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Radford Athletics Communications
9
Winner Radford RAD 3-9
4
George Mason MASON 4-8
Winner
Radford RAD
3-9
9
Final
4
George Mason MASON
4-8
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 R H E
Radford RAD 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 5 9 11 0
George Mason MASON 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 2 0 4 7 4

W: Zurak, Kyle (1-0) L: DiCESARE, J. (1-1)

Game Recap: Baseball |

RADFORD SCORES FIVE IN EXTRAS FOR 9-4 WIN OVER GEORGE MASON



GAME INFORMATION
  • Score: Radford 9, George Mason 4 (10 innings)
  • Records: Highlanders (3-9) | Patriots (4-8)
  • Location: Spuhler Field | Fairfax, Va.  
 
FAIRFAX, Va. – Richard De la Cruz and Kyle Butler combined for five hits and five RBIs as Radford tallied five runs in the top of the 10th inning for a 9-4 victory over Commonwealth foe George Mason, Tuesday afternoon at Spuhler Field.
 
The Highlanders finished with 11 hits, including four players with multi-hit performances. Radford's four through seven hitters were responsible for nine of the 11 hits.
 
Radford scored first for the sixth time on the season as Adam Whitacre and Danny Hrbek utilized a delayed double steal. Hrbek was caught stealing at second, but allowed Whitacre to trot home.
 
The Highlanders added a run in the second and one in the fourth on a pair of De la Cruz RBI singles. In the second, Butler laced a ball off the Patriot third baseman's glove, sliding into second safely. Butler would score on the De la Cruz base hit. The fourth inning saw Spencer Horwitz lead off the inning with a single to right field, later scoring on another De la Cruz hit.
 
Making his first collegiate start, Brandon Donovan used the early lead to gain the upper hand on the mound. Donovan tossed 3.1 scoreless innings, allowing only one walk.
 
Following the Patriots tallying a run on a wild pitch, Radford got the run back in the sixth on a Kyle Butler RBI double.
 
Trailing 4-1, George Mason answered the Butler double with a Garett Driscoll sacrifice fly to right field.
 
Radford was held hitless over the final three innings, only managing two base runners. The Patriots put runners on second and third with one out on Radford closer Kyle Zurak. Logan Driscoll knotted the game at four with a two-run single to center field.
 
Zurak got the Highlanders out of the inning as Radford head for extra innings for the first time in 2017.
 
Agreed upon by the coaches and umpires, it was decided that the 10th inning would be the last inning of play due to no lights at Spuhler Field.
 
The Highlanders made sure there would be no tie, erupting for five runs on four hits and one error. Radford loaded the bases on multiple occasions, forcing George Mason to make two pitching changes.
The inning saw Radford score on a Chandler Davis sacrifice fly, Butler RBI single, De la Cruz bases loaded walk, Whitacre RBI hit by pitch and Patriot fielding error.
 
Taking a 9-4 lead, Mack Krupp came out of the bullpen to retire the Patriots in order, striking out two batters in the bottom of the 10th.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
  • Win: Kyle Zurak (1-0) (2.1 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 2 K)
  • Loss: Jake Dicesare (1-1) (2.0 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 1 K)
  • The win is the first of Zurak's career, giving the Radford bullpen two of the three wins on the season.
  • In his first collegiate start, Brandon Donovan retired 11 of the 13 batters he faced, registering six fly outs and three ground outs.
  • Collecting two hits in the win, Matt Roth leads the team with four multi-hit games, leading the team with 14 hits.
  • Roth has now reached base safety in the last eight games.
  • Kyle Butler and Richard De la Cruz now have three multi-hit games on the season.
  • Finishing with a season-high three hits, De la Cruz leads the team with three multi-RBI games.
  • Butler matched a career best with three hits.
  • Picking up his third two-hit game of the season, Spencer Horwitz extended his team best hitting streak to six games.
  • The 11 hits mark the third time on the season the Highlanders have collected double-digit hits. With the 11 hits, Radford improves its team batting average to .268.
 
QUOTABLE
  • "We battled through some adversity late in the game. Giving up the lead late in game on the road is always tough, but we found a way to battle back." ~ Radford head coach Joe Raccuia
 
UP NEXT
  • Radford will conclude the quick two-game series against George Mason on Wednesday. First pitch is slated for 2:30 p.m.
  • Radford is now 3-7 against George Mason in the all-time series.
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