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Radford University Athletics

Home Of The RadFord Highlanders RadFord Highlanders
Horwitz-20180216
Jeff Sochko
14
Winner Radford RAD 1-0
8
North Florida UNF 0-1
Winner
Radford RAD
1-0
14
Final
8
North Florida UNF
0-1
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Radford RAD 0 0 3 5 0 0 0 5 1 14 11 2
North Florida UNF 1 2 0 0 5 0 0 0 0 8 9 1

W: Gerber, Austin (1-0) L: Miller, E. (0-1)

Game Recap: Baseball |

HORWITZ DRIVES IN FIVE; RADFORD ROLLS 14-8 ON OPENING DAY



GAME INFORMATION
  • Score: Radford 14, North Florida 8
  • Records: Highlanders (1-0) | Ospreys (0-1)
  • Location: Harmon Stadium | Jacksonville, Fla.
                                      
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Spencer Horwitz and Andrew Szamski combined for six hits and seven RBIs as Radford picked up an 14-8 Opening Day victory at North Florida on Friday night. The Opening Day win was the first by the Highlanders since a 5-2 decision at Samford in 2015.
 
Horwitz continued his hot start to his Radford career as he began his sophomore campaign with a 3 for 6 performance with a career-high five RBIs and three runs scored. He had nine multi-RBI games a season ago.
 
Szamski started his Radford career off with a bang, going 3 for 5 with two RBIs. Kyle Butler joined the duo with a 3 for 5 day of his own. Five different Highlanders collected a hit and seven were responsible for at least one RBI.
 
The Highlander offense tallied 14 runs on 11 hits, while earning 11 walks. Radford did not register a double-digit walk game in 2017. The Highlanders scored eight runs in its only win at North Florida a season ago, coming in an 8-7 game two victory.  
 
Radford put together two five-run innings, while North Florida had one of its own.
 
North Florida jumped out to an early 3-0 lead, scoring a run in the first inning on a Radford two-out error. The Ospreys added two more runs in the second on a home run to left-center field off the bat of Tanner Murphy.
 
The Highlanders started their comeback in the third as Adam Whitacre reached on a one-out walk, advancing to second on a Butler single to center. Horwitz followed with a double down the left field line, plating Whitacre as Butler was held at third base.
 
Szamski led off the second with a single, his first hit in a Radford uniform and followed that up with a two-run single up the middle, knotting the game at three in the third inning.
 
After being touched up for three runs early, starter Ryan Sande settled down, giving up only three hits over the next two frames. Sande finished with two earned runs in four innings, walking three Ospreys in his first Friday start.
 
Radford's big inning came in the fourth with five runs on three hits and one Osprey error. Straton Podaras led off with a hit by pitch and Matt Roth walked. The two runners moved up on a Luke Wise sacrifice bunt and a Whitacre walk loaded the bases.
 
Butler followed with a RBI single through the left side and Horwitz drove in two more runs on a single to right field. With runners on the corners, newly entered Matt Vaka threw the ball away on a pickoff attempt at first, allowing Butler to score. Horwitz advanced to third on a throwing error, later scoring on a wild pitch for an 8-3 Radford edge.
 
Freshman Hunter Williams took over for Sande in the fifth inning and North Florida greeted the frosh with four hits and two runs. Williams was relieved by Austin Gerber with the bases loaded and two outs.
 
North Florida added two more runs on a two-run single by Murphy, giving the sophomore four RBIs on the day. The Ospreys later capped off the five-run, five-hit inning with a run on a wild pitch to knot the game at eight.
 
Gerber retired the Ospreys in order in the sixth and seventh innings as only one ball left the infield during that span. The sophomore yielded only one hit and one walk in 4.1 innings of relief to pick up the win.
 
Radford's second five-run inning came in the eighth on three hits and five walks. All five runs came with two outs. Horwitz gave the Highlanders the lead with his second two-run hit on a single to center field.
 
Leading 10-8, Radford added three more runs as Garrett Matheny, Podaras and Roth reached on RBI walks as the Highlanders loaded the bases after the Horwitz hit.
 
Radford added another run in the ninth inning on a Colby Higgerson sacr fly to cap off Opening Day with a 14-8 victory. The Highlanders scored six unanswered runs, walking eight times in the final two innings.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
  • Win: Austin Gerber (1-0) (4.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K)
  • Loss: Eddie Miller (0-1) (4.1 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 6 SO)
  • Gerber matched a career high innings for the fourth time in his career.
  • North Florida pitchers combined for 13 strikeouts and 11 walks, including two hit batters.
  • Spencer Horwitz had two games in 2017 in which he had three-plus hits, both coming as four-hit contests.
  • In four career games against North Florida, Horwitz has nine RBIs.
  • Kyle Butler picked up his sixth three-hit game of his career.
  • Leadoff man Adam Whitacre did his job at the plate, earning four walks and scoring four runs.
  • Butler and Horwitz scored three runs each.
  • Tanner Murphy and Wesley Weeks led North Florida with two hits each, while Murphy finished with a career-high four RBIs.
  • Radford improves to 9-25 all-time on Opening Day and 3-8 in season openers under Joe Raccuia.
  • The Highlanders also improve to 12-18 in games played on opening weekend under Raccuia.
  • Radford is now 6-8 against the Sunshine State.

QUOTABLE
  • "It was a pretty ugly game that we were able to win. [Austin] Gerber came in out of the bullpen and gave us solid innings. Offensively, we were able to put some good swings on the baseball in crucial situations." ~ Radford head coach Joe Raccuia
 
UP NEXT
  • Radford and North Florida will meet in game two on Saturday.
  • First pitch is slated for 2 p.m.
  • RHP Cameron Fritz vs. RHP Ethan Michaelis
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