RADFORD, Va. – Junior center fielder Tyren Rivers' (Suffolk, Va./Nansemond River) two-out seventh inning single pushed across the winning run and Radford got 2 2/3 innings of scoreless relief work to take the first game of a Big South series from Gardner-Webb, 4-3, Friday at Radford University Baseball Field.

Rivers lifted a 1-1 pitch into right field to score senior Mario Duarte (Tampa, Fla./Gaither) from second, getting his only hit of the day and giving the Highlanders (21-19, 12-8) a 4-3 lead that they didn't give up. Duarte pinch-ran for junior Rick Hoogstraten (Poquoson, Va./Poquoson), who came off the bench to draw a walk leading off the seventh.

A combined one-hit relief effort over 2 2/3 innings from the Radford bullpen boosted the Highlanders. Junior right-hander Jake Quigg (Glen Arm, Md./Loyola) entered with two on and one out in the seventh and got the final two outs to preserve a 3-3 tie.  Quigg (3-1) earned the win with his 1 2/3 innings of work.

In the ninth, freshman righty Jason Patten (Davidsonville, Md./Archbishop Spalding) worked a hitless inning to earn the save (7), leaving him one shy of tying the school record of eight.

Junior right fielder Reggie Keen (Danville, Va./G.W.-Danville) and freshman second baseman Brett Mollenhauer (Roanoke, Va./Hidden Valley) each had two hits and a run driven in to lead the Highlanders, while junior catcher Robert Lamas (Annandale, Va./Paul VI) scored two of Radford's four runs.

Third baseman Aaron Miller led the Runnin' Bulldogs (22-19, 10-9) with a 3-for-4 day and first baseman Justin Loyd had two RBIs, going 1-for-3.  

Loyd's single to right with two outs in the fifth plated two, and gave the Runnin' Bulldogs a 3-2 lead.

Right-hander Devin Campbell (3-2) took the loss, allowing four runs on nine hits in seven innings.

Radford struck first in the bottom of the first on senior first baseman Alex Gregory's (Great Falls, Va./Paul VI) two-out single to center, scoring Keen to give the Highlanders the 1-0 lead.   They added on in the second when Lamas led off the inning with a double on the first pitch, before Mollenhauer knocked him in on a single up the middle to make it 2-0.

Gardner-Webb had its big inning in the fifth, loading the bases with one out. Left fielder Daniel Cooke got the Runnin' Bulldogs on the board with a sac fly to right in foul territory, before Loyd cleared the bases to take a 3-2 lead.

Radford equaled Gardner-Webb in the bottom half, when Keen singled in Lamas with two outs.

The Highlanders threatened in the eighth, loading the bases with no one out, but Gardner-Webb left-hander Ryan Maxa came on and got a ground ball to force out the runner at the plate, then recorded a strikeout and fielder's choice groundout to end the inning without any damage.

Friday's win snapped a four-game skid for the Highlanders.

The series concludes tomorrow with a doubleheader, beginning at noon.