ASHEVILLE, N.C. – The Radford baseball program bounced right back with a big 10-5 win over Big South foe UNC Asheville in a conference clash inside Greenwood Field on Saturday afternoon.
The Highlander offense went off with 10 runs and 15 hits overall. Every single Radford student-athlete that was in the lineup posted at least one hit in the important bounce back victory.
THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: Radford – 10, UNC Asheville – 5
LOCATION: Greenwood Baseball Field (Asheville, North Carolina)
RECORDS: Radford 22-21 (9-8), UNCA 14-26 (7-10)
THE BREAKDOWN
- It was
Hunter Keen's turn to lead the Radford attack with a 4-for-5 afternoon at the dish. He tied for the game-best with three runs batted in and added two runs scored.
-
James Ward continued his insane year with another 2-for-5 performance. His afternoon featured two RBI and a double.
-
Jhonkeanu Perez stayed hot in the series with a 2-for-4 showing. He led the game off with a solo shot and finished with one RBI, two runs scored, a base on balls and one stolen base overall.
-
Breckin Nace (1-for-4, two runs, double) and
Tyler Kehoe (1-for-5, double) both chipped in a RBI apiece, respectively.
-
Noah Toole added a 1-for-3 afternoon with two runs, one base on balls and a swiped bag.
- Both
Corbin Grantham (1-for-4, one walk) and
Mason Self (2-for-5) came around to score once in the win.
-
Nick Petit picked up the win on the mound, his first of the season, with six strong innings of work. He allowed just six hits and four runs against to go with a strikeout.
-
Jaxon Kehoe closed things out with two shutout innings out of the pen.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- It only took six pitches for Perez to get Radford on the board as he led off the game with a solo blast over the right field fence to give the Highlanders a quick 1-0 lead in the top of the first.
- UNC Asheville responded with a solo shot of its own in the bottom half of the frame to knot things at 1-1.
- Radford broke it open with five runs in the top of the second. Self got it started with a run off a wild pitch which was followed by three straight RBI doubles by Keen (two RBI), Nace (one RBI) and Ward (one RBI) to push the Highlanders back ahead at 6-1.
- The Bulldogs tried to battle back with a three-run homer in the bottom of the sixth to make it a 6-4 contest.
- Radford got another run of insurance in the top of the seventh as Kehoe sent a RBI double out to deep left center to give the Highlanders a 7-4 advantage.
- UNC Asheville pushed another run across in the bottom of the inning to try once again to get back in it at 7-5.
- The Radford squad wanted a little more breathing room and dropped another three runs in the top of the eighth to seal the 10-5 win.
NEXT UP
The Highlanders and Bulldogs will meet once again to decide the series in the rubber match on Sunday, April 27. First pitch is set for noon ET from Greenwood Field and the contest will be
played in front of a national audience on ESPN+.
GET IN THE GAME: FOLLOW RADFORD BASEBALL
Get in the game and get New River City made by staying up to date with the latest from Radford baseball through
@RadfordBaseball on X,
@radfordbaseball on Instagram,
Radford Baseball on Facebook and
subscribe to the Radford Athletics YouTube channel.
