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Ross-20180414
Radford Athletics Communications
4
Winner Radford RAD 13-21
1
Winthrop WINTHROP 17-19
Winner
Radford RAD
13-21
4
Final
1
Winthrop WINTHROP
17-19
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Radford RAD 0 2 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 4 9 0
Winthrop WINTHROP 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 4 1

W: Ross, Austin (6-3) L: PEEK, Z (3-4) S: Palmer, Kyle (2)

9
Winner Radford RAD 14-21
5
Winthrop WINTHROP 17-20
Winner
Radford RAD
14-21
9
Final
5
Winthrop WINTHROP
17-20
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Radford RAD 1 2 0 1 1 0 0 3 1 9 11 1
Winthrop WINTHROP 3 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 5 6 1

W: Fritz, Cameron (1-1) L: RENDON, C (4-3) S: Donovan, Brandon (1)

Game Recap: Baseball |

RADFORD SWEEPS DOUBLEHEADER; TAKES SERIES AT WINTHROP

GAME INFORMATION
  • Game One: Radford 4, Winthrop 1
  • Game Two: Radford 9, Winthrop 5
  • Records: Highlanders (14-21, 6-9 Big South) | Eagles (17-20, 9-6 Big South)
  • Location: The Winthrop Ballpark | Rock Hill, S.C.
                                      
ROCK HILL, S.C. – For the second straight week, Radford picked up a much-needed Big South road series win as the Highlanders swept Saturday doubleheader action at Winthrop with 13 runs on 20 hits. The conference doubleheader sweep is Radford's first since May 19, 2016.
 
Game One
 
It was all Austin Ross in the curtain raiser as the redshirt senior turned in his best outing in a Radford uniform. Ross tossed a career-high 7.1 innings, punching out a career best 11 batters in his sixth win on the season.
 
Carlin Christian handed Ross an early lead with a two-run single to center field in the second after Radford loaded the bases on three singles by Matt Roth, Straton Podaras and Will Harless.
 
Christian's two-run single gave him 11 RBIs as he became the seventh Highlander with double-digit RBIs on the season.
 
The Highlanders added another run in the third as Spencer Horwitz singled to center and Roth followed with a double down the left field line for his second hit in as many innings. Garrett Matheny lifted a fly ball to right field, just deep enough to plate Horwitz from third.
 
Ross took the lead and went to work, stranding an Eagle on third base in the bottom half of the third. In the win, Ross stranded four runners on base, while not allowing an extra-base hit.
 
Winthrop's only run of the game came one inning later as Cale Gibson struck out swinging on a breaking ball that skipped away from Podaras behind the plate. Gibson moved to second on a ground out and third on a Grant English single. The Eagle run came on a Thomas Halstead sac fly that Christian tracked down deep in left-center.
 
After allowing three hits between the third and fourth innings, Ross held the Eagles to only one base runner over the next four frames, giving up a leadoff single in the eighth.
 
Of Ross' 11 strikeouts, he had five innings with two punch outs, including four straight. On the season, Ross has five outings with four-plus strikeouts, including three with six-plus. The Beaver, Pa., native has struck out 17 in his last 14 innings on the mound.
 
After taking a 3-0 lead in the third, Radford was held without a hit until the seventh inning. Harless led off the inning with a single to center for his third career two-hit game, while Christian put down a sac bunt to move him to second base.
 
Kyle Butler extended his hit and on-base streak with a RBI single to left field for Radford's final run of the game.
 
Reliving Ross' career performance was Kyle Palmer, who tossed 1.2 perfect frames for his second save on the season to force a rubber match.
 
Win: Austin Ross (6-3) (7.1 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 11 K)
Loss: Zach Peek (3-4) (6.0 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 8 K)
Save: Kyle Palmer (2)
 
Game Two
 
Radford struck first for the second time on the day as Butler set a new career best with a 21-game on-base streak as he led the game off with a walk. Swiping second for his 10th stolen base, Butler moved to third on a Higgerson ground out and scored on a Horwitz ground ball to shortstop.
 
Winthrop answered back as the Eagles touched up Radford starter Ryan Sande for three hits in the bottom half of the inning. Dillon Morton handed Winthrop a 3-1 lead with a blast over the right field fence on the first pitch he saw.
 
Harless' third hit of the doubleheader came via his first collegiate first home run as he led off the second with a solo blast to left-center. The home run was Radford's first since April 6th and the 22nd on the year.
 
