RADFORD, Va. – Just over 48 hours after freshman Joey Raccuia's life was tragically cut short in a car accident, the Radford Highlanders baseball team came together and pulled off a ninth-inning comeback to beat Bryant, 5-4, on Friday afternoon at Carter Memorial Stadium.

Brady Whitacre was the hero for the Highlanders. Coming up to the plate with the bases loaded and two outs, he smashed a line drive through the box and into center field to plate Breckin Nace from third. The ensuing mobbing of Whitacre in the infield turf produced a scene that not even Hollywood could script.

"He (Joey) was clearly with us today," Radford Head Coach Alex Guerra said postgame. "There's absolutely no question about it. If you don't believe in a higher power, you better start believing after that. It was fate."

Going into the final frame, Radford failed to get anything going off Bryant reliever Landon White. The six-foot-six right-hander was coming off a quick one-two-three eighth. Noah Toole ended White's streak of outs, jumping on a first pitch fastball to single to center. During the next at-bat, Toole advanced to second on a pick-off error, putting the Highlanders tying run in scoring position with nobody out.

That's when White settled back down, striking out two more before walking Nace. With the count full to Eli Hudgins, White suffered an undisclosed injury and was removed from the game. Bryant's Justin Dressler entered and walked Hudgins to load the bases. Brady Powell tied the game by being hit by a 1-1 pitch, forcing Toole home. That set the table for Whitacre's triumphant stroke to center.

"We were just able to string together good at-bats when we needed to," explained Guerra about the ninth. "Obviously, (Whitacre) gave us the opportunity to win the game. There's nobody else I want up with the game on the line than that guy."

On Thursday at Noon, the team came together and had a vote if they were going to play their scheduled series after the tragedy. The vote was unanimous. The Highlanders were going to play.

"We knew before the game, no matter how it went, we were going to stick together," Whitacre said. "We had the conversation too of 'What would Joey want to do?' Joey would want to go out and play. There was no doubt in our mind that we weren't going to play the game."

The Highlanders got on the board first and gave starter Raymond Ladd some support in the bottom of the first, with all of the action coming with two gone. Nace worked his first walk of the day, and Hudgins added his first of several hit by pitches to add another runner. Powell smacked a double down the line in right that plated a pair to put Radford ahead 2-0.

Bryant got a run back in the top of the third, but Nace just missed what would've been a two-run blast, bouncing a ball off the left field fence to make it 3-1 in the third. Bryant wasn't done, as the Bulldogs came back to get within a run in the fourth. Though eventually overcoming them, Radford miscues put them behind in the sixth and seventh innings. A wild pitch by Daniel Quintana tied the game in the sixth, then Bryant capitalized on a Highlander error to make it 4-3 at the stretch.

"Bryant is an elite program," said Guerra. "They have tremendous players. Huge shoutout to Bryant. They are very classy in the way that they handled everything and understanding the gravity of the situation. They were totally supportive of it."

The Highlanders settled back into a groove defensively when they needed to. Quintana stayed around to begin the ninth on the mound, finishing with four and a third innings pitched and allowing just the one earned run with six strikeouts. Will Palmer (1-0) put away the final pair of Bulldogs to keep the deficit at just one going into the bottom of the ninth.

Nace had a terrific day at the plate. The cleanup hitter had a pair of doubles while adding two walks and scoring two times, including the game-winning run. The Highlanders lived off the two-out hits, scoring four of their five runs in big spots.

Radford has two more games left of the series, and Guerra is more than accurate in describing the last 48 hours for his team as "a whirlwind".

"I don't know if we'll hit a wall," Guerra said. "I hope not. But I knew tonight was going to be special. With the support that we've gotten, with the support that is here. And I knew that our guys were going to come out and play hard and give a great effort."

UP NEXT
Radford baseball returns to the diamond in game two of the three-game set against Bryant. First pitch is set for 2:00 p.m. from Carter Memorial Stadium. For fans who cannot make it in person, the game will stream on ESPN+.

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