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Radford University Athletics

Home Of The RadFord Highlanders RadFord Highlanders
Whitacre-20170502
Tim Easley
6
Radford RAD 27-31
11
Winner Louisville LOU 48-10
Radford RAD
27-31
6
Final
11
Louisville LOU
48-10
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Radford RAD 0 0 0 4 0 2 0 0 0 6 5 2
Louisville LOU 0 0 6 0 0 3 2 0 X 11 13 0

W: Bordner (2-0) L: Gerber, Austin (4-4)

Game Recap: Baseball |

WHITACRE HAS CAREER DAY; RADFORD FALLS 11-6 TO LOUISVILLE



GAME INFORMATION
  • Score: No. 1 Louisville 11, No. 4 Radford 6
  • Records: Cardinals (48-10) | Highlanders (27-31)
  • Location: Jim Patterson Stadium | Louisville, Ky.
 
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Almost a week removed from shocking the Big South, Radford almost shocked the country as the fourth seeded Highlanders gave the No. 7 national seed Louisville Cardinals everything and more in a 11-6 loss Friday night in game two of the 2017 Louisville Regional.
 
The heart of a Highlander was on full display as Adam Whitacre put together his best performance in a Radford uniform as the sophomore drove in all six runs on a grand slam and triple, collecting his 15th multi-hit game of the season.
 
With the loss, Radford will face No. 3 Xavier Saturday at 12 p.m., in an elimination game.
 
Radford's starter Danny Hrbek and Louisville starter Kade McClure locked into a pitchers' duel in the first two frames, before the Cards roughed up Hrbek for six runs on five hits in the bottom of the third inning.
 
Louisville's inning saw three RBI base hits, highlighted by a two-run double down the third base line off the bat of Josh Stowers.
 
Falling behind for the first time in five games, Radford did not go away easily as the Highlanders loaded the bases with one out in the fourth. Kyle Butler led off the inning with double to left field and Matt Roth walked. Following Hrbek popping into an infield fly rule, Jonathan Gonzalez took the first pitch from McClure to the rib cage, loading the bases.
 
Whitacre stepped into the box after a Spencer Horwitz fly out to shallow left field with a prime RBI opportunity. With only one home run and 14 RBIs to his name, Whitacre launched a 1-0 fastball over the right field fence for the first Radford grand slam since Brad Keen versus James Madison on May 3, 2015.
 
Only hitting .204 with two outs and entering the game 0 for 6 with the bases loaded, Whitacre opened several eyes across the country with one swing of the bat.
 
Coming on in relief of Hrbek in the third, Austin Gerber needed only eight pitches in the fourth to retire the Cards in order, striking out Brendan McKay to end the frame. Gerber and McClure tossed perfect innings in the fifth, before a sixth inning full of action.
 
Whitacre found himself in another two-out situation with runners on base in the sixth as Matt Roth led off the inning with a single through the left side and Horwitz beat out an infield single to shortstop.
 
McClure's 1-1 pitch to the Stephens City, Va., native was ripped down the first base line, clearing the bases as Roth and Horwitz raced home. Coming out of the box full force, Whitacre scooted into third base with a game-tying two-run triple, his second three-bagger of his career.
 
The Whitacre triple would be the last Radford hit on the night as Louisville scored five unanswered runs.  
 
Entering the game with only six starts to his name, designated hitter Jake Snider gave the Cards an 8-6 lead on a two-run home run off a seven-pitch battle against Gerber. McKay added a RBI ground out in the frame.
 
Finishing the night with three hits, Stowers collected his second double of the game in the seventh as he traded places with Colin Lyman, who reached via a two-bagger of his own. Stowers would later score as he swiped third base, scoring on an errant throw by Gonzalez.
 
The five unanswered runs came on six hits as Louisville avoided an early scare on its Road to Omaha as Sam Bordner held the Highlanders hitless over 3.1 innings of relief, striking out six in the win.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
  • Win: Sam Bordner (2-0) (3.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 6 K)
  • Loss: Austin Gerber (4-4) (3.2 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 0 BB, 2 K)
  • Kade McClure and Bordner teamed up to punch out Radford 13 times.
  • Radford pitchers combined for six strikeouts, but only walked two batters.
  • Andrew Nardi struck out three batters in 1.2 innings of relief.
  • With multi-hit games in four out of his last five starts, Adam Whitacre is 10 for his last 21, driving in eight runs in the process.
  • Kyle Butler, Matt Roth and Spencer Horwitz provided the other Highlander hits.
  • Roth scored a team-high two runs.
  • Radford finished 2 for 5 with runners in scoring position and Louisville finished 11 for 16.
  • Radford saw four of its nine leadoff batters reach base, compared to only two of Louisville's in eight attempts.
  • The Highlander pitching staff allowed double-digit runs for the first time since April 11.
  • Louisville was led by three hits each from Josh Stowers and Devin Mann.
  • Stowers joined Jake Snider with three RBIs each as the two bottom hitters in the order.
  • Only two of Louisville's nine starters were held hitless.
 
QUOTABLE
  • "When you play a type of club like Louisville who doesn't beat themselves and who can really defend, they don't make any mistakes for you take advantage of. They have four or five guys who can really turn you over with speed and create some chaos for you. I like the way that we battled. If you're going to go down, I think you're going to go down making sure that they use some of their main guys from the pen. We created some chaos as we put some runners on the base. We just didn't get enough good at quality at bats." ~ Radford head coach Joe Raccuia
 
ON DECK
  • Radford will face No. 3 Xavier Saturday in an elimination game at high noon inside Jim Patterson Stadium.
  • The meeting will be the first between the two teams.
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