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Home Of The RadFord Highlanders RadFord Highlanders
Hrbek-20170304
Brian Westerholt/Four Seam Images
4
Winner Radford RAD 2-8
0
Quinnipiac QUBASE 4-5
Winner
Radford RAD
2-8
4
Final
0
Quinnipiac QUBASE
4-5
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Radford RAD 0 1 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 4 11 1
Quinnipiac QUBASE 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1

W: Hrbek, Danny (1-1) L: Luciani (0-1)

Game Recap: Baseball |

HRBEK TOSSES FIRST NINE-INNNING NO-HITTER IN PROGRAM HISTORY



GAME INFORMATION
  • Score: Radford 4, Quinnipiac 0
  • Records: Highlanders (2-8) | Bobcats (4-5)
  • Location: Couch Ballpark | Winston-Salem, N.C.  
 
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – In only his third career start, senior right-hander Danny Hrbek tossed the first nine-inning no-hitter in Radford baseball history, allowing only one base runner as the Highlanders defeated Quinnipiac 4-0, Saturday morning at Couch Ballpark.
 
The no-hitter was the fourth in program history, which includes two seven-inning no hitters and one rain shortened five-inning game.
 
Hrbek totaled a career-high eight strikeouts, yielding no walks, facing just one batter over the minimum. In the nine innings, Hrbek had three innings of two-plus strikeouts, throwing only 88 pitches in the contest that included 63 strikes.
 
The only blemish on the day for the Highlanders was a Clayton Baine throwing error in the bottom of the third, but Hrbek battled back with a strikeout and fly out in the inning. The error came on a slow roller to shortstop as Baine fielded the ball cleanly, making a one-hop throw on the run, but Spencer Horwitz was unable to make the scoop at first.
 
Radford opened the game with a run in the top of the second as Richard De la Cruz singled to left field with two outs. De la Cruz stole second base and advanced to third as Baine reached on a fielding error.
 
Known for their small ball approach, Radford used a delayed steal as Baine broke for second and De la Cruz took home as the Bobcat catcher threw to second base.
 
The Highlanders added two more runs in the top of the third for Hrbek. Adam Whitacre led off the inning with a double down the right field line. Whitacre moved to third on a Hrbek ground out, later scoring on a Jonathan Gonzalez single to left. Gonzalez advanced to second on a wild pitch and to third on a ground out.
 
Matt Roth made the score 3-0 on a RBI single to left field, plating Gonzalez. The RBI single was the first of two RBIs on the day for Roth.
 
Hrbek took the lead and continued to shut down the Bobcat bats, racking up three more strikeouts down the stretch.
 
There is always one defining play in a no-hitter and it came in the bottom of the sixth inning as Whitacre made a diving catch down the left field line to keep the no hit bid intact.
 
Radford padded Hrbek's lead in the top of the seventh on back-to-back singles off the bats of Gonzalez and Horwitz. Following Gonzalez getting thrown out at second base on a double-steal attempt, Roth followed with a single up the middle, scoring Horwitz from second base.
 
Using the 4-0 lead, Hrbek threw just 17 pitches to retire the final nine Bobcats to cap off the Highlanders' first no-hitter since Jason Anderson tossed a seven-inning affair against UNC Asheville on April 15, 1995.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
  • Win: Danny Hrbek (1-1) (9.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 8 K)
  • Loss: Taylor Luciani (0-1) (2.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K)
  • Hrbek entered the game with nine innings to his name, allowing 12 earned runs on 17 hits. He had six career strikeouts in the in the nine innings.
  • Hrbek lowered his season ERA to from 16.50 to 6.60.
  • The no-hitter marks the fourth of the 2017 NCAA Division I season.
  • A day removed from only collecting two hits, Radford finished with 11 hits. The Highlanders have only collected double-digit hits in two games on the season.
  • Richard De la Cruz and Jonathan Gonzalez finished with three hits apiece.
  • The multi-hit game is the 11th of Gonzalez's career and his fifth career three-hit game.
  • De la Cruz has two multi-hit games on the season as three is a season high for the freshman.
  • Matt Roth collected his second two-RBI game on the season, giving him four RBIs on the year.
  • In the win, Kyle Butler extended his hitting streak to five games.
  • Radford stole a season-high five bases on the day, including three by De la Cruz.
  • The game took 2:05 to play, the shortest nine-inning game on the season for the Highlanders.
  • Radford improves to 4-0 all-time against Quinnipiac.
 
QUOTABLE
  • "Not much else to say except that the ball was jumping out of Danny's hand early in the game and he pounded the zone all game long. If anyone in this program deserved an accomplishment like that, it was Danny. He is one of the all-time special Radford baseball players." ~ Radford head coach Joe Raccuia
 
  • "Unbelievable feeling. I've thrown one other no-hitter in my life and you just know when you have the right stuff. A no-hitter always takes a couple of great plays, we got them today from Adam Whitacre and Spencer Horwitz. To share that moment with my team, coaches and family was really emotional. A moment that I will remember for the rest of my life." ~ Radford senior Danny Hrbek

UP NEXT
  • Radford concludes play in the Wake Forest Tournament on Sunday against host Wake Forest at 2 p.m.
  • Wake Forest leads the all-time series 6-2.
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