BOX SCORE

CLINTON, S.C. - Zach Costello tied a Radford school record with three homers, leading the Highlanders to a 9-1 rout of Presbyterian in the opener of a Big South conference series on Friday afternoon.

Costello went 4-for-4 with 5 RBIs and tied a record matched four previous times by Travis Morgan (March 25, 1988 vs. UNC Asheville), Duane Filchner (April 20, 1995 vs. Richmond), Kelly Dampeer (March 19, 1995 vs. C.W. Post) and Alex Gregory (April 15, 2006 vs. VMI).

“We had a great offensive day with Costello being number one with his three home runs and five RBI,” commented head coach Joe Raccuia. “He played exceptional in center field, tracking down balls hit to the alley.

“All in all it was a very business-like and professional win. It was very good to see us bounce back and play well again.”

Costello's first blast was a solo shot to left center in the third inning to give the Highlanders (15-10, 1-3 Big South) a 2-0 cushion. He added his second homer, a two-run shot in the sixth, pushing the Radford lead to 6-1 before his third and final home run hit off the scoreboard in left center to cap the Radford scoring.

In the fourth inning, Costello hit a two-out bloop single off the end of his bat and over the infield to score Ryan Burgess and push the Radford lead to 4-0.

The Highlanders got eight innings from right-hander Eddie Butler, who struck out six and issued four walks, but allowed just one run on two hits on the way to his fourth win (4-1). Butler retired the first eight batters and pitched his way out of a third inning two-out jam with runners on second and third.

“It started with pitching, always has and always will, and Eddie gave us a great start and eight great innings,” Raccuia said.

A pair of Highlanders extended hitting streaks – Matt Mack stretched his to eight games with a 4-for-4 game with three doubles an RBI and two runs scored. Matt Hillsinger also extended his streak to nine games with a single in the eighth.

The lone Presbyterian (16-10, 3-4) run came from Brad Zebedis, who launched his seventh homer of the year, a solo shot over the left field fence to bring the score within three, 4-1 in the fourth. Zebedis, the league's leader in batting average entering Friday's game, had one of the two Blue Hose hits.

Right-hander Buck Mosteller took the loss (3-2) for Presbyterian, allowing six runs over 5 1/3 innings.

The second game of the series is Saturday with a 2 p.m. first pitch.