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Gonzalez-20160514
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2
Radford RAD 14-36, 6-14 BSC
7
Winner LIBERTY LIBERTY 25-26, 9-11 BSC
Radford RAD
14-36, 6-14 BSC
2
Final
7
LIBERTY LIBERTY
25-26, 9-11 BSC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Radford RAD 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 8 1
LIBERTY LIBERTY 3 0 0 0 2 0 0 2 X 7 10 0

W: DEGROAT, J. (3-3) L: MacKeith, Mitchell (3-6) S: QUARTERLEY (7)

Game Recap: Baseball |

GONZALEZ COLLECTS TWO DOUBLES IN 7-2 DEFEAT TO LIBERTY



GAME INFORMATION
  • Score: Liberty 7, Radford 2
  • Records: Liberty (25-26, 9-11) | Radford (14-36, 6-14)
  • Location: Liberty Baseball Stadium | Lynchburg, Va.
                                      
LYNCHBURG, Va. – Jonathan Gonzalez collected a pair of doubles as Radford dropped its six game in a row with a 7-2 defeat at the hands of in-state rival Liberty, Saturday night at Liberty Baseball Stadium. In the series, Gonzalez is 5 for 8 with three runs scored.
 
Liberty jumped on the Highlanders early as the first four Flames reached base safely, while taking an early 1-0 lead on an Andrew Yacyk RBI single. Dalton Britt followed with a single to load the bases again with no outs.
 
A Mitchell MacKeith pitch got away from Jonathan Gonzalez as Will Shepherd raced home from third base. Gonzalez quickly recovered, scooping the ball to MacKeith covering home, nabbing a greedy Shepherd. Following an Andrew Kowalo strikeout, Payton Scarbrough stepped up to the plate with two runners in scoring position and two outs.
 
Scarbrough lined a single up the middle to clear the bases, before being thrown out 8-2-6 on another heads up play by Gonzalez to get the Highlanders out of the inning. The Scarbrough two-out single gave the Flames a 3-0 opening inning lead.
 
Gonzalez kept his hot bat going with a one-out double to left-center for the first Highlander hit in the top of the second. Nygeal Andrews followed with a single to center field, advancing to second on the throw.
 
With runners on second and third, Chandler Davis grounded out to shortstop, plating Gonzalez from third base for the first RU run. The RBI was the fourth of the series for the designated hitter.
 
Adam Whitacre took a 1-1 pitch off the back to put Highlanders on the corners. Radford attempted to sneak another run in as Whitacre broke for second on a delayed steal, forcing a throw to second base as Andrews broke for home. Andrews was thrown out at home 2-6-2 to end the frame.
 
After two scoreless innings, Radford loaded the bases on singles by Davis, Chris Coia and Colby Higgerson. The Highlanders were unable to take advantage of the opportunity as Danny Hrbek popped out to second to end the fifth inning.
 
Liberty added two insurance runs on a two-out Yacyk RBI double in the bottom half of the inning, extending their lead to 5-1.
 
Hrbek gave Radford its first run since the second inning with a RBI triple off the right field wall, scoring Coia from first base. Shane Johnsonbaugh earned a four-pitch walk to put Highlanders on the corners. With a chance to cut into the deficit, Gonzalez was unable to find his third double, striking out to end the inning.
 
Andrew Kowalo extended the Liberty lead on a two-run home run to right field as the Flames took a 7-2 series clinching victory.
 
Radford will close out the road portion of its schedule tomorrow with a 2 p.m. meeting versus Liberty.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
  • Win: Jack DeGroat (3-3) (6.2 IP, 8 H, 2R/2ER, 2 BB, 7 K)
  • Loss: Mitchell MacKeith (3-6) (4.2 IP, 8 H, 5R/5ER, 2 BB, 5 K)
  • Save: Shane Quarterley (7) (2.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K)
  • Jonathan Gonzalez and Nygeal Andrews finished with two hits each, combining for four of Radford's eight hits.
  • Gonzalez is now 6 for 11 with four runs scored over his last three games.
  • The multi-hit performance is the seventh on the season and second straight for Gonzalez.
  • Andrews has a four-game hitting streak, going 6 for 11 over the span.
  • Danny Hrbek seventh inning triple is fifth on the year and ninth career.
  • Hrbek now ranks tied for fifth all-time in triples. The five three sackers rank tied for sixth most in a season.
  • Chris Coia set another Radford career record, this time in career starts, starting in his 218th game in a Highlander uniform.
  • With a fifth inning single, Coia became the 11th player in Radford history to collect 200 hits.
  • Andrew Yacyk finished with two hits and three RBIs. The junior has seven RBIs in the series.

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