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Riggs-20160312
7
Winner Kent State KENTST 9-3
6
Radford RAD 2-13
Winner
Kent State KENTST
9-3
7
Final
6
Radford RAD
2-13
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Kent State KENTST 0 1 0 0 4 1 1 0 0 7 10 5
Radford RAD 0 2 1 2 0 0 0 0 1 6 7 2

W: Ravel, Andy (3-0) L: Ridgely, Zack (1-2) S: Willeman, Zach (3)

Game Recap: Baseball |

RADFORD DROPS HEART-RENDING LOSS TO KENT STATE, 7-6



GAME INFORMATION
  • Score: Kent State 7, Radford 6
  • Records: Kent State (9-3) | Radford (2-13)
  • Location: RU Baseball Stadium | Radford, Va.  
                                      
RADFORD, Va. – Radford headed into the ninth inning, trailing by two runs and down to its last out. The Highlanders only managed one run in the inning, dropping a heart-rending 7-6 loss to Kent State, Saturday afternoon at RU Baseball Stadium.
 
The bottom of the ninth saw Trevor Riggs get hit in the back by a Zach Willeman pitch and Jordan Taylor followed with a walk. A Colby Higgerson sacrifice bunt, advanced the runners to second and third. Following a Luke Wise strikeout, Chris Coia hit a groundball to third base. A wide throw by the Golden Flash third baseman allowed Riggs to score easily from third, but pinch runner Adam Whitacre was thrown out at home, attempting to knot the game at seven. The heads up play by the Golden Flash defense ended the Highlander comeback in dramatic fashion.
 
Trailing 1-0, Radford used another big swing from Riggs as the sophomore right fielder gave the Highlanders 2-1 lead with a blast over the left field wall in the bottom of the second.
 
The bottom of the third saw another Highlander run as Higgerson reached on a Kent State error to start the inning, advancing to second on a groundout. Higgerson later scored on another Golden Flash miscue as RU controlled a 3-1 lead after three innings.
 
A one-out single from Simon Palenchar started another RU charge in the bottom of the fourth. Riggs laid down a perfectly executed bunt single, which resulted in another Kent State throwing error, moving Palenchar to third and Riggs to second.
 
With runners on second and third, Jordan Taylor lined a RBI single to third base, extending the RU lead to 4-1. One batter later, Higgerson laid down a squeeze bunt to score Riggs, giving RU a comfortable lead (5-1) after four innings.
 
Kent State battled back, scoring four runs in the top of the fourth. The Golden Flash runs came on a RU error, two-RBI double from Zarley Zalewski and a single by Dylan Rosa.
 
The Golden Flashes added two runs late in the game, which proved to be key as they held off the battling Highlanders for a 7-6 win.  
 
Radford and Kent State will conclude the three-game series tomorrow at 12 p.m. The Highlanders will send Mitchell MacKeith to the mound.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
  • Win: Andy Ravel (3-0) (7 IP, 6 H, 5R/2ER, 1 BB, 5 K)
  • Loss: Zack Ridgely (1-2) (5.1 IP, 7 H, 6R/2ER, 3 BB, 4 K)
  • Save: Zach Willeman (3)
  • Trevor Riggs earned his third career multi-hit game and has put together multi-hit efforts in consecutive games.
  • Riggs scored a career-high three runs, which are the most by a Highlander on the season.
  • Jordan Taylor finished with his third career multi-hit game and first on the season.
  • Colby Higgerson laid down two sacrifice bunts, most by a RU player in a game in 2016.
  • Kent State and Radford combined for seven errors with five coming from the Golden Flashes
  • Zarley Zalewski and Dylan Rosa paced Kent State with two hits each.

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