RADFORD, Va. ? Rick Hoogstraten's pinch-hit single in the seventh inning drove home the go-ahead run as Radford took a 5-3 decision over VMI in Big South Conference action on Friday afternoon at the Radford University Baseball Field.
The rally made a winner of RU starter Aerik Taylor (4-3), who surrendered three runs on six hits through eight-plus innings. The junior struck out eight without walking a batter, retiring 19 in a row between the first and seventh innings.
VMI (13-22, 7-8 Big South) knotted the game at three in the seventh, when Taylor's run came to an end on a base knock by Tanner Biagini. Alex Haitsuka followed with an opposite-field single before Brian Sandridge delivered a two-run double off the center field wall.
Radford (16-14, 8-6 Big South) answered immediately off of Keydet reliever Matt Edwards (2-3). The right-hander issued a leadoff walk to Nick Minter, who scored two batters later on Hoogstraten's first-pitch single through the left-side of the infield.
The Highlanders made it a 5-3 margin on Minter's single in the eighth. In the ninth, Taylor gave up a leadoff single to Jordan Ballard, spelling the end of the day for the right-hander. Jason Patten then came on to retire three of the four batters he faced, locking down his sixth save of the season.
The seventh-inning Keydet rally got starter Travis Smink off the hook. The southpaw surrendered nine hits and four walks, however, escaped numerous jams while allowing just three runs. Radford netted multiple base-runners in every inning on the afternoon, leaving 14 men on base in the win.
“Travis Smink did a great job of keeping us in the ballgame,” said VMI head coach Marlin Ikenberry. “He pitched out of tight spots all day long. We did a good job in the first inning of getting up on them, and they ran the trap play on us to steal a run. I was proud of how we fought back to tie it in the seventh, but unfortunately we couldn't get the win today.”
VMI jumped on top 1-0 in the first, as Sam Roberts scored on A.J. Yoder's groundout, the first of Taylor's 19 consecutive batters retired. The Highlanders moved ahead in the bottom of the inning, scoring their first run on a two-out double steal before Minter's single made it a 2-1 contest.
Minter was 2-for-3 with a pair of RBI for the Highlanders at the dish, while Reggie Keen was 3-for-4. Ballard and Biagini each knocked two hits for the Keydets, while Sandridge plated a pair with his seventh-inning two-bagger, the only extra-base hit of the game for either team.
The Keydets and Highlanders return to action on Saturday afternoon, with first pitch set for 2 p.m. at the Radford University Baseball Field.
