BOX SCORE

CLINTON, S.C. – Presbyterian College scored three runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to rally for a 6-5 win over Radford in the second game of a Big South series on Saturday afternoon.

Matt Hillsinger and Alex Guerra each went 3-for-4 for the Highlanders (15-11, 1-4 Big South), with Hillsinger driving in a pair of runs and extending his hitting streak to 10 games, matching a team in high in 2011. Right-handed starter Mark Peterson held the Blue Hose (17-10, 4-4) at bay for seven innings and fanned seven batters, allowing three runs on five hits. He departed with the lead, but didn't factor in the decision.

Blake Sipe, who entered in the third inning as a defensive replacement in right field for Cory Turner, went 2-for-4 and drove in a fifth-inning run on a single to give the Highlanders a 4-3 lead. Turner was hit by a pitch in his first plate appearance in the top of the first.

Presbyterian trailed 5-3 heading to the last of the eighth inning, but loaded the bases with no one out. Kenny Bryant made it a 5-4 game with a sacrifice fly to foul territory down the left field line. With the bases loaded two batters later and two outs, Gabe Grammer gave Presbyterian the lead with his two-run single up the middle.

Hillsinger doubled with one out in the top of the ninth to represent the tying run, but never advanced past third base.

"Baseball games are won on the back third and that's where we lost today," head coach Joe Raccuia said.   "We got down early and battled back, but we just didn't execute pitches and they put some swings on the ball when they had to late in the game and had enough to win it."

Brad Zebedis, the Big South's leading hitter entering the weekend, was 2-for-4 and hit a two-run homer, his second of the series, in the third.

Nick Ferguson went 2 2/3 innings of scoreless relief for Presbyterian to earn the win (1-0). Knox Chandler struck out two Radford batters in the ninth for his fourth save.

Jason Patten entered in the eighth inning for Radford with two on and no one out, but allowed the go-ahead run to take his first loss (2-1).

The finale of the series is Sunday at 1 p.m.