
Photo by: Radford Athletics Communications
HIGHLANDERS FALL AT VIRGINIA BY A 6-3 COUNT IN CHARLOTTESVILLE
4/16/2019 8:54:00 PM | Baseball
Charlottesville, Va. – The Radford baseball team lost a 6-3 decision against the Virginia Cavaliers, in an intrastate clash on Tuesday evening at Disharoon Park. The Highlanders fell to 17-19 overall and have now lost three straight contests.
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Highlander starter Hunter Williams fell to 0-3 on the season after allowing three earned runs in 4.1 innings of work. The right-hander yielded four hits and four walks as he faced 21 batters in the outing.
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Reliever Ryan Bywaters fanned two batters and did not allow a run in 1.1 innings of relief. Brandon Feathers recorded a perfect eighth inning.
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Catcher Will Harless drilled his third homer of the season with a long drive to left field. Left fielder Adam Whitacre went 2-for-4 (double) and right fielder Andrew Szamski collected a hit and a walk.  Matt Roth made several terrific plays at the hot-corner, including a diving stop in the seventh inning.
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Radford had a scoring opportunity in the top of the first as second baseman Kyle Butler led off the game with a sharp single to left field. Butler advanced to second on a one-out wild pitch, but Cavalier left-handed starter Billy Price retired the next three Highlanders in order.
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Virginia (22-16) got on the board in the bottom of the first inning as second baseman Nic Kent reached the left field seats with a solo home run off Williams.Â
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The hosts added another run in the bottom of the second inning. Right fielder Alex Tappen drilled a lead-off double down the left field line and advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt by catcher Logan Michaels.  Left fielder Cayman Richardson then recorded an RBI groundout to make it 2-0.
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Radford had a golden opportunity in the top of the third as they loaded the bases with two outs. Center fielder Garrett Matheny reached on an error and first baseman Spencer Horwitz recorded a two-out opposite field single. Following a wild pitch, the Cavaliers elected to intentionally walk Szamski to pitch to designated hitter J.D. Mundy with the bases juiced. Mundy got ahead 3-0 in the count, however, Price battled back and eventually got the powerful lefty to pop up to second, escaping the jam unscathed.
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The Cavaliers added a run in the bottom of the fifth and were able to chase Williams in the frame. Williams allowed a hit and two walks, one intentionally, before making way for right-handed reliever Cody Boone with one out.  Clean-up hitter Cameron Simmons then lined a bases loaded RBI sacrifice fly to plate the run.
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The hosts scored thee insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth against Boone.  Michaels, shortstop Tanner Morris and Kent all delivered RBI singles.
Harless hit a one-out two-run home run to left center and pinch hitter Jimmy Goldsmith added an RBI single in the ninth.
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Price picked up his first victory of the season as he allowed no runs on just two hits while striking out three.
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Radford will host a three-game series against Big South rival Longwood this Thursday through Saturday.
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Highlander starter Hunter Williams fell to 0-3 on the season after allowing three earned runs in 4.1 innings of work. The right-hander yielded four hits and four walks as he faced 21 batters in the outing.
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Reliever Ryan Bywaters fanned two batters and did not allow a run in 1.1 innings of relief. Brandon Feathers recorded a perfect eighth inning.
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Catcher Will Harless drilled his third homer of the season with a long drive to left field. Left fielder Adam Whitacre went 2-for-4 (double) and right fielder Andrew Szamski collected a hit and a walk.  Matt Roth made several terrific plays at the hot-corner, including a diving stop in the seventh inning.
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Radford had a scoring opportunity in the top of the first as second baseman Kyle Butler led off the game with a sharp single to left field. Butler advanced to second on a one-out wild pitch, but Cavalier left-handed starter Billy Price retired the next three Highlanders in order.
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Virginia (22-16) got on the board in the bottom of the first inning as second baseman Nic Kent reached the left field seats with a solo home run off Williams.Â
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The hosts added another run in the bottom of the second inning. Right fielder Alex Tappen drilled a lead-off double down the left field line and advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt by catcher Logan Michaels.  Left fielder Cayman Richardson then recorded an RBI groundout to make it 2-0.
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Radford had a golden opportunity in the top of the third as they loaded the bases with two outs. Center fielder Garrett Matheny reached on an error and first baseman Spencer Horwitz recorded a two-out opposite field single. Following a wild pitch, the Cavaliers elected to intentionally walk Szamski to pitch to designated hitter J.D. Mundy with the bases juiced. Mundy got ahead 3-0 in the count, however, Price battled back and eventually got the powerful lefty to pop up to second, escaping the jam unscathed.
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The Cavaliers added a run in the bottom of the fifth and were able to chase Williams in the frame. Williams allowed a hit and two walks, one intentionally, before making way for right-handed reliever Cody Boone with one out.  Clean-up hitter Cameron Simmons then lined a bases loaded RBI sacrifice fly to plate the run.
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The hosts scored thee insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth against Boone.  Michaels, shortstop Tanner Morris and Kent all delivered RBI singles.
Harless hit a one-out two-run home run to left center and pinch hitter Jimmy Goldsmith added an RBI single in the ninth.
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Price picked up his first victory of the season as he allowed no runs on just two hits while striking out three.
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Radford will host a three-game series against Big South rival Longwood this Thursday through Saturday.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Zach Messinger (2-1)
L: Williams, Hunter (0-3)
S: Devin Ortiz (1)

Batting:
2B: Whitacre, Adam 1
HR: Harless, Will 1
RBI: Goldsmith, Jimmy 1 ; Harless, Will 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Whitacre, Adam 1 ; Harless, Will 1 ; Roth, Matt 1
CS: Whitacre, Adam 1

Batting:
2B: Zack Gelof 1 ; Alex Tappen 2
HR: Nic Kent 1
RBI: Nic Kent 2 ; Cameron Simmons 1 ; Logan Michaels 1 ; Cayman Richardson 1
SH: Nic Kent 1 ; Logan Michaels 1
SF: Cameron Simmons 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Tanner Morris 1 ; Nic Kent 1 ; Nate Eikhoff 1 ; Alex Tappen 2 ; Cayman Richardson 1
SB: Tanner Morris 1 ; Nic Kent 1
HBP: Zack Gelof 1
Game Leaders
Players Mentioned
Thursday, April 23
Sunday, April 12
Thursday, April 02
Saturday, March 21


























