RADFORD EARNS SPLIT IN FIRST TWO GAMES AT COASTAL

BOX SCORE 1 | BOX SCORE 2 MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. - In what essentially turned into a doubleheader on Saturday, Radford earned a split in the first two games of a three-game series at Coastal Carolina. The teams finished a suspended game from Friday night that ended 1-0 in favor of Coastal in the 15th inning in the opener. RU bounced back for a hard fought 4-3 win in the middle game of the series.

Radford head coach Joe Raccuia said he was proud of his team's effort coming off an emotional loss in the opener of the series.

"We moved the ball and produced runs when we had been struggling at the plate after a tough loss. The win hinged on the job done by Mitchell MacKeith coming in and tossing up zeros for us. We could have easily been down after the first game, but regrouped and got a big conference win."

Radford is now 4-3 on the season vs. nationally ranked teams. Coastal is currently ranked #26 in the country. The Highlanders were 2-1 at #26 Campbell, 1-0 at #4 Virginia, and 0-1 vs. #27 Virginia Tech earlier in the season.

GAME ONE - Coastal 1, Radford 0 (15 innings)
Friday's suspended game because of rain was picked up in the bottom of the eighth on Saturday in a scoreless tie. The game remained scoreless until two outs were recorded in the bottom of the 15th and Ted Blackman homered off Michael Costello (1-2) to end the game.

The second-longest game in Radford baseball history and the first to go that long in a scoreless tie, the Highlanders were one out away from extending the game to the 16th when Blackman hit a 3-1 pitch over the right field fence. Only a 2008 16-inning loss to VMI has gone more innings in RU baseball history.

Tyler Costello started the game Friday night and was on top of his game scattering seven hits throught 7.0 innings pitched. Mother Nature didn't allow him to go any further as the game was suspended heading to the bottom of the eighth with thunderstorms rolling through Myrtle Beach and pushing the remainder of the game to Saturday.

Jeff Maxwell took over on the mound in the eighth and worked 3.1 innings of relief. James Woods and Daniel Bridgeman helped get the Highlanders out of a bases loaded jam in the 11th to keep the game tied.

The Highlander offense struggled to mount any threat. Only twice in 15 innings did the Highlanders get a runner to third base. Radford finished with 15 strikeouts at the plate in the loss.

The defeat was the fifth straight for the Highlanders. RU dropped to 20-16 overall and 7-6 in the Big South.

GAME TWO - Radford 4, Coastal 3
Radford rallied from behind to snap a 12-game losing streak on the road at Coastal. The Highlanders scored four runs without the benefit of a base hit for an RBI, but scrapped two runs in the seventh and another in the ninth for the win. Michael Costello recorded his seventh save of the season in the ninth.

Mitchell MacKeith was superb in relief of starter Michael Boyle. He worked 4.0 scoreless innings giving up four hits while walking one and striking out three. MacKeith earned his first victory of the season (1-2).

The Highlanders gave up an unearned run in the first when Jeff Kemp misplayed a ground ball with two outs and allowed the Chanticleers to score a run.

Radford's struggles with runners in scoring position forced Raccuia to come up with a creative way to score the first run of the series. With two outs and runners on the corners in the fourth, Kemp and Josh Gardiner executed a delayed double steal of second base and home plate to tie the game at one.

Coastal resonded immediately in the bottom of the fourth to regain the lead on a Luke Willis RBI triple.

The score remained 2-1 in Coastal's favor until the seventh. Ryan Burgess led off the inning with a base hit, and Zach Woolcock followed the a single. Shane Johnsonbaugh attempted to bunt those two into scoring position and beat out an infield bunt single.

Blake Sipe tied the game with a bases loaded walk, and Chris Coia gave RU the lead with an RBI groundout.

The Highlanders added an important insurance run in the ninth. Hunter Higgerson led off with a walk, and Sipe beat out a bunt single. Josh Reavis sacrificed the runners into scoring position, and Coia again delivered an RBI groundout.

Costello entered in the ninth, and despite giving up a run on a pinch-hit RBI single by Will Remillard, finished off the game for his seventh save of the season.

The two teams play the rubber game of the series Sunday at 2:00 p.m.

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