Podaras followed the Harless home run with a walk, moving to second on a wild pitch and third on a ground out. A balk by Winthrop starter Cody Whitten allowed Podaras to trot home, knotting the contest at three.
 
Mack Krupp came out of the bullpen in the second inning, tossing four innings of relief, his longest out of the bullpen this season. In the four frames, Krupp allowed two runs on two hits.
 
The Highlanders broke the tie in the fourth as Anthony Miano earned a walk, moving to second on a wild pitch. With two outs in the inning, Butler moved his hit streak to 10 games with a RBI single into left field to score Miano from second for the 4-3 lead.
 
In the bottom half of the inning, Krupp allowed a leadoff walk, getting out of inning with a 5-4-3 double play as Radford turned its 29th double play on the season to gain more momentum.
 
The momentum carried over to the fifth as Higgerson was hit by the first pitch in the inning, advancing to second on a dirt ball to Horwitz. A Horwitz fly out to left allowed Higgerson to tag up and move into third with one out in the inning.
 
With a 0-2 count and the infield playing in, Roth hit a ground ball to short, which allowed Higgerson to score for the two-run Radford lead.  
 
Radford's lead was short lived as Grant English knotted the game with a two-run home run to left field in the bottom half of the fifth.
 
After both teams went down in order in the sixth inning, the bottom of the seventh inning was full of different emotions. Pinch hitter Jake Sullivan gave Winthrop a lead on a solo home run on a 3-1 count. After Sullivan crossed home and went into the dugout. Radford appealed that Sullivan missed first base.
 
In his second inning of relief, Cameron Fritz tossed the ball over to Horwitz, who touched first base. The out call was made, sparking Winthrop head coach Tom Riginos to race across the field to argue the decision.
 
Cheering from the Winthrop dugout quickly changed to the Radford dugout as the decision gave the Highlanders new life and the Eagles would have to play without Riginos as he was tossed after a couple of minutes of arguing.
 
The game's second momentum shift came as a result of the appeal play and tossing.
 
Roth started the eighth with a single to right field and Harless followed with a four-pitch walk. Following a wild pitch, the two runners moved into scoring positon for Miano. The hometown kid came through with a single through the left side as the Eagle infield was playing in.
 
The two-RBI single gave Radford a 7-5 edge. Miano moved up on a wild pitch and scored on a Matheny double to right-center for his 10th RBI of the year.
 
Following Brandon Donovan working a perfect bottom half of the inning, Radford added its ninth run in the ninth inning as Roth's first triple of the season plated Higgerson as the duo collected their second hits of the game in the inning.
 
Donovan finished off the ninth for his first collegiate save as the Highlanders took their second straight Big South road series with a 9-5 decision in the nightcap of the double-dip.
 
Win: Cameron Fritz (1-1) (2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K)
Loss: Colten Rendon (4-3) (3.1 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 0 K)
Save: Brandon Donovan (1)
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
  • Matt Roth was one of two Highlanders with a pair of two-hit games, giving him 12 on the season as he added two more RBIs.
  • Roth has 13 RBIs in the last nine games, giving him 24 on the season.
  • The weekend saw Roth extend his hitting streak to nine games.
  • Will Harless joined Roth with two two-hit performances, giving the freshman four on the year.
  • Harless led the team with three runs scored on the day.
  • Kyle Butler collected a hit in all three games of the series, moving his hitting streak to 10 games and his on-base streak to a career best 21.
  • In the doubleheader, Radford combined for 15 strikeouts in the 18 innings, aided by Austin Ross' career outing.
  • Highlander pitchers combined to walk only six batters in the three-game series.
  • In the two games, Radford gave up only three extra-base hits.
  • Anthony Miano, Carlin Christian and Roth finished with two RBIs on the day as the only Highlanders to drive in two-plus runs in a game.
  • Christian earned three walks in the doubleheader for 13 on the season.
  • The Highlanders now have eight players with double-digit RBIs on the season.
  • Radford swiped eight bases in the series, improving to 53 for 78 on the season.
  • In the doubleheader, Radford's offense plated 13 runs on 20 hits with 11 of the runs coming as RBIs.
 
ON DECK
  • After playing seven straight on the road, Radford returns to Carter Memorial Tuesday to conclude the New River Valley series with Virginia Tech. First pitch is slated for 6 p.m.
  • The contest will be one of Radford's seven home games in an eight-game stretch to close out April.
  • Virginia Tech won the first matchup in 12 innings with a 3-2 victory on a walk-off suicide squeeze.
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