RADFORD, Va. – Lafayette played 16 innings of softball on day one of the Radford Spring Invitational, coming away with a Friday split after beating East Tennessee State 5-4 in nine innings  while dropping the opener to Radford 9-3.

Lafayette closed out the day with its first extra-inning game of the season. Senior Kyle Sweet knocked home the game-winning run in the ninth before Parker Rowden threw her second no-hit inning of the night for the circle win. Sweet and Caroline Hall had three hits apiece in the contest.
 
The Leopards were first to post a run. ETSU walked the bases loaded with no outs in the fifth. Dani Rosner worked an eight-pitch at-bat for the fourth walk of the inning and Lafayette's first lead of the game, 1-0, at the end of five.
 
In the sixth, Lafayette added an insurance run. Rookie Ava Butler drew a lead-off walk and later scored on an error for the 2-0 advantage.
 
Leopard starter Jordan Goedel limited ETSU to one hit through five innings, but ran into some trouble in the sixth. A lead-off single and a wild pitch put two runners in scoring position with one out. Goedel got a groundout to third on a baserunning error, but the Buccaneers' first run scored on the play. Hailey Porter followed with a run-scoring double to knot the game at 2-2.
 
The Leopards wasted no time snatching back the lead in the seventh. Sweet's one-out double set the stage. Jocelyn O'Keeffe pinch ran for Sweet and scored when Regan Dillon delivered an RBI-single for the 3-2 advantage.
 
ETSU evened things, taking advantage of a throwing error in the bottom half to tie the game and send it to extra innings.
 
In the eighth, the international tiebreaker rule was in effect, placing a runner on second base to start the inning. The teams traded runs in the frame, with the Leopards scoring on a check throw by the catcher to third base and the Bucs via a sac fly to tie things up, 4-4.
 
Sweet's timely single scored Hall for the 5-4 final.  Rowden secured her third victory of the season.
  
In the Leopards' first game, Radford put up six runs in the bottom of the third to break open a close contest.
Things were tied 1-1 in the second. Junior Regan Dillon reached on an E5, eventually scoring on the first and third steal play.
 
Radford's third inning was highlight by a three-run triple from Hailey Scott to gain a 7-1 lead.
 
Butler hit her first career home run with a two-run shot in the top of the sixth to cut the deficit to 7-3. The Leopards inched no closer. 
 
Highlanders' senior pitcher Madison Sabo (2-6) got the win in the circle, pitching 5.2 innings with three strikeouts while allowing only three runs. Rookie Andy Hegarty went two innings and gave up five earned runs on five hits. Soph. Makayla Lecky pitched three innings, giving way to Marisa Powell who threw the final frame.
 
On Saturday, Leopard softball finishes off the weekend at 12:30 p.m. vs. ETSU and then plays the tourney finale vs. Radford at 3 p.m.