RADFORD, Va. – The Radford baseball team split a doubleheader with USC Upstate on Friday at Carter Memorial Stadium, winning the first game 3-1 before falling in the nightcap 9-1.
GAME 1
The Highlanders (7-14, 2-3 Big South) put together perhaps their most complete game as a pitching staff, holding USC Upstate to just six hits on the afternoon while walking only two batters.
Starter
Alex Jankowski led the way, pitching 4.2 innings of one-run ball. He struck out three Spartans and yielded just two hits in 16 at-bats, narrowly missing out qualifying for a win.
LHP
Peyton Reesman (2-1) did earn the win, as he held the visitors scoreless over 3.1 innings of work. RHP
John Holobetz came into the game in the ninth and pitched a clean frame to earn his second save of the year.
Radford was paced offensively by LF
Tanner Barrs, who went 2-for-3 with a run and recorded all three of the team's RBI. Barrs hit a two-run single in the fourth inning that put the Highlanders ahead 2-1.
In the seventh inning, the senior Barrs sent a longball to right field that left the yard, giving him his first home run of the season.
Noah Sullivan had a productive outing for USC Upstate (15-8, 4-1 Big South), going 2-for-3 with an RBI in the first inning.
GAME 2
The second game was dominated by the Spartans, who scored three runs in the first inning and never looked back.
Cameron MacIntosh got the scoring started for USC Upstate, as the second baseman doubled to right to drive in the first run of the game. That was followed up by RBI singles from Noah Rabon and Jeff Taylor in succession.
The lone Radford run came in the fifth inning, when right fielder
Brendan Bagwell scored on a wild pitch. The Highlanders struggled to generate offense, mustering just five hits.
Three of those hits came from third baseman
Zack Whitacre, the only Highlander with multiple base knocks.
Austin Morgan (3-1) earned the win for USC Upstate, allowing one run and four hits over seven innings while striking out eight batters.
NOTABLE STATS
- With hits in both games today, Whitacre now has hits in seven of his last eight games.
- Game one was only the second time all season that Radford did not draw a walk. (They had one free pass in game two.)
- The home run by Barrs was the Highlanders' first four-bagger in six games.