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Radford University Athletics

Home Of The RadFord Highlanders RadFord Highlanders
GWUWin-20160527
Josue Roman
8
Winner Radford RAD 19-39
4
Gardner-Webb GWU 37-21
Winner
Radford RAD
19-39
8
Final
4
Gardner-Webb GWU
37-21
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Radford RAD 0 0 3 0 2 1 0 2 0 8 13 0
Gardner-Webb GWU 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 4 13 2

W: Swarmer, Tyler (5-5) L: BOELTER, Ryan (4-1)

Game Recap: Baseball |

RADFORD MOVES TO SEMIFINALS WITH 8-4 UPSET WIN OVER GARDNER-WEBB



GAME INFORMATION
  • Radford 8, Gardner-Webb 4
  • Records: Radford (19-38) | Gardner-Webb (37-21)
  • Location: Lexington County Baseball Stadium | Lexington, S.C.
                                      
LEXINGTON, S.C. – Following a strong showing on both sides of the ball, Radford made Big South history, becoming the first eighth seed to appear in the tournament semifinals with an 8-4 upset win over fourth-seeded Gardner-Webb in a contest that saw the Highlanders jump out to a 6-0 lead and tallying 11 punch outs. The Highlanders will take on seventh seeded Liberty on Friday with a start time of approximately 2 p.m.
 
Following a game that took four hours and 27 minutes to play, Radford and Gardner-Webb sped through the first two frames, before the Highlanders broke the game open in the top of the third.
 
Luke Wise led off the inning with a solo home run that left the ballpark in a hurry over the right-field wall. The homerun marked the 12th time the Highlanders scored their first run of the game via the home run.
 
After the home run, Chris Coia singled to second base and Colby Higgerson reached safely on a botched throw by the Runnin' Bulldog pitcher on the sacrifice bunt attempt. The error allowed Coia to advance to third base, putting Highlanders on the corners.
 
With a 0-2 count on Danny Hrbek, Higgerson took off for second base. Hrbek struck out and Higgerson forced a throw to second base, which allowed Coia to break for home. The double steal gave the Highlanders their second run of the inning. Johnathan Gonzalez grounded out to second, moving Higgerson to third base.
 
Shane Johnsonbaugh stepped up to the plate with a prime RBI opportunity with Higgerson standing 60 feet away. Johnsonbaugh worked the count full and gave RU runners on the corners with a walk. Head coach Joe Raccuia rolled the dice again with a 0-1 count on Nygeal Andrews, putting on the double steal play once again. Johnsonbaugh broke for second base as the Gardner-Webb defense cut off the throw from home, forcing a rundown. Higgerson scored easily, before Johnsonbaugh was tagged out, giving Radford an early 3-0 advantage.
 
The bottom half of the fourth saw Swarmer get into a jam following a Collin Thacker fielders' choice and Patrick Graham single. The lefty forced a first pitch fly out off the bat of Tyler Best to send the Highlanders to the dugout without any harm.
 
Coia walked and Higgerson followed with a bunt single to get the fifth inning started. A wild pitch allowed the two runners to advance one base with no outs. The wild pitch proved costly for the Runnin' Bulldogs as Hrbek grounded out to second and Gonzalez flew out to center field to plate the inning's two runs. Radford extended its lead to 5-0 on one hit in the inning.
 
The sixth inning saw two quick RU outs. Adam Whitacre singled to left field to keep the inning alive. Wise followed with a single through the right side for his second hit on the night. With runners on first and second, Coia delivered again, blooping a single into center field. Whitacre showed off his wheels from second base, sliding head first to beat the throw home for the sixth run of the contest.
 
Swarmer got double plays by his defense in the sixth and seventh innings to help preserve the RU lead. Kyle Zurak came out of the Radford bullpen to strike out three batters in 1.1 innings pitched, including punching out the side in the eighth inning.
 
Radford added two more runs in the eighth on a Higgerson two-run double, giving him four RBIs in the tournament.
 
Maintaining a commanding 8-0 lead, Gardner-Webb was able to manage a run off the Highlander staff in the bottom half of the eighth on a RBI single from Collin Thacker.
 
Miller Trevvett came on in the final frame to finish off the upset win for the Highlanders. The Runnin' Bulldogs were not going to go away easy after Trevvett struckout the first two batters of the inning. Gardner-Webb plated three runs on a Travis Fisher single and a Blair Huggins pinch hit two-run single. Trevvett got Evan Hyett to ground into a fielders' choice as the Highlanders held on for an 8-4 win, marking the first time an eighth seed will appear in the tournament semifinals.
 
Radford will take on in-state foe Liberty in its third elimination scenario contest. First pitch is scheduled for approximately 2 p.m. If the Highlanders were to win, they would play Liberty later in the day in a seven inning affair with the winner advancing to Saturday's winner take all championship game.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
  • Win: Tyler Swarmer (5-5) (6.2 IP, 7 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 6 K)
  • Loss: Ryan Boelter (4-1) (5.0 IP, 6 H, 5R/3ER, 3 BB, 2 K)
  • The 6.2 innings and seven strikeouts are career highs for Swarmer.
  • Radford pitchers combined for 11 punch outs, a season high.
  • Three Highlanders collected three-hit performances: Chris Coia, Colby Higgerson and Luke Wise.
  • The three-hit game is the fourth on the season for Higgerson, second for Coia and first for Wise.
  • Higgerson is 6 for 13 with four runs scored and five RBIs.
  • Coia scored three of the eight runs, while Higgerson and Wise finished with two runs scored each.
  • Radford turned a season-high four double plays in the win.
  • Taylor Fisher and Matt Simmons paced the Runnin' Bulldogs with three hits each.
 
QUOTABLE
  • Tyler Swarmer keeps giving us good innings and he put us in a position that maybe he does get another start in his career. We are definitely not playing like an eight seed and this is what I have been waiting all season out of this team. This team has played great baseball the last three days, actually the last week. I'm proud of the way we played with our backs against the wall again. We've got one more game. ~ Radford head coach, Joe Raccuia
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