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Virginia Tech VT 11-23
5
Winner Radford RAD 9-24
Virginia Tech VT
11-23
1
Final
5
Radford RAD
9-24
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Virginia Tech VT 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 4 1
Radford RAD 1 3 0 0 1 0 0 0 X 5 7 2

W: Swarmer, Tyler (2-2) L: Culver Hughes (0-1)

Game Recap: Baseball |

HIGHLANDERS TAKE NRV SERIES WITH 5-1 WIN OVER HOKIES AT CALFEE PARK



GAME INFORMATION
  • Score: Radford 5, Virginia Tech 1
  • Records: Radford (9-24) | Virginia Tech (11-23)
  • Location: Calfee Park | Pulaski, Va.                                        
PULASKI, Va. – Lights out pitching and timely hitting carried Radford to a 5-1 New River Valley series win over rival Virginia Tech, Wednesday night at historic Calfee Park. The Highlanders scored four runs in the opening two frames and used eight strikeouts from its pitching staff en route to taking the rivalry series for the second straight season.  
 
The opening frame saw RU starter Tyler Swarmer hit leadoff batter Sage Jenco. Jenco advanced to second on a groundout. With the heart of the Hokie order coming up, Swarmer punched out the next batters, giving the Highlanders a chance to score first.
 
Radford received its chance to strike first as Danny Hrbek reached on a fielders' choice and Trevor Riggs walked, putting runners on first and second. Jonathan Gonzalez stepped up the dish, ripping a first pitch fastball into center field, platting Hrbek from second as the Highlanders jumped out to a 1-0 lead.
 
Virginia Tech knotted the contest at one in the top of the second on two Radford errors. Ryan Tufts reached on an error to start the inning, scored on an error off the bat of Rahiem Cooper.
 
The Highlanders broke the tie with another two-out rally as Luke Wise drilled a double off the center field wall, coming around to score on a Chris Coia RBI single.
 
With a 2-1 lead, Shane Johnsonbaugh broke the game wide open for the Highlanders with a two-run blast over the right-center field wall, bringing the Radford dominated crowd to its feet.
 
Swarmer cruised through the Hokie lineup, scattering two hits and striking out two over the next two innings.
 
Virginia Tech found its best opportunity to battle back in the top of the fifth, drawling three consecutive two-out walks. Swarmer calmly dug deep into his arsenal, forcing a fly out to right field, ending the Hokie threat.
 
Riggs led off the bottom of the fifth with a double down the left field line, advancing to third via a Gonzalez ground out. Jordan Taylor padded the Radford lead with an RBI groundout as the Highlanders went to the bullpen to kick off the sixth inning.
 
Swarmer, facing Virginia Tech for the third time on the season, allowed only three hits and one unearned run over five innings. The senior plucked five Hokies, a career high for the left hander.
 
Travis McQueen came on in relief, dominating Virginia Tech in the prior two contests, racking up 11 strikeouts in six innings pitched. McQueen struck out the first two batters he faced and dominated the rest of the way. The senior yielded only one hit and one walk over the next three innings.
 
The Hokies sent Nic Enright to the bump to start the sixth inning and the freshman held the Highlander offense hitless the rest of the way.
 
After McQueen locked down the Hokies in three innings of relief, Daniel Bridgeman forced two ground outs and a fly out as Radford captured the NRV rivalry series for the second straight season with a 5-1 victory.
 
Radford will look to build off the rivalry win as the Highlanders travel to Rock Hill, S.C., on Friday for a three-game Big South series versus Winthrop.
 

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
  • Win: Tyler Swarmer (2-2) (5 IP, 3 H, 1R/0ER, 3 BB, 5 K)
  • Loss: Culver Hughes (0-1) (1.2 IP, 3 H, 3R/3ER, 1 BB, 0 K)
  • Swarmer earned his fourth win as a started, while collecting a career-high five strikeouts.
  • Travis McQueen dominated Virginia Tech bats in the three games, punching out 14 batters in nine innings. Of McQueen's 28 strikeouts on the year, 14 came in the NRV showdown.
  • Radford pitchers allowed only four hits, matching the season low by Highlander throwers.
  • Seven of Radford's starters collected a hit.
  • Shane Johnsonbaugh earned his fourth multi-RBI game of the year and the 18th of his career.
  • The two-run home run is the second multi-run home run on the season for Johnsonbaugh and the first since March 26.
  • Virginia Tech left nine runners on base, while the Highlanders left six runners.
  • Radford improves to 3-2 in neutral site games versus Virginia Tech and 2-1 at Calfee Park.
 
QUOTABLE
  • "It's really not about winning the series, but winning today. The game was important to us, because we have not been playing well. Every opportunity we get to play a baseball game with a young team is to get our confidence going and to play the game the right way. That's very valuable and we achieved that. I thought [Tyler] Swarmer gave us another solid start. Travis McQueen was really good out of the bullpen for three innings. Offensively, we were strong for the first six innings. We made hard contact and battled for at bats. We executed and moved guys on the bases. It was a fun night. I want to thank the Pulaski Yankees, David Hagan and Blair Hoke for hosting us. It was an awesome atmosphere. ~ Radford head coach, Joe Raccuia

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