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Radford University Athletics

Home Of The RadFord Highlanders RadFord Highlanders
Threehouse1-20170603
Tim Easley
1
Radford RAD 27-32
3
Winner Xavier XU 33-26
Radford RAD
27-32
1
Final
3
Xavier XU
33-26
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Radford RAD 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 2
Xavier XU 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 X 3 5 0

W: SCHILLING (6-4) L: Zurak, Kyle (4-4) S: SCHRAMM (4)

Game Recap: Baseball |

RADFORD'S MAGICAL SEASON ENDS WITH 3-1 LOSS TO XAVIER



GAME INFORMATION
  • Score: No. 3 Xavier 3, No. 4 Radford 1
  • Records: Musketeers (33-26) | Highlanders (27-32)
  • Location: Jim Patterson Stadium | Louisville, Ky.
 
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Radford's magical two weeks came to an end as the Highlanders were unable to overcome a late 3-1 deficit in Saturday's Louisville Regional elimination game as the third seeded Xavier Musketeers held Radford hitless for the final six innings.
 
Fresh off a complete game in his third collegiate start, senior Kyle Zurak took the ball in the elimination game matchup. The Musketeers jumped on Zurak early, but the righty was able to strand a runner on third in the opening frame. The second inning saw Will LaRue open with a walk, advancing to second on a ground out. Xavier struck first on a Nate Soria single up the middle.
 
Finishing the contest with only two hits, Radford received its first in the top of the first inning as senior Danny Hrbek reached on an infield single to short and tallying its second in the top of the third.
 
Anthony Miano led the frame off with a hit by pitch and Luke Wise ripped a double down the first base line on an eight-pitch at bat. Racing from first to third, Miano received the stop sign, but was unable to stop immediately, diving back into the bag.
 
The only Highlander run came one batter later as Kyle Butler lifted a fly ball to left field, flying deep enough to score Miano from third and allowing Wise to tag up. Matt Roth struck out swinging to end the Radford threat.
 
Xavier took the lead in the fourth as Joe Gellenbeck reached on a dropped fly ball by Miano in left field. Gellebeck moved to third on a LaRue ground out. Mitch Gallagher followed with a first pitch ground ball to third base as Roth was able to make a diving stop on the laser and throw home from his knees. The throw was on target, but a muffed catch by Jonathan Gonzalez at the dish allowed Gellenbeck to slide in safely.
 
The Musketeers put runners on the corners, but Zurak came back with his fourth and final strikeout to end the threat. Xavier loaded the bases on Zurak in the fifth with two outs as Radford went to its bullpen, bringing on Evan Threehouse.
 
Threehouse's second pitch got past Gonzalez, allowing Xavier to plate an insurance run, which proved to be all they needed. Radford was unable to chip away at the deficit, only placing two runners on base in the final four frames.
 
After the wild pitch, Threehouse was lights as the freshman held Xavier to three hits over 3.2 innings of relief, striking out four batters.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
  • Win: Garrett Schilling (6-4) (7.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K)
  • Loss: Kyle Zurak (4-4) (4.2 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 5 BB, 4 K)
  • Evan Threehouse finished with only two earned runs in his final 24.1 innings of the season, striking out 27 batters.
  • The five walks are a career-high surrendered by Zurak.
  • Finishing with a 2.28 season ERA, Zurak ranks fifth best in Radford history. His 3.74 career ERA ranks seventh best in program history.
  • Xavier pitchers combined to force 14 Radford fly outs.
  • Both teams only had one extra-base hit each.
  • Radford's leadoff batters went 2 for 9 in the game, while Xavier finished 4 for 8.
  • Coming off a 13-strikeout game, Radford's offense only struck out six times.
  • Danny Hrbek and Luke Wise finished with the only Radford hits on the day.
  • Hrbek finished his career with 204 career games played, ranking fifth most by a Highlander.
  • Unable to collect a triple, Hrbek finished his career tied for most triples in a Radford career with 14.
  • Finishing with 11 home runs on the season, Jonathan Gonzalez finished his career tied for seventh in season history.
  • Chris Givin led the Musketeers with two hits, the only player with a multi-hit game on the day.
  • Of Xavier's three runs, only one came as an RBI.

QUOTABLE
  • "They're Big South Champions and nobody can take that away from them. That after 56 games in the regular season, nobody expected anything from us. What nobody knows is that we're 10-2 in the last 12 Big South Conference Tournament games. We handled ourselves like champions – even today at the end of the game. We handled ourselves in the right way. They've now gone to two NCAA tournaments in the last three years. There's not many Radford athletic programs that have been able to do that, and especially our program. This is kind of our tradition, to be able to be really successful in Big South play and get an opportunity to be able to play on the national stage." ~ Radford head coach Joe Raccuia
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