BOX SCORE

RADFORD, Va. – Four home runs guided Virginia Tech to a 13-7 win over Radford in the first-ever home night game at the newly-constructed RU Baseball Stadium on Wednesday night.

The Hokies (18-17) scored in eight innings, and with the win, evened the home-and-home series with the Highlanders (18-14). The two teams had a combined 30 hits and six home runs in the slugfest. 

“You've got to make enough pitches,” head coach Joe Raccuia said. “We were in the zone all night, but didn't make some pitches to finish hitters off, which gave them opportunities. They lead the ACC in home runs, and hurt us when we made mistakes in the zone.

“I would have liked for us to have been more aggressive at the plate, but we battled offensively. There's only so many comebacks you can make, but I'm not disappointed in the way we battled at the plate.”

Alex Guerra went 2-for-4 at the plate, drove in two and hit a solo home run, his third, in the second inning. Cory Turner added his third homer of the season in the ninth, a two-run shot, and also had a 2-for-4 night.

Trailing 3-1 in the bottom of the third, Zach Costello and Matt Hillsinger singled to begin the inning before Matt Mack's hit back at Tech right-handed starter Patrick Scoggin brought the runs in to make it a 3-3 game.

Tim Smalling launched two homers for the Hokies, one to right and one to left field, went 3-for-5 and drove in three runs. Chad Morgan added a solo blast in the fifth and Ronnie Shaban launched a two-run shot over the center field wall to cap a four-run eighth inning.

Each team used five pitchers – Manny Martir picked up the win (2-1) for the Tech while Radford's Brad Wimmer dropped to 2-3 with the loss.

The Highlanders resume conference play when they host Winthrop in a three-game series beginning Friday at 6 p.m.