HIGH POINT, N.C. – After a true turning point year for the Radford baseball program, the record-setting 2025 campaign has come to a close as the Highlanders were eliminated from the 2025 Big South Tournament with a 12-4 loss to Winthrop in Thursday night's elimination game inside Truist Point Stadium.
Head coach
Alex Guerra, his staff and his student-athletes have completely revitalized the program this season for a group that returns a vast majority of its young core for 2026.
THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: Radford – 4, Winthrop – 12
LOCATION: Truist Point Stadium (High Point, North Carolina)
RECORDS: Radford 28-28 (13-11), Winthrop 31-28 (13-11)
MAKING THEIR MARK IN HISTORY
- The Radford squad recorded the most wins in a single-season (28) and collected both its first post season appearance and first conference tournament victory since the 2019 campaign.
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James Ward concluded one of the best offensive seasons in school history in his only year with the Highlanders. He finished ranked second in hit by pitches (18), fourth in total bases (130), fifth in RBI (56), tied for sixth in home runs (12), tied for seventh in doubles (18) and tied for tenth in hits (74) all-time for a single campaign in program history.
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Breckin Nace added his name to the top 10 season marks in runs scored (tied for fourth all-time, 54), hit by pitches (14, tied for sixth) and on-base percentage (.470, ninth).
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Hunter Keen slots in at sixth all-time in a season in assists (160), just six behind his head coach's best yearly total while he played at Radford. He is also now tied for seventh all-time in turned double plays (36). With his strong tournament, the Palatka, Florida native is tied for tenth in hits all-time in a year as well. Keen was the first Highlander to earn First Team All-Conference honors since 2021.
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Jhonkeanu Perez is now tied for fourth all-time in hit by pitches in a single year (15).
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Eli Hudgins also tied for ninth overall all-time with 20 stolen bases.
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Tyler Sparrer tied for 10th all-time in caught base stealers (14) in a season.
- As a unit, the Highlanders posted one of the best overall offensive seasons in school history. This Radford squad is now ranked third in runs batted in (352), fourth in hits (572), doubles (112), runs scored (391) and total bases (842), and fifth in stolen baes (97) and hit by pitches (80) all-time for a single campaign.
THE BREAKDOWN
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Noah Toole led the way on offense with a team-best two runs batted in. His finished the game 1-for-4 overall with a double and a run scored.
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Breckin Nace posted the other Radford RBI in the contest.
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Jhonkeanu Perez ended his impressive year with a three-hit night as he went 3-for-4 at the dish.
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Hunter Keen (1-for-4),
Tyler Kehoe (one walk) and
Corbin Grantham (1-for-4) all came around to score a single time, respectively.
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Jaxon Kehoe (0.1 innings pitched),
Clay Clatterbaugh (0.1),
Nick Petit (0.2, one strikeout) and
Andrew Steinhaus (0.2, one punch out) all worked a scoreless appearance out of the bullpen.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Winthrop started it off with a quick run in the top of the first to jump out to a 1-0 lead.
- The Eagles pushed across another run in the top of the third and brought two more around in the fourth to extend the advantage to 4-0.
- Radford started to fight back with a run of its own in the bottom of the fourth. Hudgins struck out but the third strike was unable to be corralled as he hustled down the line to beat the throw to first which allowed Keen to score from third to make it a 4-1 contest.
- Winthrop turned it on with a seven-spot in the top of the fifth to take a commanding 11-1 edge.
- The Highlanders once again answered back with three runs in the bottom of the frame to get back in it at 11-4. A Toole two-RBI double down the leftfield line was followed by a deep Nace sacrifice fly to center that brought around Toole to make it a game once again.
- The Eagles added another insurance run in the top of the seventh to push ahead at 12-4.
- Winthrop closed out the victory with another run in the top of the ninth to seal the 13-4 win.
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