Baseball 3/8/2014 9:26:00 PM

BASEBALL WALKS OFF WITH GAME ONE WIN; SPLITS TWINBILL WITH BRYANT

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RADFORD, Va. – Radford Baseball split a doubleheader with Bryant on Saturday evening at RU Baseball Stadium. The Highlanders (8-7) walked off with a 7-6 11-inning win in the opener before dropping the nightcap to the Bulldogs (3-5), 11-6.

Game 1

Aaron Scoville's walk-off single in the bottom of the 11^th lifted Radford to a 7-6 victory in game one.

Bryant sent the game into extras with a four-run rally in the top of the ninth, scoring the final two runs with two outs. After Blake Sipe was plunked and sacrificed to second, he easily scored the game-winning run on Scoville's single to right center.

Scoville finished the game, 3-for-5 with a RBI and two runs scored and was 5-for-8 in the twinbill with three runs. Alexander Lee added a three-hit performance, which included a home run, two RBI and a run.

Michael Costello earned the win in relief. After the game-tying run scored in the ninth, he retired seven of the final eight Bulldogs for his first win of the season.

Trailing 2-0, Radford evened the ball game with a two-run fourth. Scoville and Josh Reavis singled and doubled, respectively to start the frame. Scoville scooted home on Josh Gardiner's RBI groundout. Reavis scored two batters later on a solid single to right by Zach Woolcock.

Radford took advantage of a two-out throwing error to grab the lead, 3-2, in the fifth. Lee pushed the lead to 6-2 on a two-out home run in the seventh. His two-run shot was the first of the season for the first baseman.

A four-run ninth by the Bulldogs, including the tying run scoring on a dropped fly ball, sent the game into extras. RBI singles by Brandon Bingel and Justin Mountford (two outs) and a sac fly made it a 6-5 ball game. With runners on the corners, John Mullen lofted a lazy shallow fly ball to left, but it was dropped allowing the tying run to score. Furthur damage was avoided when the runner on first was thrown out at home for the final out of the frame.

Dylan Nelson put in another quality start. He tossed six innings of three-hit, one run ball. He struck out four and walked three.

Game 2
Bryant scored six unanswered runs and defeated Radford, 11-6 in the night cap. Trailing 6-5, the Bulldogs scored two in the sixth, one in the seventh and three in the eighth snapping Radford's six-game winning streak.

Radford briefly reclaimed its lead, 6-5, in the fourth when Gardiner beat out a slow roller to second with two outs, allowing Chris Coia to come home. The Bulldogs would go on to score six runs on over the next three innings for the 11-6 advantage.

Scoville, Gardiner and Sipe recorded two hits apiece for the Highlanders with Zach Woolcock scoring a pair of runs.

Dan Cellucci scored three runs and finished 2-for-4 at the plate with a double for the Bulldogs. Matt Albanese collected three hits and scored twice. Robby Rinn scored a pair and walked three times.

The Bulldogs took the lead for good with two runs in the top of the sixth without the benefit of a hit. The game-tying and winning runs crossed the dish when a throwing error on the tail end of a 1-2-3 double play attempt sailed down the right field line.

After a run in the seventh, Bryant, highlighted by a two-run triple by Tom Gavitt, capped off a three-run eighth.

The Highlanders grabbed a 3-1 lead after one inning, two coming on back-to-back RBI base knocks by Lee (double) and Nygeal Andrews (single).

Following a run by the Bulldogs in the top of the second, the Highlanders pushed two across in the third on a pair of infield run-scoring singles by Higgerson and Sipe. The lead last long as Bryant tallied three in the top half of the fourth, two on bases loaded walks and a throwing error.

Kevin McAvoy (1-1) picked up the win for the Bulldogs. He allowed six runs on 10 hits with six strikeouts and two walks over six innings. His bullpen held the Highlanders hitless the final three frames.

Daniel Bridgeman (0-1) suffered the defeat in just 1.2 innings of relief. He did not surrender an earned run or a hit and struck out three, but was plagued by four walks. In all, the four of the five Highlander pitchers issued 10 free passes.

The teams wrap up the three-game series tomorrow at 2:00 p.m.

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