take long to answer however, posting nine runs in the bottom of the first after eight hits and one CSU miscue. The Highlanders batted through the entire order, including a stretch of seven consecutive hits, capped off by a Kristen Shifflett homerun. Six runs were charged to

Caitlin Allen received six earned runs after starting in the circle, while three were given to Sondra Vetter, who stepped in after one out in the inning.

After the high scoring first, both teams posted blanks in the second. The Bucs had a one, two, three inning and Radford lined out in to a double play to end the inning.

CSU started to cut into the lead from there, posting one run in the third and four runs in the fourth. Lombard had a lead-off solo homerun in the third for the lone run in the inning. In the fourth, the Bucs tallied six hits and used a Highlander error to score the four runs.

CSU started the fourth with back-to-back solo shots from Kelleher and Steele, the first collegiate homeruns for both players. The Bucs also had a RBI double from Megan Hall and RBI single from Shayla Cullum in the inning, making it a 9-7 deficit for CSU. Radford managed to take back a run in the bottom of the inning, using a solo homerun from Keefe to push the score to 10-7.

The Highlanders posted another five runs in the bottom of the fifth, ending the game due to the run rule with a final 15-7 score. Radford had two homers in the game, including the game ending two-run shot from Hope Creasy.

Chelsea Kelley got the win to improve to 11-4, after allowing six hits and four runs in three and two thirds innings of work. Allen took the loss to drop to 3-3, after giving up five hits and six runs in a third of an inning.

CSU will be back in action on Wednesday, March 31, when they travel to play the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers for a 4 p.m. double header.