GAME 1 BOX | GAME 2 BOX

RADFORD, Va. – Radford rallied for a 6-5 win in the first game and pounded VMI 14-5 in the nightcap on the way to doubleheader sweep and Big South series win on Sunday afternoon.

The Highlanders improved to 18-13 overall and 4-5 in the league with their second-straight series victory, while the Keydets dropped to 15-16-1 and 5-7.

“I felt like we lost the first two games of this series,” head coach Joe Raccuia said. “With the game that started Friday and continued Saturday, it felt like two losses. But I like the way that we bounced back, and got it done with two wins today. We made enough pitches and enough plays and I felt like we got what we deserved.”

GAME 1 – RADFORD 6, VMI 5

Radford scored six unanswered runs to take the lead and Abram Williams worked out of a bases-loaded, none-out jam in the ninth to lift Radford.

Williams earned his eighth save in nine chances, tossing the final 2 2/3 innings. After getting the final two outs in the seventh and a 1-2-3 eighth, Williams ran in to trouble when the Keydets strung together five straight singles before the Highlanders could record an out. Following back-to-back RBI singles by George Piccirilli and Alex Haitsuka to make it a 6-5 game, Williams fanned Jacob Morley for the first out with the bases full, then induced a 4-6-3 groundball double play to end the game.

“That was a clutch double play at the end of the game,” Raccuia said. “It looks bad for Abram, but it was a lot of dinkers and choppers and guys running into each other on bouncing balls. Abram made a lot of good pitches in the inning and did his job.

“We really had to grind out that one.”

The Highlanders, who trailed 3-0 for the second straight game, plated two in the bottom of the second on a Carl Travers single and a Matt Hillsinger groundout to the right side to make it 3-2. Radford kept the rally going in the third with four runs, highlighted by a Cory Turner RBI triple, an Alex Guerra run-scoring single to center, and a two-run single by Travers to make it a 6-3 lead.

Piccirilli and Haitsuka had three hits each for the Keydets, who had 14 hits and stranded 10 base runners.

Zach Costello added a 3-for-4 effort for the Highlanders, with three singles in his first three trips to the plate.

GAME 2 – RADFORD 14, VMI 5

The Highlanders rallied from a 3-2 fourth inning deficit, then outscored the Keydets 12-2 the rest of the way for the win in the second game.

“All-in-all, I think we played pretty well in game two,” Raccuia said. “We did a lot of things offensively – singles, doubles, executed sacrifice bunts, a squeeze play, we moved guys over.”

Brett Mollenhauer and Turner drove in three runs each – Mollenhauer's two-run single with two outs in the fourth gave the Highlanders a 5-3 lead, and Turner's two sixth-inning RBIs were part of a five-run inning.

Ryan Burgess and Matt Mack turned in 3-for-4 efforts, with Burgess scoring three times. Hillsinger was 2-for-4, scored three times and stole his 20th base of the season following a leadoff single in the fifth.

The Highlanders put the leadoff man on in each of their scoring innings – the second through the seventh.

Sam Roberts and Haitsuka each hit homers for the Keydets – Roberts' blast to lead off the game was his fourth of the season, while Haitsuka hit a two-run shot, his second, in the fourth.

Bobby Bolling went five innings on the way to his fourth win (4-1) while Cassidy McDaniel tossed four scoreless frames, fanning five, to close the game and earn his first career save.

Radford is back in action as part of an eight-game homestand on Tuesday, hosting Virginia Tech at 6 p.m.