BOX SCORE RADFORD, Va. – Liberty scored six runs in the top of the ninth inning in a come-from-behind 10-5 win over Radford in the regular season finale on Saturday afternoon.
The Highlanders (28-26-1, 12-12 Big South) finished in a three-way tie for fourth place in the Big South standings - they are seeded No. 5 for the 2012 Baseball Championships, which begin on Tuesday at High Point.
Trailing 4-1 in the fifth, Radford scored four times, plating all of the runs with two outs, to take a 5-4 lead before the Flames (38-18, 14-10) rallied back in the ninth to win.
Liberty used five hits in the decisive inning and scored five of their runs unearned, as a result of an error to start the inning. Mike Robertson's ground out to first with the bases loaded tied the game at 5-5 and Bryan Aanderud's hit through the left side on the next play gave the Flames the lead.
Jacob Kemmerer, who worked a pair of hitless relief innings in the eighth and ninth, earned the win (4-4).
Abram Williams took the loss (2-4) for Radford.
Aanderud hit a two-run homer (2) in the second inning to give Liberty a 2-0 lead, and later the lead grew to 4-1 on Robertson's ground out to third that scored Zack Haley.
Matt Mack drove in a two-out run in the third to get the Highlanders on the board in the bottom of the third. Radford added on four more two-out runs in the fifth to take the lead. After Mack's two-out single kept the inning going, Radford got a walk and error to load the bases – both
Patrick Marshall and
Josh Gardiner walked with the bases full to push across a pair of runs and cut Liberty's lead to one, 4-3.
Zach Costello singled down the line on the next play to bring two more in, and give the Highlanders their first lead, 5-4.
Mack,
Matt Hillsinger and
Carl Travers had two hits each.
Brett Mollenhauer went 0-for-4 with a walk – his hitting streak ended at 17 games.