N. CHARLESTON, S.C. — Propelled by a balanced offensive attack, the Radford baseball team fended off a furious ninth-inning rally to down Charleston Southern 9-8 on Friday evening at Nielsen Field in the conference opener for both teams.
Radford (6-11) got hits from seven different players, including a multi-hit game from third baseman
Zack Whitacre, who went 2-for-5 with two RBI.
The Highlanders got off to a great start, in contrast to previous games, scoring four runs in the first two innings. In the first inning, catcher
Julian Rojas singled to right field to score Cam Pittman, while left fielder
Tanner Barrs plated Whitacre on a groundout to second base to give his team a 2-0 lead.
In the second, both Whitacre and
Ryan Gilmore checked in with RBI singles. Gilmore also notched a multi-hit performance, as he doubled in the top of the seventh. The Highlanders' first baseman then came around to score on an infield single by Whitacre, making it a 4-0 game.
Charleston Southern (8-12) certainly made things interesting in the ninth. After a leadoff single, Highlander pitchers walked two batters, and the defense made two errors to aid the home team's cause. However, with a 9-8 lead and the tying run at third with just one out, freshman
John Holobetz induced two infield pop-ups — one to short and another to third in foul territory — to seal the victory. Charleston Southern scored four runs in the ninth on only one hit.
Starting pitcher
Peyton Reesman (1-1) earned his first win of the season, going five solid innings while allowing three runs. He did give up seven hits but scattered them well enough, and struck out three Buccaneers.
The eighth inning was where the visitors broke the game open. Leading 4-3,
Paul Moore laid down a bunt single to the catcher, who then made a throwing error to allow Rojas to score. Defensive sub
Michael Williams then laced an RBI double down the left field line that scored two runs. The four-run inning proved to be enough as the Highlanders held on by the slimmest of margins.
NOTABLE STATS
- William Flanagan pitched 2.1 innings of one-run ball in relief.
- Pittman went 1-for-3 and added another pair of walks. He leads the team with 14 free passes.
- Radford won their first conference opener since 2017.
UP NEXT
The series will resume tomorrow with game two. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m.
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