HIGHLANDERS AND BUCS SPLIT TWIN BILL

BOX SCORE 1 | BOX SCORE 2 RADFORD, Va. - Radford and Charleston Southern split a doubleheader which lasted over nine hours from first pitch to last out at RU Stadium on Satruday. The Buccaneers took game one, 8-7, that included a 1:17 weather delay, and the Highlanders bounced back for an 8-3 win in the nightcap after the start of the game was delayed nearly another hour and a half with threatening weather.

GAME 1 - Charleston Southern catcher, Drew Woodall threw out Zach Woolcock on an attempted steal of second to end the game with Radford trying to move the tying run into scoring position in game one of a Saturday doubleheader and the opening game of the series between the Buccaneers and the Highlanders. CSU held on for an 8-7 victory after a 1:17 weather delay with one out in the bottom of the ninth.

John Faircloth's two-out, two-run home run in the top of the third inning staked the Bucs to a 2-0 lead and an advantage they would never relinquish. CSU added a run in the fifth when Bobby Ison tripled home a run to push the lead to 3-0.

Radford scored its first run in the fifth with a Ryan Burgess leadoff double followed by an RBI double by Blake Sipe.

The teams would exchange big offensive innings in the sixth and seventh.

Charleston Southern scored twice in the top of the sixth on Woodall's two-run double, which plated Alex Tomasovich and Zach Hagaman, who led off the inning with back-to-back singles.

Trailing 5-1 heading to the bottom of the sixth, the Highlanders rallied for four straight hits to chase Buccaneer starting pitcher, Ryan Gunther. Patrick Marshall's triple started the rally. Woolcock singled him home and moved to third on a double by Alexander Lee. Burgess singled home Woolcock and Lee to cut the lead to 5-4.

Kyle Ward came in to replace Gunther and retire the final two outs in the inning and preserved the victory for Gunther (6-4), who went 5.1 innings and give up four runs on seven hits.

As quickly as the Highlanders cut the lead to a single run, the Bucs answered with three more in the top of the seventh. CSU knocked five singles off Jeff Maxwell, who replaced RU starter Tyler Costello to begin the inning. Faircloth, Hagaman, and Chase Shelton each drove in a run with a base hit in the inning to push the lead back to 8-4.

Again, however, the Highlanders answered. Josh Reavis started a two-out rally with a double and was doubled in by Marshall. Woolcock's single plated Marshall to cut the lead to 8-6. Radford cut the lead to 8-7 in the eighth when Burgess was hit by a pitch and scored on a pinch-hit RBI double by Shane Johnsonbaugh.

The Highlanders brought the winning run to the plate in the ninth with one out after Woolcock singled for the fourth time in the game. Lee was at the plate when the game went into the weather delay.

Following the delay, Austin Weekley struck out Lee, and Woolcock was caught stealing to end the game.

GAME 2 - Radford scored six runs in its final two at-bats and came back to earn the doubleheader split, 8-3. The Highlanders took the lead in the seventh when Patrick Marshall's ground ball went through the legs of CSU second baseman Kevin Hickey.

Josh Gardiner came in to score on the play to give RU a 4-3 lead, and the Highlanders added four insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth. Radford tied the score with its first run in the seventh, a squeeze play perfectly executed by Blake Sipe to score Chris Coia, who began the rally with a one-out double.

Charleston Southern took an early lead with a pair of runs in the first.

After Bobby Ison led off the game with a double, John Faircloth bunted him to third, and a throwing error by RU starter Michael Boyle allowed the run to come home and Faircloth to move to second base. He later scored on Zach Hagaman's groudout to give the Buccaneers a 2-0 lead.

The Highlanders tied it up in the second.

Zach Woolcock drew a leadoff walk and moved to third on a double by Alexander Lee. Woolcock cut the lead in half scoring on a wild pitch, and Hunter Higgerson drove in Lee with a single.

Jaren Sustar's sac fly in the sixth gave the Buccaneers the lead again, 3-2, setting up the comeback for Radford.

After the two runs in the seventh to take the lead, Radford added four runs to pad the lead to 8-3 in the eighth.

Ryan Burgess led off with a base on balls, and pinch runner Brad Keen moved into scoring position on a sac bunt by Higgerson. Keen stole third and came home to score when Coia legged out a bunt single. A single by Gardiner and a walk by Sipe loaded the bases for Marshall's ground ball that resulted in a two-run error. Woolcock added an RBI base hit to round out the scoring.

Dylan Nelson (6-3), who came on in relief to work the seventh inning for Boyle, picked up his team-high sixth win of the season. He logged one full inning and left after walking the leadoff batter in the eighth. James Woods retired the only batter he faced and set up Michael Costello to earn a five-out save, his ninth of the season.

Tory Schroff (6-3) took the loss for the Buccaneers. He went 6.1 innings and gave up four runs, three earned, on eight hits.

The Highlanders and the Buccaneers will play the final game of the series Sunday at 2:00 on Senior Day at RU Stadium. Radford will recognize four seniors, Jeff Kemp, Ryan Burgess, Keith Fritz, and Derrick Brewer prior to the game.

Print Friendly Version