BOX SCORE

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – No. 1 Virginia only needed runs in the sixth and seventh innings to edge Radford 2-0 at Davenport Field on Tuesday night.

Daniel Wright went 2-for-3 for the Highlanders (16-12) and was in scoring position with an opportunity to give Radford a lead following a leadoff sixth-inning double. He advanced to third on Zach Costello's sacrifice bunt, but was stranded at third when Virginia starter Will Roberts struck out the final two Radford hitters to escape the inning.

The Cavaliers (29-2), who lead the nation in wins, got on the board in the bottom half of the inning when an error on a ground ball at short allowed Keith Werman to score from second and make it a 1-0 Virginia lead. In the seventh, Reed Gragnani hit a two-out triple to the gap in right field to score Tyler Biddix, who led off the inning with a double, giving Virginia a 2-0 lead. Gragnani went 2-for-3 for the Cavaliers.

“You know that when you play Virginia, you have to play a very clean game,” head coach Joe Raccuia said. “You have to execute at almost 100 percent because they are off the charts on the mound. We were just a step behind, just a little step. We knew that we would have few opportunities to score, and we had some, and you have to make those very few count.

“When you play in a game like this, you have to execute offensively and defensively, or you're going to lose.”

The Highlanders got scoreless work from three pitchers, including right-handed starter Cassidy McDaniel. McDaniel went 4 2/3 innings and worked out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the second, and a situation with runners at the corners in the fourth. Brad Wimmer took the loss (2-2), allowing two runs (one earned).

“That's part of the recipe for winning baseball games for us,” Raccuia said. “We pitched well tonight, and we typically defend well, and when we get the offense going we're in really good shape.”

Roberts, coming off a perfect game against George Washington last Tuesday, went seven scoreless innings for the win (6-0). Branden Kline had his nation-leading 11th save with a scoreless ninth.

Radford is back home for the first time in 10 games, opening its brand-new on-campus stadium on Friday night at 6 p.m. in the opener of a Big South series against VMI.