LYNCHBURG, Va. – Radford rallied from behind in both games, sweeping a doubleheader from Liberty, 5-3 and 7-5, to take a Big South baseball series in the 2009 regular season finale at Worthington Stadium Friday afternoon.

With the wins, the Highlanders (25-22, 16-9 Big South) clinched their first winning season since 2000, a 26-21 campaign for Radford. This marks the sixth overall winning season in school history; baseball began at Radford in 1985.

Radford used 27 players, including seven pitchers, over the two games and got a balanced offensive effort of 21 hits from 10 different position players in the wins.

Highlighting the day for the Highlanders was freshman right-hander Jason Patten's (Davidsonville, Md./Archbishop Spalding) ninth save in the nightcap, giving Patten the school's new single-season saves record.

Liberty drops to 31-19 with the losses (17-8, Big South).

Senior left-hander Mark Beppler (Chesapeake, Va./Hickory) delivered five shutout innings of relief and junior Raphael Turner's (Washington, D.C./Woodrow Wilson) RBI singles in the sixth and seventh innings lifted Radford to the 5-3 victory in game one.

Beppler was lights-out for five hitless innings, including four strikeouts, earning his first win of the season (1-1). His only blemish was hitting left fielder Jeff Jefferson with a pitch in the sixth, but a double-play ground ball to senior first baseman Alex Gregory (Great Falls, Va./Paul VI) erased the runner.

Turner came off the bench to spark Radford, going 2-for-2 with three RBIs. His first run-scoring hit came in the sixth with no one out and two on, bringing home junior catcher Robert Lamas (Annandale, Va./Paul VI) to cut Liberty's lead to a run at 3-2. In the seventh, Turner hit a single up the middle with two outs to score junior Rick Hoogstraten (Poquoson, Va./Poquoson) and Gregory, and give the Highlanders a 5-3 lead.

Gregory was 3-for-3 in the first game and Lamas went 2-for-4 while scoring twice. 

Jefferson's two hits and RBI single in the third led the Flames in game one.

Liberty got its three runs in a third inning where all six hitters reached. Designated hitter Justin Richardson reached on an error at second with the bases loaded and no one out, scoring center fielder Curran Redal to give the Flames a 2-1 lead. Jefferson hit his RBI single on the next play to make it a two-run lead.

Right-handed reliever Carter Browning took the loss (2-2) in four innings of relief.

Radford's eighth-inning rally, highlighted by freshman Matt Hillsinger's (Bowie, Md./Archbishop Spalding) pinch-hit two-run single, was the difference in a 7-5 win in the nightcap.

Hillsinger got the decisive hit in his only at-bat of the day and his effort led a Radford offense that saw nine different position players get hits.

The first five men reached in the eighth and with two on and one out, senior pinch-hitter Steven Ellis (Centreville, Va./Westfield) singled through the left side after getting behind 0-2 in the count to load the bases. Then, Hillsinger looped a single over the head of first baseman Trey Wimmer into right field, scoring Minter and Hoogstraten on the play, to give Radford a 5-4 lead. Freshman shortstop Brett Mollenhauer's (Roanoke, Va./Hidden Valley) sac fly to center scored Ellis and gave the Highlanders a 6-4 lead.

Hoogstraten, senior left fielder Will Naylor (Clifton, Va./Paul VI) and junior center fielder Tyren Rivers (Suffolk, Va./Nansemond River) each had two hits in the nightcap for Radford.

Senior lefty John Lloyd (Oak Hill, Va./Westfield) got the win (1-0), tossing a perfect seventh inning. Lloyd was one of five different pitchers used by the Highlanders.

Jefferson, third baseman Kizuku Scott and second baseman P.J. Jimenez had two hits each for the Flames. Jimenez homered to lead off the third, tying the game at 2-2.

Right-hander Andrew Wilson took the loss (5-3), allowing four runs in the final 3 2/3 innings.

Radford added insurance in the ninth on Hoogstraten's two-out RBI single to take a 7-4 lead.

Liberty got a run back in the bottom of the ninth off Patten on Scott's solo homer with one out. Wimmer and Jimenez followed with singles to put two on with one away, but Patten got shortstop Matt Williams to ground into a game-ending 6-4-3 double play.

NOTES: Radford won 24 games for the second straight season and has 25 victories for the first time since 2000… This is the eighth time in school history that Radford has won 25 games in a season… The series win over Liberty gives Radford its sixth conference series win of the season and third on the road… Patten passed Bret Lieberman, who set the original saves mark in 2003… Pairings for the 2009 Big South baseball tournament, which begins Tuesday at McCormick Field in Asheville, N.C., will be announced Saturday night… The Highlanders will be one of the top four seeds, beginning tournament play on Wednesday.