BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. – The Radford baseball program is starting to get hot again at just the right time as the Highlanders collected their second straight win over Gardner-Webb, this time by a 5-1 margin, to close out the series victory at Henry Moss Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
The back-to-back wins pushed Radford right back into the Big South race. The Highlanders improved to 5-7 in conference play and find themselves tied for fourth in the conference overall.
THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: Radford – 5, Gardner-Webb – 1
LOCATION: Bill Masters Field at John Henry Moss Stadium (Boiling Springs, North Carolina)
RECORDS: Radford 16-19 (5-7 Big South), GWU 15-22 (5-7 Big South)
THE BREAKDOWN
- It was
Jhonkeanu Perez's turn to lead the offense with a 1-for-4 afternoon. His day included one RBI and a game best two runs scored.
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Tyler Kehoe brought the power as he too went 1-for-4 at the dish. He totaled one homer, one RBI and one run in the victory.
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James Ward (1-for-3, one RBI, one walk) and
Hunter Keen (1-for-3, one RBI, one base on balls) drove in the other Highlander runs.
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Eli Hudgins (1-for-4) and
Noah Toole (2-for-4, one run scored) each added base knocks, respectively.
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Matthew McGovern came around to score a single time.
- While he didn't go long enough to get the victory,
Nick Petit set the tone from the start off the mound. The redshirt senior fired four scoreless innings to open the contest. He allowed just three hits and finished with two strikeouts. The performance was easily his longest of the season and was the most innings pitched in one game for his Radford career.
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Matthew Lefevers got his first victory of the year with 3.2 strong innings of work. He allowed just a single earned run, three hits and had one punch out.
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Will Rice retired the only batter he faced out of the pen.
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Trey Ludy finished things off with a scoreless frame that included one hit against and one strikeout.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Radford once again got on the board first for the third straight game as Kehoe sent a towering blast off the scoreboard to make it 1-0 in the top of the third.
- The Highlanders got another run across in the top of the sixth. Ward just put the ball in play and the Gardner-Webb defense couldn't figure out the play as Radford extended its advantage to 2-0.
- Once again, the Highlanders put the pressure on the defense in the top of the eighth and it worked to perfection. Keen hit a beautiful bunt for a RBI single which was followed by yet another Ward fielder's choice RBI to push the edge to 4-0.
- The Bulldogs tried to get back in it with a solo shot in the bottom half of the inning to make it a 4-1 game.
- Perez drove in McGovern on a sacrifice fly in the top of the ninth to give the Highlanders another insurance run at 5-1.
- Ludy and Radford defense slammed the door in the bottom of the ninth to seal the 5-1 victory.
NEXT UP
Radford returns home for a mid-week showdown against Queens on Tuesday, April 15. First pitch is set for 6 PM ET from Sherman Carter Memorial Stadium and admission is free of charge.
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