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Radford University Athletics

Home Of The RadFord Highlanders RadFord Highlanders
Brooks Simpson
Matthew Maldonado
10
Winner Radford RAD 21-19
6
Presbyterian PC 10-35
Winner
Radford RAD
21-19
10
Final
6
Presbyterian PC
10-35
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Radford RAD 2 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 4 10 13 0
Presbyterian PC 0 3 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 6 8 0

W: Costello, Corey (3-3) L: HAMPTON, Jeremiah (2-4) S: Ludy, Trey (6)

Game Recap: Baseball |

Simpson’s Career Day Helps Highlanders Take Series Finale at Presbyterian

CLINTON, S.C. – Brooks Simpson had a performance that the freshman, the Radford Highlanders baseball team, and the Blue Hose will not forget anytime soon. His perfect 5-for-5 game with two home runs accounted for seven of Radford's 10 runs in their 10-6 triumph on Sunday afternoon at Elton Pollock Field.

Working with a 2-0 lead in the second after the top of the lineup scored a pair on three hits, Radford's nine-hole hitter smashed his first homer of his college career over the right field fence to make it a three-run game. In his next at bat in the fourth, he drove a double into left field that scored Alex Levesque from second to even the score at 4-4.

Trailing by a run entering the top of the seventh, Simpson knocked a leadoff single into left that started a rally. Though he was eventually picked off attempting to swipe third, a bases-loaded walk with two outs by Devin Parks made it a new ball game at 5-5. With two gone and nobody on in the eighth inning, Simpson knocked his fourth hit of the day, a double to the right field gap. The Blue Hose gave Junho Son first base on an intentional walk but Hunter Keen still made them pay, singling past the pitcher and into center field to score Simpson and give Radford their first lead since the second inning.

The Highlanders added on in the top of the ninth to put Presbyterian away. Breckin Nace and Noah Toole added base knocks and were brought home on Levesque's fielder's choice groundout and Carter Richardson's sacrifice bunt. Simpson did not shy away from the spotlight for a fifth time, crushing a two-run homer for his second of the day that got Radford into double figures in the run department.

In a game highlighted by the offense, the bullpen shined to shut down the Blue Hose in the later innings. Joshua Milleville held Presbyterian to two runs over four innings, allowing just one extra-base hit with four strikeouts. Corey Costello took over in the seventh inning and put away Presbyterian in order with two strikeouts to keep things tied. He returned to get one more out before Trey Ludy struck out back-to-back Blue Hose and stranded the potential tying run in scoring position. The Radford closer, who picked up his sixth save of the season, yielded what turned out to be a harmless home run in an otherwise quiet ninth. The Radford relievers combined to fan 11 batters with only one free pass given over the final seven innings.

Simpson came close to breaking several Radford records, finishing one base shy of tying the 14 total base record set by Zach Costello set on April 1, 2011, at Presbyterian. He also needed another at-bat to have a chance at tying the single-game records in hits (6) and home runs (3).

The top of the lineup also produced, with the first four batters combining to go 6-for-17 with four runs scored and four walks.

With the win, Radford takes two of three from Presbyterian and improves to 21-19 overall and 9-9 in Big South play. At the moment, they move into fourth place in the conference standings with two series and six conference games left (3 vs. UNC Asheville, 3 at Charleston Southern). Spots three through seven in the Big South standings are separated by just two games going into the month of May.

UP NEXT
The Highlanders have a break with finals week off. They'll play two games against No. 10 Virginia on Sunday, May 3. First pitch of game one is set for 1:00 p.m. at Ted Davenport Field and will be streamed live on ACC Network Extra.

STAY SOCIAL WITH RADFORD BASEBALL
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