Runnin' Bulldogs Advance With 11-5 Win Over Radford Thursday At Big South Tournament
May 26, 2011 | Baseball
LEXINGTON,
Va. - No. 5 Gardner-Webb collected 16 hits for the second time in
three games and was outstanding with two outs Thursday morning to
spark an 11-5 win over No. 6 Radford at the Royal Purple Big South
Conference Tournament.
Gardner-Webb
(32-22-1) eliminated Radford (31-25) in the process. The 'Dogs
scored 10 of its runs with two outs in Thursday's game, pushing
across three in the third, two in the fourth and two in the fifth
to seize control.
"We are checking back in the hotel and living to play another day,"
said GWU head coach Rusty
Stroupe. "The bats come alive again today and we did a great
job with some clutch, two-out hits."
Radford went on top first, taking a 2-0 lead in the second, getting
a leadoff single up the middle from Carl Travers. A wild pitch
moved Travers to second, and he scored on Jake Taylor's single to
left center for a 1-0 lead. Taylor moved to second on a bobble in
the outfield, and took third on a fly ball out in right field. A
bunt single RBI from Brett Mollenhauer pushed the lead to 2-0,
before GWU starter Kyle Paeplow could end the inning.
The 'Dogs took the lead in the bottom half, with Adam
McFarland reaching with a one-out single and Aaron
Miller getting on board when he was hit by a pitch. Radford
starter Bobby Bolling got the second out on a soft line drive, but
Brad
Collins followed with a three-run home run over the wall in
left center for a 3-2 GWU lead.
The Highlanders used a leadoff double from Zach Costello and an RBI
groundout to tie the score, 3-3, in the top of the third, but the
'Dogs posted another two-out rally to regain its one-run edge. Jake
Watts laced a single to left and Dusty
Quattlebaum lined a double to left that a diving Matt
Hillsinger couldn't come up with, allowing the ball to bounce to
the wall and Watts to score from first for a 4-3 lead. McFarland
followed with an RBI single up the middle to push the lead to 5-3,
before Bolling could get out of the jam.
John
Harris led off the bottom of the fourth with a sharp single to
center off of reliever Jake Quigg and Zeke
Blanton legged out an infield single to put two aboard with one
out. A two-out single to center from Daniel
Merck drove in Harris for a the Bulldogs' sixth run and Watts
drove home Blanton with a rip to right to make the score 7-3. The
Highlanders walked Quattlebaum to load the bases - before a
strikeout ended the spurt.
Radford rallied with two outs in the fifth, as Matt Mack belted a
two-run home run over the wall in left center to trim the lead to
7-5.
Gardner-Webb responded in the bottom half, with Harris' hustling
for a double and scoring on a two-out double to right from Blanton
for an 8-5 advantage. A Benji
Jackson chopper to first was kicked, allowing Blanton to race
home for a 9-5 lead.
The 'Dogs stranded the bases loaded in the sixth, as Radford
brought in closer Abram Williams early with one out - and he fanned
a pair of batters to get back in the dugout with his squad still
trailing by four runs - but GWU would extend the lead in the
seventh. Blanton legged out an infield single, moved to third on a
failed pickoff attempt and scored on a wild pitch for a 10-5
margin. Jackson had walked to follow Blanton and moved to second on
the same wild pitch. Merck singled to right to put runners on the
corners - but Williams fanned three in a row to limit the
damage.
A walk to Miller and a two-out RBI single from Blanton pushed the
lead to 11-5 for GWU in the bottom of the eighth, Blanton's fourth
hit of the afternoon and fifth in seven at bats at the
tournament.
Adam
Izokovic came on to pitch the ninth for Gardner-Webb, retiring
the Highlanders in order to end the game.
Paeplow (5-3) picked up the win, hurling 5.0 innings and allowing
three earned runs on seven hits. Jeff
Howell hurled 2.0 scoreless frames with two strikeouts, Brett
Stackhouse pitched a scoreless eighth with a pair of strikeouts
in advance of Izokovic's quick inning.
Blanton (4-for-5, 3 runs, 2 RBI), Watts (3-for-5, RBI) and
McFarland (3-for-4, run, RBI) paced Gardner-Webb's offensive
production. Merck (2-for-6) and Harris (2-for-4, 2B) also had
multiple hits.
Radford had nine hits in the game, with Costello (2-for-3) and
Guerra (2-for-3) leading the way. Bolling (6-6) took the loss,
allowing five runs on five hits in 3.0 innings (four
strikeouts).
Gardner-Webb will battle No. 3 Charleston Southern at 11:00 am on Friday in an elimination game for both teams. The Bucs lost a 6-1 decision to No. 2 Liberty Thursday night. Top-seeded Coastal Carolina and Liberty will play on Friday at 3:00 pm as the lone undefeated teams remaining. The winner of GWU-CSU and the loser of CCU-LU will meet at 7:00 pm Friday for the chance to advance to Saturday's championship round.
| Box Score (PDF) |
