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8
Winner Radford RAD 10-13
6
VMI VMI 10-12
Winner
Radford RAD
10-13
8
Final
6
VMI VMI
10-12
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 R H E
Radford RAD 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 3 0 0 2 8 12 1
VMI VMI 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 3 0 0 0 6 8 4

W: Nardi, Andrew (2-2) L: Tremblay (1-1) S: Higgerson, Colby (2)

Game Recap: Baseball |

RADFORD EARNS 8-6 WIN IN 11 INNINGS AT VMI

GAME INFORMATION
  • Radford 8, VMI 6 (11 innings)
  • Records: Highlanders (10-13) | Keydets (10-12)
  • Location: Gray-Minor Stadium | Lexington, Va.
                                      
LEXINGTON, Va. – Playing its fourth extra inning affair on the season, Radford worked for an 8-6 victory in 11 innings against VMI on a chilly March evening as the Highlanders pumped out 12 hits with four players recording multi-hit games.
 
Kyle Butler, Spencer Horwitz, Andrew Szamski and Matt Roth finished with two hits each. Butler paced the Highlanders with two RBIs. Of Radford's 12 hits, only one came as an extra base hit.
 
In a game were runs were hard to come by early, Radford received opportunities early as Szamski reached on a four-pitch walk to start the second. Moving up two bases on wild pitches. Szamski was left stranded after three straight Radford strikeouts.
 
Base running was the result of the first Highlander run as Garrett Matheny opened the third with a walk. Matheny swiped second on a Richard De la Cruz strikeout and later advanced on a wild pitch.
 
Following a Butler four-pitch walk, Radford had runners on the corners with one out. A wild pitch to Colby Higgerson allowed Matheny to trot home for the first run and Butler to scoot into third.
 
Higgerson would also to put runners on the corners again on a walk. Horwitz would end the inning on a ground ball to first. The Keydet first baseman threw home, tagging Butler on the rundown, while throwing to second to get an advancing Horwitz.
 
Tossing three innings of one-hit ball, Mack Krupp worked out of a jam in the bottom half of the frame after allowing two straight walks. Krupp battled back to force a foul out, line out and fly out to hold the Radford lead intact.
 
Stranding seven runners in the game, Radford stranded two more in the fourth as Szamski led off the inning with a single to increase his hit streak to five straight. The redshirt junior also improved his on-base streak to six consecutive games. Roth also had a single in the inning.
 
The frame saw the Highlanders record three straight outs after the first two batters reach safely for the second time in the first four innings.
 
Radford's second run came in the fifth as De la Cruz led off the fifth with a walk. He would swipe second base and move to third as the throw to second soared into center field. Butler pushed Radford's lead to 2-0 on a RBI ground out to short stop.
 
Coming out of the bullpen, Cameron Fritz retired six of the first seven batters he faced. Matt Pita gave VMI its first hit since the second inning with a one-out infield single in the sixth. Pita stole second and third, while scoring on a wild pitch.
 
After VMI cut the lead to one-run, Radford got the run back as Horwitz and Szamski reached on a pair of one-out singles. Horwitz moved to third on the Szamski single and later scored on a wild pitch to Roth, pushing the lead to 3-1 in the seventh.
 
Not going away easily, VMI knotted the game in the bottom half of the inning on a Jake Huggins RBI ground out and a Radford throwing error.
 
The top of the eight saw Will Harless lead off with a hit by pitch and Matheny follow with an infield single. De la Cruz moved the runners over on a sacrifice bunt. Setting up Radford's top of the order for RBI opportunities.
 
Butler drove in his second run on an infield single to shortstop for his third multi-RBI game on the season. After taking a 4-3 lead, Higgerson laid down a RBI sac bunt for his 13th RBI and fourth sac bunt.
 
With a 0-2 count, Horwitz lined a double off the left-center field fence, plating Butler from second base for a 6-3 lead.
 
Radford's three-run lead was short lived as Matt Pita inched VMI within one on a two-run home run to left-center off of Trey Alderman. Jacob Jaye tied the game with a solo shot to left field.
 
In the ninth, Radford left a runner on third base, while leaving a runner on second in the 10th inning.
 
VMI received a prime opportunity in the bottom half of the 10th for a walk-off win as Jaye greeted newly entered Andrew Nardi with a triple off the center field wall. Nardi proceeded to intentionally walk the next two batters to set up a bases loaded situation for the Highlander defense.
 
Nardi got the Highlanders out of the jam with a strikeout, line out to left field and ground out to send Radford into the 11th with momentum.
 
As the Radford bench came to life on the chilly March night, Roth opened the 11th with an infield single to second base. Adam Whitacre moved Roth to second on a pinch-hit sac bunt.
 
Roth was then moved to third base on a Harless ground out. Following a Matheny hit by pitch and stolen base, Radford had two runners in scoring position.
 
Stepping up the plate 0 for 4 on the day, De la Cruz hit a ground ball to VMI's second baseman. As De la Cruz beat the throw to first, scoring Roth; Matheny would come around the score as the throw got past the first baseman.
 
Radford closed out its 8-6 win as Higgerson came on to close, working around a double and walk for his second save on the season. With the win, Radford improves to 2-2 in extra inning games.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
  • Win: Andrew Nardi (2-2) (1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 1 K)
  • Loss: Derek Tremblay (1-1) (1.0 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 0 K)
  • Save: Colby Higgerson (2)
  • Mack Krupp and Cameron Fritz combined to only allowed three hits in the first six innings.
  • Radford left 14 runners on base, while VMI left 10 runners on.
  • Of Radford's 11 leadoff batters, eight reached base safely to start an inning.
  • Radford was 3 for 23 with runners in scoring position, recording two two-out RBIs.
  • The Highlanders scored two runs on wild pitches and two on ground outs.
  • The Highlanders now have double-digit hits in seven games and in back-to-back games for the second time on the season.
  • Kyle Butler has 10 multi-hit games, while Andrew Szamski follows with nine.
  • The multi-RBI game is only the third for Butler.
  • Garrett Matheny scored a season-high three runs, while swiping two bases to match a team high.
  • Radford finished with four sacrifice bunts for 20 on the season.
  • With two sac bunts, Colby Higgerson has 21 in his career.
  • Highlander batters earned eight walks, striking out only seven times.
 
ON DECK
  • Radford will have a quick turnaround as they return to action on Thursday, hosting Gardner-Webb for its second Big South home series. The series runs Thursday-Saturday due to Easter.
  • The Highlanders will be playing the Runnin' Bulldogs for the first time since the 2016 season. Radford took the series and also defeated Gardner-Webb in the Big South Tournament that same season.
  • Since 2012, Radford is 9-4 against the Runnin' Bulldogs as they also lead the series 14-9.
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