Baseball 5/12/2013 6:04:00 PM

BUCCANEERS SPOIL SENIOR DAY, 13-7

BOX SCORE RADFORD, Va. - Charleston Southern rallied for a 13-7 win Sunday at RU Stadium on Senior Day and took the series from the Highlanders in the rubber match of the three-game Big South set. The Buccaneers scored seven times in the final three innings and overcame a 6-3 deficit for the victory.

Prior to the game, the Highlanders honored four seniors for their careers in a Radford uniform. The 2013 class is the winningest senior class in Radford baseball history and was a part of the 2011 squad that won a school record 31 games. Those honored on Sunday were Derrick Brewer, Ryan Burgess, Keith Fritz, and Jeff Kemp.

Today's starting pitcher for the Highlanders, Fritz, a senior from Baltimore, Md., made his 18th career start on the mound for the Highlanders and took a no-decision. He became a weekend starter for the Highlanders midway through his junior season in 2012 after transferring to Radford from Community College of Baltimore County-Dundalk. Fritz owns a career record of 4-7 and has now appeared in 28 games donning a Radford baseball uniform.

Head coach Joe Raccuia had this to say about his senior, Fritz. “Keith has really stepped up and provided us quality inning on Sundays. His ability to command three pitches for strikes has allowed him to gobble up a ton of big appearances for us, especially after becoming a ball magnet for a few straight weeks. Keith has been a steady arm that will be surely missed”

Derrick Brewer, a senior from Montpelier, Va., has been hampered by an arm injury for much of the season and in his career logged just over 78 innings in 50 career appearances with 41 strikeouts the Radford baseball program. As a junior, Brewer was a Big South Conference Presidential honor roll recipient for the Highlanders.

Raccuia had this to say about his senior, Derrick Brewer. “Derrick has been versitle throughout his career as he has been used as a mid week starter and also guy that could be counted on out of the bullpen. Unfortunately, he has had to endure some arms injuries that has not allowed him to have the success that he could have achieved. He has never wavered in his support of his teammates and program all the while. His ability to overcome obstacles will prove invaluable as he embarks on his career after baseball”

Ryan Burgess, a senior from Richmond, Va., is a four-year starter for the Highlanders and made the move from full-time first-baseman for designated hitter during his career. He made his 144th career start and played in his 170th career game as a Highlander going 0-4 with an RBI. With a .263 career batting average, Ryan has 30 career doubles, 7 home runs, and 81 RBI.

Raccuia had this to say about his senior, Ryan Burgess. “Ryan has been an important part of our program for the past four years. He was an all-conference player during the program's record breaking season in 2011. Each time Ryan has struggled at the plate he comes back an even more determined player. His bat has been and will continue to be counted on during this championship run.”

Jeff Kemp, a senior from Bowie, Md., is still sidelined with a rib injury and did not play again Sunday, but undoubtedly has had one of the most outstanding careers in Radford baseball history.

During his career at Radford, he has overcome four injuries that ended with surgeries and still finished as the 2009 Big South Freshman of the Year, a Major League Baseball draft pick by the Los Angeles Angels, a two-time Big South selection, and the 2013 Co-Big South Preseason Player of the Year. A career .305 hitter that ranks tied for 10th all-time in career hits, 2nd all-time in career triples, 8th in doubles, 8th in runs scored, tied for 7th in home runs, 5th in total bases, 5th in RBIs, and he is the all-time leader in Radford history in being hit by a pitch. He has also been a member of the Big South academic honor roll in each of his semesters as a student-athlete at Radford and was named the recipient of the Radford Athletics Senior Leadership Award.

Raccuia had this to say about his senior, Jeff Kemp. “Jeff was the first commitment in our first full recruiting class. The days after he committed, four more jumped on board. Little did we know what type of person and leader we were getting. His ability to overcome adversity without deterring him from his passion has been incredible to see. He is the best baseball player I have ever coached, and we are very fortunate to have had him make his impact on this program and university."

Charleston Southern broke out on top in the first taking advantage of an Alexander Lee error in the inning to plate three runs. Bobby Ison opened the game with a double, and John Faircloth reached on Lee's fielding miscue immediately following. That led to three individual RBI at bats from Zach Hagaman, Chase Shelton, and Drew Woodall to give the Bucs the early lead.

The Highlanders, however, stormed right back answering with a five-run offensive burst in the first. Josh Gardiner and Josh Reavis each singled to open the inning. Reavis' base hit knocked in Gardiner after he stole a base and moved up on a throwing error. Lee ripped a two-run double off the right field wall, and Burgess knocke in a run and reached on an error. Chris Coia's single scored the fifth run to give RU the lead, 5-3.

Radford would add to its lead in the second on a Lee single that plated Reavis, and the Highlanders pushed the lead to 6-3.

CSU tied the game in the top of the third with another three-run inning. Four straight singles by Alex Tomasovich, Hagaman, Shelton, and Woodall produced a run and set up a two-RBI double for Jaren Sustar that tied the game at six apiece.

Radford would retake the lead in the fourth on a Zach Woolcock run-scoring single, but Stephen Leopard came in from the Buccaneer bullpen and shut down the Highlander offense the rest of the way.

Leopard (2-3) went 4.1 innings of scoreless relief and earned the victory giving up just four hits. His teammates would rally in the late innings to earn him the victory.

Hagaman led off the seventh with a single and came in to score on a wild pitch to tie the game, but that was not his biggest offensive output of the day. That came in the eighth when he lined a three-run home run over the right field fence with two outs to give CSU at 10-7 lead.

The Buccaneers added three runs in the top of the ninth, and Andrew Tomasovich came on in the ninth to get the Bucs out of a bases-loaded jam to secured the win.

Radford falls to 28-22, 13-8 on the season. Charleston Southern improves to 21-29, 10-11.

Print Friendly Version