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Radford University Athletics

Home Of The RadFord Highlanders RadFord Highlanders
Seniors-20170520
Radford Athletics Communications
8
Winner Winthrop WU 31-22
1
Radford RAD 23-30
Winner
Winthrop WU
31-22
8
Final
1
Radford RAD
23-30
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Winthrop WU 1 0 0 1 2 3 0 1 0 8 18 0
Radford RAD 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 8 1

W: RENDON, Colten (7-3) L: Sande, Ryan (0-4)

Game Recap: Baseball |

HIGHLANDERS DROP 8-1 SENIOR DAY GAME TO WINTHROP



GAME INFORMATION
  • Score: Winthrop 8, Radford 1
  • Records: Eagles (31-22, 17-7) | Highlanders (23-30, 11-13)
  • Location: Carter Stadium | Radford, Va.
 
RADFORD, Va. – On the final day of the 2017 regular season, Radford had an opportunity to send its three seniors out with another Big South series win and lock up the No. 5 seed in next week's conference tournament. The Highlanders were unable close out the regular season with a win, falling 8-1 to Winthrop Saturday morning as the Eagles clinched the outright regular season championship.
 
Seniors Danny Hrbek, Kyle Zurak and Jonathan Gonzalez were honored for their achievements in a Highlander uniform with a special pregame ceremony.
 
Hrbek and Gonzalez collected a hit apiece, combining to go 2 for 8 on the day. Zurak threw three innings on Thursday night and did not appear in the game as he will be counted on heavily in the conference tournament.
 
Winthrop jumped on Radford starter Ryan Sande early, putting two runners on base in the first inning and struck first on a Mitch Spires RBI single to left field.
 
Hrbek collected a hit in his first at bat in the bottom half of the first as a single to right field gave him 203 in his career. Radford only managed four hits in the first five frames.  
 
The Eagles added a run in the fourth, two in the fifth and three in the sixth to push the lead to 7-0. Jake Sullivan, Babe Thomas and Tyler Halstead provided RBI singles; before Grant English launched a three-run home run over the right field fence in the sixth.
 
Radford put two runners on base in the fourth and had left six runners on base, before scratching the scoring column in the seventh.
 
Straton Podaras earned a one-out walk and Luke Wise followed with a double off the right-center field wall. Adam Whitacre's seventh hit in the series squirted through the left side as Podaras came around score. The two runners were left stranded following a ground out and fly out to end the frame
 
Winthrop added one more run in the eighth as Thomas grounded into a double play with runners on the corners.
 
Radford's final hit came off the bat of Richard De la Cruz in the eighth, who ripped a double down the right field line, but was thrown out 9-6-5 in an attempt to stretch a triple.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
  • Win: Colton Rendon (7-3) (5.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 K)
  • Loss: Ryan Sande (0-4) (2.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 1 K)
  • Radford was outscored 16-7 in the three-game series.
  • The Highlanders finish the regular season with a 17-19 record versus right-handed pitchers and a 19-21 record in day games.
  • After having their seven-game stretch of double-digit hit games snapped on May 10, nine hits have been the most hits managed by the Highlanders in a single game over the last seven.
  • Radford finishes the season with a 12-12 home record.
  • Adam Whitacre was the only Highlander to finish with two hits, giving him 14 multi-hit games on the season. Whitacre finished the series 7 for 13 with three runs scored and two RBIs.
  • Danny Hrbek appeared in his 199th career game in a Radford uniform, moving him into sole possession of seventh all-time in program history.
  • Winthrop finished with 18 hits, the most surrendered by Highlander pitchers since allowing 19 to Liberty on April 9.
  • Eight Eagles collected a hit on the day as Mitch Spires, Tyler Halstead and Jake Sullivan finished with three hits each.
 
QUOTABLE
  • "First off, I would like to congratulate Winthrop on clinching the regular season championship. They played pretty well the whole season and they force teams to beat them. This is not the way we wanted to end the regular season. We'll strap it back on Tuesday and get ready to begin a new season. I'm sure our ace will give us a chance to compete for a championship right out of the gate. I look forward to the challenge ahead of us." ~ Radford head coach Joe Raccuia
 
ON DECK
  • Radford will begin the 2017 Big South Conference Baseball Championships on Tuesday as the championships run May 23-27.
  • The tournament is being held at the Lexington County Baseball Stadium in Lexington, S.C.
  • The first three days of the Championship will air on the Big South Network, while ESPN3 will have live coverage on Friday. 
  • Saturday's title game will be televised nationally on ESPNU at 3:00pm.  The champion will receive the Big South's automatic bid to the NCAA Regionals.
  • Radford will be the No. 5 seed with a UNC Asheville loss to Gardner-Webb or the No. 6 seed with a UNC Asheville win.
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