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Gonzalez-20160319
9
Winner Lafayette LAFAYETT 3-8
4
Radford RAD 3-16
Winner
Lafayette LAFAYETT
3-8
9
Final
4
Radford RAD
3-16
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Lafayette LAFAYETT 1 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 5 9 13 3
Radford RAD 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 1 4 10 1

W: Bednar, David (1-1) L: Nelson, Dylan (0-4) S: Kaufman, Ari (1)

Game Recap: Baseball |

FIVE RUN NINTH INNING DOOMS RADFORD IN 9-4 LOSS TO LAFAYETTE



GAME INFORMATION
  • Score: Lafayette 9, Radford 4
  • Records: Lafayette (3-8) | Radford (3-16)
  • Location: Harley Park | Spartanburg, S.C.  
                                      
SPARTANBURG, S.C. – A five-run ninth inning was too much for Radford to overcome as the Highlanders dropped a 9-4 neutral site matchup to Lafayette, Saturday afternoon inside Harley Park. The Highlanders served as the home squad on the scoreboard in the neutral site meeting.
 
For the second consecutive day, a Highlanders opponent crossed the plate first as a Campbell Lipe's RBI single gave Lafayette a 1-0 lead in the top of the first.
 
Radford knotted the game at one as Trevor Riggs led off the bottom of the fourth with a double off the left field wall, later scoring on a Jonathan Gonzalez single to third base.
 
Dylan Nelson settled into a groove for the Highlanders, allowing only two hits after the first inning, before Lafayette battled back in the top of the sixth. During the span, Nelson punched out five Leopards.
 
Lafayette broke the tie in the top of the sixth as Michael Coniglio led off the inning with a single, advancing to second on stolen base. Dan Leckie line a single up the middle, giving Lafayette a 2-1 lead.
 
The Leopards added two more runs in the seventh on a Spencer Rouse single and Leckie double, extending their lead to 4-1.
 
Down to their last six outs, Radford put together a small comeback in the bottom half of the eighth inning. Danny Hrbek and Gonzalez drilled a pair of one-out doubles with Hrbek scoring on the second double. Gonzalez moved to third on a wild pitch. Kyle Butler pulled the Highlanders within 4-3 on his first collegiate hit and RBI on a single to right field.
 
A crazy ninth inning saw Lafayette score five runs on a wild pitch, hit by pitch, passed ball and two-run single. The five runs padded the Leopards lead to 9-3.
 
In the bottom half of the inning, pinch hitter Chandler Davis reached on an error by the Leopards second basemen, injuring his ankle as he crossed the base. Travis McQueen came on to pinch run for Davis, advancing to second on a wild pitch. Shane Johnsonbaugh hit a ground ball to first base, putting RU runners on the corners as the Lafayette first baseman booted the ball. McQueen would score on a Riggs sacrifice fly to right.
 
The lone run would be all the Highlanders could manage, dropping the neutral site matchup 9-4.
 
Radford concludes its trip to the Palmetto State tomorrow, facing host USC Upstate in a 1 p.m. showdown.  
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
  • Win: David Bednar (1-1) (7.1 IP, 8 H, 3R/3ER, 1 BB, 6 K)
  • Loss: Dylan Nelson (0-4) (5.1 IP, 7 H, 2R/2ER, 0 BB, 6 K)
  • The six strikeouts are a season-high for Nelson.
  • Jonathan Gonzalez finished 3 for 5 with two RBI and one run scored.
  • The three-hit day is the second on the season for Gonzalez.
  • Trevor Riggs and Danny Hrbek finished with two hits each.
  • Riggs collected his second triple in as many days with a three-bagger in the first inning.
  • The Highlanders thrown out three runners attempting to steal a base, the most on the season. Coming into the game, the Highlanders had only thrown out four runners on the season.
  • Dan Leckie led Lafayette with a 3 for 4 performance with two RBI.
 
QUOTABLE
  • "We have a couple deficiencies right now and we need to fix them. Sometimes when you don't pitch, you have to hit more and vice versa. One has to compliment the other and we haven't been able to find that so far. Dylan Nelson threw one of his best games in a while, he found his secondary pitch and gave us a chance to win." ~ Radford head coach, Joe Raccuia

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