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Radford University Athletics

Home Of The RadFord Highlanders RadFord Highlanders
Higgerson-20160524
5
Radford RAD 17-38
7
Winner Coastal Carolina COASTAL 41-15
Radford RAD
17-38
5
Final
7
Coastal Carolina COASTAL
41-15
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Radford RAD 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 3 0 5 10 1
Coastal Carolina COASTAL 0 0 0 0 0 3 2 2 X 7 8 0

W: MORRISON, Mike (7-1) L: Zurak, Kyle (0-2)

Game Recap: Baseball |

RADFORD’S UPSET BID OVER NO. 17 COASTAL CAROLINA FALLS SHORT IN TOURNAMENT OPENER



GAME INFORMATION
  • No. 17 Coastal Carolina 7, Radford 5
  • Records: Coastal Carolina (41-15) | Radford (18-38)
  • Location: Lexington County Baseball Stadium | Lexington, S.C.
                                      
LEXINGTON, S.C. – Radford was unable to battle back for a third time as the Highlanders' upset bid over top seeded No. 17 Coastal Carolina fell short 7-5 in game three of the 2016 Big South Tournament, Tuesday night at Lexington County Baseball Stadium. The Highlanders upset bid was led by a two-hit, two-RBI effort from Colby Higgerson, while wowing fans with his nifty play at shortstop.
 
Radford's Zack Ridgely and Coastal Carolina's Alex Cunningham were locked in a pitchers' duel through the first four frames, combining to allow only three hits.
 
Following Ridgely's second straight three up, three down frame; the Highlander bats came alive in the top of the fifth. Chandler Davis led off the inning with a single up the middle. Adam Whitacre followed with a sacrifice bunt, but the Chanticleers were unable to make a play as Whitacre slid in head first for a bunt single.
 
With runners on first and second, Luke Wise laid down a sac bunt, nearly beating the throw as the runners moved up. Fresh off of making back-to-back web gems in the field, Higgerson continued his path to becoming a Radford folk hero. Higgerson ripped a first pitch fastball into left field for a single that plated Davis scored easily. Whitacre showed off his wheels, crossing home plate from second base as Higgerson gave the Highlanders a 2-0 lead.
 
Higgerson advanced to second on a Cunningham balk with Danny Hrbek at the dish. Hrbek put up a strong battle at the plate, working the count full, eventually falling by the way of a strikeout.
 
Ridgely hit Tyler Chadwick to begin the bottom half of the inning, but battled back forcing two fly outs and a strikeout to send the Highlanders to the sixth with the lead.
 
Coastal Carolina's offense woke up in the bottom of the sixth, plating three runs on four hits. The inning saw the Chanticleers load the bases twice, scoring runs on RBI singles from Zach Remillard and Billy Cooke. The third run of the inning came on a Ridgely wild pitch. Kyle Zurak came on in relief, throwing one pitch to force a 6-4-3 inning ending double play.
 
Austin Kitchen came out of the Coastal Carolina bullpen to strikeout the side in the seventh, sending the Chanticleers to the bottom half of the inning with a chance to take the lead.
 
With Chanticleers standing on second and third, Remillard lifted a fly ball into right field foul territory. Chris Coia made the catch, releasing a quick throw home. Anthony Marks slid in just ahead of the Jonathan Gonzalez tag, giving the Chanticleers took a 4-3 lead. G.K. Young followed with an infield single to second, just beating Coia's throw, allowing Paez to score for the fifth Chanticleer run.
 
Trailing 5-2 and down to its last six outs, Radford was not going to go away easily. Higgerson led off the frame with his second single and Hrbek followed with a single of his own. Shane Johnsonbaugh came through with his first hit of the evening, a double off the right field wall, scoring Higgerson from second base.
 
Following the Johnsonbaugh double, Coastal Carolina brought on its closer Mike Morrison with runners on second and third. Morrison struckout Gonzalez and Nygeal Andrews for the first two outs of the inning. After two quick strikeouts, Morrison walked Davis on four straight balls to load the bases.
 
Coming into the game 0 for 2 in pinch hit roles, Jordan Taylor stepped up to the plate. Down 0-2 in the count, a wild pitch from Morrison allowed Hrbek to score easily from third base, cutting the deficit to 5-4. Taylor continued to work the count full, lining a sharply hit ball to shortstop. Taylor beat a strong throw by Paez after a diving stop. The first pinch base hit of the season for Taylor knotted the game at five in the top of the eighth.
 
Once again, Coastal Carolina answered the Radford runs. The Chanticleers loaded the bases and with two outs, Connor Ownings hit a ground ball up the middle, ranging to his left, Higgerson snagged the ball and threw on the first. Ownings' speed beat the throw, scoring Tyler Chadwick. As Andrews mishandled the Higgerson throw, Matt Beaird attempted to score from second base. An errant throw home by Andrews allowed Beaird to score, giving the Chanticleers a 7-5 lead.
 
Radford was unable to battle back one more time in the time, managing one base runner on a Hrbek two-out walk in the ninth as Coastal Carolina held on for a 7-5 victory.
 
The Highlanders will play the loser of No. 4 Gardner-Webb and No. 5 Presbyterian tomorrow in the second game of the day. First pitch is scheduled to be 45 minutes after the conclusion of the High Point versus Winthrop contest, set for a 9:30 a.m. start.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
  • Win: Mike Morrison (7-1) (2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 4 K)
  • Loss: Kyle Zurak (0-2) (1.2 IP, 2 H, 3R/3ER, 2 BB, 0 K)
  • Colby Higgerson led the Highlanders with a 2 for 4 effort with two RBIs and a run scored.
  • Higgerson collected his 12th two-hit game of the season.
  • Nygeal Andrews and Danny Hrbek joined Higgerson with a two-hit effort of their own.
  • Andrews collected his seventh two-hit performance of the season and Hrbek picked up his 15th.
  • The Highlanders out hit the Chanticleers 10-8, marking the 17th time Coastal Carolina has been outhit by the opponent this season.
  • Michael Paez collected the first two Chanticleer hits, finishing 2 for 4 with two runs scored. G.K. Young finished with two hits.
  • Zach Remillard led Coastal Carolina with two RBIs.
  • RU pitchers walked nine batters, including seven in the final three innings. The nine walks match a season-high.
  • Radford falls to 4-4 in two-run games on the season.
 
QUOTABLE
  • "The effort was great and what I have been expecting from this team all season. I'm glad we are playing like this now and get another day to play like that again. We needed to throw more strikes in the back end of the game and the walks cost us. Against [Alex] Cunningham, we had some really good at bats early in the game. We also grinded out some at bats against the best closer in the league and was able to tie the game. At the end, we just couldn't withstand the pressure, but we fought with everything we had in us. ~ Radford head coach, Joe Raccuia
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