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Radford University Athletics

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Ridgely-20170224
Radford Athletics Communications
0
Radford RAD 1-4
2
Winner North Carolina NC 5-0
Radford RAD
1-4
0
Final
2
North Carolina NC
5-0
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Radford RAD 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 2
North Carolina NC 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 X 2 7 0

W: Hutchison (1-0) L: Ridgely, Zack (0-2) S: Hiatt (4)

Game Recap: Baseball |

RIDGELY TURNS IN STRONG PERFORMANCE IN 2-0 LOSS TO NO. 9 CAROLINA



GAME INFORMATION
  • Score: No. 9 North Carolina 2, Radford 0
  • Records: Tar Heels (5-0) | Highlanders (1-4)
  • Location: Boshamer Stadium | Chapel Hill, N.C.
                                      
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Pitching in assortment of big games in his career, Zack Ridgely turned in one of the best performances of his career as Radford fell just short of upsetting No. 9 North Carolina, dropping a 2-0 decision Friday afternoon on an eighth inning two-run home run.
 
Only tossing 84 pitches, Ridgely yielded two runs on five hits with no walks, while striking out seven Tar Heels. The junior had two multi-strikeout innings, including three in the bottom of the fourth after allowing the second of Logan Warmoth's game-high three hits.
 
Ridgely tossed 7.2 shutout innings; before allowing a two-out, two-run home run off the bat of Brian Miller. The inning started with a Cody Roberts single to center field. Utah Jones followed with a pinch-hit sacrifice bunt, moving Roberts into scoring position.
 
Following a dropped foul ball, Ridgely got Adam Pate to strikeout looking for the second out of the inning. With a 1-1 count, Miller launched the two-run shot over the right-center field fence to give North Carolina the victory.
 
The Tar Heels looked to pad the lead following the home run, collecting back-to-back infield singles off newly entered Kyle Zurak. Radford got out of the inning as leftfielder Adam Whitacre made a diving catch in stride to save two runs.
 
Entering the top of the ninth with two hits to his name, Danny Hrbek earned a leadoff walk. After strikeouts by Jonathan Gonzalez and Spencer Horwitz, Matt Roth blooped a first pitch fastball into center field off Tar Heel closer Josh Hiatt.
 
Hrbek advanced to third on the single, giving Radford runners on the corners. After working an early 2-0 count, Clayton Baine struck out looking to end the Highlanders chances of a comeback.

 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
  • Win: J.B. Bukauskas (2-0) (7.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 11 K)
  • Loss: Zack Ridgely (0-2) (7.2 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 7 K)
  • Save: Josh Hiatt (4)
  • Ridgely held the Tar Heels to only three hits through seven innings.
  • He finished with three 1-2-3 innings.
  • Ridgely has struck out six-plus batters nine times in his career.
  • In 25 career starts, Ridgely has six starts with zero walks.
  • Hiatt leads the country with four saves.
  • Before the eighth inning, North Carolina put a runner on second base three separate times, but could not push across a run.
  • Radford placed a runner on second in the third and fourth innings.
  • North Carolina pitchers combined for 15 strikeouts The Highlanders have double-digit strikeouts in all five games.
  • The game saw the Highlanders hold their first opponent under seven runs for the first time in 2017.
  • Danny Hrbek led the Highlanders with two hits, reaching base safely three times.
  • Cody Schneider, Adam Whitacre and Matt Roth were responsible for the other Radford hits.
  • With an infield single in the top of the eighth, Schneider extended his on-base streak to five games.
  • Spencer Horwitz saw his three-game hitting streak snapped with an 0 for 4 performance.
  • Logan Warmoth led the Tar Heels with a game-high three hits. Michael Busch tallied two hits.

QUOTABLE
  • "I don't know if I have witnessed a better start on a Friday against a first-round draft pick than what [Zack] Ridgely did today. It was as good of a start as you can possibly imagine. They barreled up two balls the whole game. The one bad pitch he made and they made him pay, that was the end of the game. I thought we battled off [J.B.] Bukauskas. We lost our approach at the plate for about three innings in the middle and it really hurt us." ~ Radford head coach Joe Raccuia
 
UP NEXT
  • Radford and North Carolina return to action on Saturday in a 2 p.m. contest.
  • RHP Danny Hrbek (0-0, 13.50 ERA) vs. RHP Jason Morgan (1-0, 1.59 ERA)
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