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Radford Athletics Communications
4
Winner Radford RAD 12-15, 3-3 BigSouth
1
Presbyterian PC 14-16, 3-3 BigSouth
Winner
Radford RAD
12-15, 3-3 BigSouth
4
Final
1
Presbyterian PC
14-16, 3-3 BigSouth
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Radford RAD 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 4 8 0
Presbyterian PC 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 1

W: Zurak, Kyle (3-0) L: DEAL, H. (2-3) S: Krupp, Mack (1)

Game Recap: Baseball |

ZURAK PUNCHES OUT NINE; RADFORD EARNS 4-1 WIN



GAME INFORMATION
  • Score: Radford 4, Presbyterian 1
  • Records: Highlanders (12-15, 3-3) | Blue Hose (14-16, 3-3)
  • Location: PC Baseball Complex | Clinton, S.C.  
 
CLINTON, S.C. – The game of baseball is about making the most of the opportunities given to you and Kyle Zurak did just that Sunday afternoon, striking out nine over six innings in his first collegiate start, giving Radford 4-1 win over Presbyterian in the series finale.
 
Not starting a game since he was a senior at Williamsville North in 2014, the East Amherst, N.Y., native gave the Highlanders six strong innings in a spot start. Zurak allowed only one run over six innings, coming unearned in the first inning. He yielded two walks, but kept the Blue Hose batters uneasy at the plate with his career-high nine strikeouts.
 
Radford jumped on Presbyterian starter Hayden Deal early, loading the bases on the first three at bats. Richard De la Cruz led off the game with a four-pitch walk and Danny Hrbek followed with a single to center field. Kyle Butler was hit by a 0-2 pitch to load the bases for Jonathan Gonzalez.
 
Gonzalez hit a chopper to the six hole as the Blue Hose shortstop was unable to make a play as De la Cruz crossed the plate for the first run. After a Spencer Horwitz infield fly, Matt Roth drove a 0-2 pitch to right field, plating two runs.
 
The Highlanders were unable to add more runs with runners on the corners, giving Zurak an early 3-0 lead before he threw a single pitch.
 
Presbyterian's only run of the game came in the bottom of the first as Cletis Avery lined a one-out triple to the right-center gap just out of the reach of a diving Luke Wise. Avery later scored on a ball four, passed ball to A.J. Priaulx. Zurak forced a ground ball double play to get the Highlanders out of the inning.
 
Moving to the closer role in 2017, Zurak did not seem out of his comfort zone. He struck out seven in a row between the second through fourth innings, striking out the side in the second and third innings. The senior was unable to accomplish the feat of striking out the side in three straight innings, only punching out two batters in the fourth inning.
 
Zurak got three ground outs in the fifth inning, while stranding a runner on second in his final frame with his ninth punch out. Colin Reid picked up where Zurak left off, striking out the side in the seventh, including two looking on 3-2 counts.
 
Like the first inning, Radford loaded the bases on its first three batters in the eighth. Anthony Miano added an important insurance run with a four-pitch bases loaded walk, his second RBI on the season via a walk.
 
The dominance of Radford pitchers continued as Austin Gerber stranded a runner on second in the eighth and Mack Krupp closed the door in the ninth for his first career save.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
  • Win: Kyle Zurak (3-0) (6.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 9 K)
  • Loss: Hayden Deal (2-3) (6.0 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 10 K)
  • Save: Mack Krupp (1)
  • Colin Reid was lights out in three relief appearances on the weekend, striking out seven batters in 3.1 innings pitched.
  • Radford pitchers combined for 14 strikeouts, holding Presbyterian to only two hits.
  • Zurak's previous career high innings pitched was 3.1 at Liberty on May 14, 2016. He matched his previous career high in strikeouts with four against Longwood on May 25.
  • Presbyterian pitchers combined for 12 strikeouts, including by Deal.
  • Kyle Butler was the only player on the day with multiple hits, finishing with his third three-hit game of the season.
  • Butler now has 11 multi-hit games on the season, while extending his hitting streak to 11 games.
  • Danny Hrbek, Jonathan Gonzalez, Spencer Horwitz, Luke Wise and Matt Roth collected the other Radford hits.
  • Roth extended his on-base streak to 23 straight.
  • Butler and Roth collected doubles, giving them a team best seven two-baggers.
  • The win marked the first road win for the Highlanders in 2017.
  • Radford improves to 8-6 when scoring first.
  • In the series, the winning team scored four runs in each game.
 
QUOTABLE
  • "We didn't need to leave one of our best arms unused this weekend, so we gave [Kyle] Zurak the start and he was ridiculously good for six innings. He put up a bunch of zeros and gave us an opportunity to win. Austin Gerber, Colin Reid and Mack Krupp were outstanding out of the bullpen. They matched up well guys and put us in really good position to close out the day. We scored just enough today to win. We played error free baseball and pitched really well this weekend." ~ Radford head coach Joe Raccuia
 
ON DECK
  • Radford and Liberty will meet in a non-conference matchup Tuesday at 6 p.m., before hosting the Flames in a Big South weekend series starting on April 7.
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