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Radford University Athletics

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BaseballTeam-20160416
Jeff Sochko | The Rock Hill Herald
15
Winner Radford RAD 10-25, 4-7 bsc
8
Winthrop WU 17-18, 5-6 bsc
Winner
Radford RAD
10-25, 4-7 bsc
15
Final
8
Winthrop WU
17-18, 5-6 bsc
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Radford RAD 1 4 0 0 0 1 5 1 3 15 19 1
Winthrop WU 0 5 0 2 1 0 0 0 0 8 12 4

W: Sande, Ryan (1-0) L: PAWELCZYK, N (0-2)

Game Recap: Baseball |

RADFORD SCORES 10 RUNS IN FINAL FOUR FRAMES FOR 15-8 COMEBACK WIN OVER WINTHROP



GAME INFORMATION
  • Score: Radford 15, Winthrop 8  
  • Records: Radford (10-25, 4-7) | Winthrop (17-18, 5-6)
  • Location: Winthrop Ballpark | Rock Hill, S.C.  
                                      
ROCK HILL, S.C. – Radford scored 10 runs on 13 hits over the final four innings to cap off a thrilling 15-8 nationally televised comeback victory over Winthrop in Saturday afternoon Big South clash. Seven Highlanders finished with seven multi-hit performances and four finished with multi-RBI games.
 
Radford wasted little time, scoring first for the third consecutive game as Chris Coia reached on a leadoff fielding error by the Winthrop second baseman. Coia quickly swiped second base, his fourth steal in his last three games. A Danny Hrbek ground out advanced Coia to third with two outs.
 
Shane Johnsonbaugh extended his hitting streak to five game as the senior ripped a fastball into right field giving the Highlanders an early 1-0 lead.
 
The Highlanders padded their early lead with a five-run second inning. Adam Whitacre led off the inning with a single to center field and Zach Duff followed with bloop single to left.
 
With two runners on, Jordan Taylor laid down a sacrifice bunt, reaching first on an errant throw by the Eagles third baseman. The error allowed Whitacre to score from second, while advancing Duff to third and Taylor to second. Luke Wise followed with a sac fly to right, plating Duff and moving Taylor to third.
 
With two runs already crossing the plate, Colby Higgerson executed his ninth sac bunt of the season, scoring Taylor from third to give Radford a 4-0 lead. The fifth run of the inning came on a Hrbek first pitch RBI single to right field.
 
Leading 5-0 with two outs, Radford loaded the bases with a Johnsonbaugh single and Trevor Riggs walk. Batting around, Whitacre flied out to left field, ending the inning as the Highlanders scored four runs on four hits and one error.
 
Winthrop answered back with a huge offensive inning of its own. The first five batters reached to start the inning as a two-run double from Casey Parker and single off the bat of Kyle Edwards got the Eagles on the board. Pulling within 5-3, the Eagles were not done scoring. Two more runs came on a Tyler Asbill RBI fielders' choice and Anthony Paulsen RBI single.
 
After a scoreless third inning, Winthrop broke the tie as Roger Gonzalez lifted a sac fly to right, giving the Eagles a 6-5 lead in the fourth inning. Another run crossed the plate on a Jace Whitley RBI single through the left side.
 
Riggs led off the fifth inning with a single to right, advancing to third on back-to-back ground outs. The Highlanders were unable to capitalize, stranding Riggs on third.
 
The Eagles added its eighth run on a squeeze bunt single from Brandon Fite in the bottom of the fifth inning.
 
Trailing 8-5 with four innings remaining, Radford looked to chip away at the deficit. The Highlanders loaded the bases on a Coia hit by pitch, Higgerson single and Johnsonbaugh walk. RU picked up one run on a Riggs sac fly to left field, cutting the deficit to 8-6.
 
Radford broke the game wide open in the top of the seventh. The inning started with three consecutive singles from Duff, Taylor and Wise. With the bases loaded, Coia earned a RBI walk, pulling RU within 8-7.
 
Following a Higgerson fly out, Hrbek lined a two-run double down the right field line, giving Radford its first lead since the second inning at 9-8. Kyle Butler added two more runs in the inning with a pinch hit single to center field, extending the comeback lead to 11-8.
 
Following Ryan Sande's second straight 1-2-3 inning in relief, the Highlanders looked to pad the lead. Wise got the eighth inning started with a one-out double off the right-center field wall. Coia moved Wise to third on a ground out and Higgerson followed with an RBI bloop single to shallow right field. Higgerson's second RBI gave RU a 12-8 lead.
 
The top of the ninth saw more offense from the Highlanders as three singles by Riggs, Duff and Taylor loaded the bases. A RBI groundout from Wise and two-run Winthrop throwing error capped off 15-8 comeback victory
 
Radford and Winthrop meet in a 2 p.m. rubber match tomorrow at the Winthrop Ballpark.  
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
  • Win: Ryan Sande (1-0) (3.0 IP, 1 H, 1R/0ER, 0 BB, 0 K)
  • Loss: Nate Pawelczyk (0-2) (1.0 IP, 3 H, 4R/4ER, 1 BB, 0 K)
  • The win gave Sande the first of his young career.
  • Radford's bullpen only allowed two earned runs in 7.2 innings of relief.
  • Danny Hrbek collected his fourth three-hit game of the season and the eighth of his career.
  • Hrbek finished with a game-high three RBIs. Has four career three-RBI performances.
  • The junior extended his on-base streak to 12 games.
  • Shane Johnsonbaugh and Zach Duff finished with three hits each.
  • The three-hit game is the fourth in Johnsonbaugh's career and the first for Duff.
  • Colby Higgerson and Luke Wise finished with two hits and two RBIs each.
  • Higgerson has 17 RBIs on the year and 10 over his last eight games.
  • The two-RBI performance is the second on the season for Wise.
  • With 2 for 3 performances, Trevor Riggs extended his hitting streak to three games and his on-base streak to nine games.
  • Chris Coia finished without a hit, but reached base five times in his six plate appearances. Coia reached on two hit by pitches, two errors and a walk.
  • Coia scored a season-high four runs in the win.
  • The 15 runs and 19 hits are season highs for the Highlanders.
  • The last time Radford scored 15 or more runs in a game came on May 16, 2015, when the Highlanders scored 16 versus UNC Asheville.
 
QUOTABLE
  • "It was pretty demoralizing to give up the five-run lead early in the game, but we fought back. We drew a couple of walks and got a couple big hits. We got a huge hit from Danny Hrbek in the seventh to give us the lead. We just extended the lead by taking good at bats. I thought the main factor in this win was the three shutout innings from Ryan Sande, keeping the score were it was. I think up and down our order gave us really good at bats. We didn't strikeout a lot and we moved runners. ~ Radford head coach, Joe Raccuia

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