BOX SCORE

RADFORD, Va. – Both teams combined for 41 hits, but Gardner-Webb rallied with five runs in the final two innings to end Radford's eight-game Big South win streak in an 11-10 series-opening victory on Friday.

Dusty Quattlebaum was 4-for-6 with three RBIs and brought home the go-ahead runs in the ninth down to the Runnin' Bulldogs' (26-13-1, 10-9 Big South) final strike, sending an 0-2 pitch to the corner in left field to give Gardner-Webb its first lead of the game.

Radford (25-16, 10-6) led 10-6 through seven innings and got multi-hit games from seven of the nine batters including Matt Mack, who went 4-for-5, scored four runs and had a pair of RBIs. Alex Guerra went 3-for-3 with three RBIs and Ryan Burgess was 2-for-5 with three driven in. Burgess extended his hitting streak to 12 games.

“There were a lot of plays in this game,” head coach Joe Raccuia said. “A lot of pitches, a lot of hits, and a lot of things going on and that's how you come out with a win on their part. We had opportunities to expand the lead, we know they can swing the bats, and we had chances to expand the lead but couldn't and left them within striking distance.”

Gardner-Webb followed every Radford scoring inning with a scoring inning of its own, except for the seventh, when the Highlanders got three runs to grab a five-run advantage. Mack singled with the bases loaded and none out to make the score 8-6, Guerra's RBI double on the next play made it 9-6, and Carl Travers, who went 3-for-4, walked with the bases loaded to give Radford a 10-6 advantage.

The Runnin' Bulldogs scored three times in the eighth. Scott Coleman had his first hit of the night, a run-scoring single with one out to make it 10-7. Adam McFarland followed it with a groundout back to pitcher Abram Williams that made it 10-8, scoring Quattlebaum, who singled before the Coleman double, then Zeke Blanton reached on an error at second that brought in Coleman and made it a one-run game, 10-9.

After Gardner-Webb took the lead to the bottom of the ninth, the Highlanders threatened with two on and two outs following Mack's two-out walk with a runner on, but Jeff Howell got the final out to earn his sixth save.

Howell was one of eight pitchers used by Gardner-Webb. Adam Izokovic worked a scoreless eighth to earn his third win (3-1).

Williams took the loss (0-2), after failing to convert the save opportunity for only the second time this season.

Daniel Merck and Aaron Miller each had 4-for-5 games, and Merck scored three times for Gardner-Webb.

Seventeen of the 18 combined players in the starting lineup had hits.

Game two of the series is Saturday at 4 p.m.