BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. – Radford designated hitter Patrick Marshall went 3-for-3 with a pair of RBI, including the game-winning home run in the bottom of the seventh to power top-seeded Radford past Longwood 5-3 in the first round of the Big South Baseball Championship presented by Enterprise Rent-A-Car.
Marshall was a man on a mission Tuesday evening at John Henry Moss Stadium as the senior was never retired in four trips to the plate, picking up three base knocks and a walk on the day. The Big South RBI leader tacked on another pair of runs driven in to his total, bringing his season-long tally to 56.
Marshall provided just enough pop for Radford to overcome Longwood ace
Aaron Myers on the mound. In what could potentially be his final start in the blue and white, Myers went 6 2/3 innings allowing four runs while scattering eight hits. The right-hander did enough to keep Longwood in reach all afternoon, including dancing out of a second and third, no-out jam in the fifth which sparked Longwood's rally.
The Lancers scored twice in the sixth off of a pair of RBI-singles from
Brandon Harvell and
Kyri Washington. After an error extended the inning, the two and three-hole hitters dropped in back-to-back singles to cut the deficit to just a single run.
The Lancers would complete the rally an inning later as
Alex Lewis sent a solo shot to left center to level the game 3-3 before the stretch. Yet, it was not enough as Radford plated runs in the seventh and eighth to escape Longwood's upset bid 5-3.
"I thought our guys came out with a lot of energy and focus," said head coach
Ryan Mau following his first Big South tournament game as a skipper. "Ridgely had some pretty good stuff early on and it was tough to string together good at-bats until the middle of the game."
Radford got the ball rolling early with a run in the third en route to building an early 3-0 lead. Shane Johnsonbaugh launched a one-out double to right center as Longwood center fielder
Colton Konvicka appeared to track the ball down, but it popped free when Konvicka collided with the wall. After a ground out moved Johnsonbaugh to third, Marshall stepped in and delivered an RBI-single to left center to open the scoring.
An inning later, Radford center fielder Trevor Riggs launched his fifth home run on the year, a two-run shot to left center, to extend the Highlander lead to 3-0. With starter Zack Ridgely dealing on the mound, facing the minimum 15 batters through the first five innings, things looked bleak for the blue and white in the middle innings.
Longwood had other ideas however, as the Lancers used a great defensive escape to ignite some life at the plate. After Radford used back-to-back singles along with a wild pitch to place runners aboard second and third with no outs in the fifth, Myers turned in his best Houdini act, inducing a groundout and two popups to retire the side and escape unscathed.
"That was a big out," said Mau. "To wiggle out of that thing unscathed was really impressive. It's not surprising for a guy with his kind of stuff to be able to get us out of there. We used that for sure and it sparked us at the plate, but things just got away from us there at the end."
The comeback was on with Longwood capitalizing on a Radford error to pull within one in the sixth. A two-out single off the bat of
C.J. Roth provided the spark for the Lancer order before the error allowed the rally. With men on first and second,
Brandon Harvell looped an RBI-single to right center to put Longwood on the board.
Kyri Washington followed with an RBI-single of his own to trim the lead to just a single run.
A frame later,
Alex Lewis blasted off for his second-career homer to know the game 3-3 before the stretch. The third baseman got a fastball out over the plate from Radford reliever Daniel Bridgeman and deposited it high and deep beyond the left centerfield wall. The bomb was the first off of Bridgeman all season and was just the second earned run scored against the reliever in 24 innings of work.
The tie was short-lived however, as Marshall, who was never retired on the day, delivered a mammoth homer off a hanging changeup. The left-handed designated hitter sent one sailing down the right field line and off the field house beyond the wall.
"That's a tough hitter in Marshall and we know he's been swinging the bat pretty well," said Mau. "It's tough to walk that guy and put the go-ahead run aboard. Unfortunately, we left the changeup up in the zone and it looked like he was hunting it, and he got it."
Just like that, the momentum swung wildly back the other way as Radford leapt back in front in the late innings. The home run chased Myers from the game, as the senior would be saddled with the loss after tossing a solid 6 2/3 innings, giving up four runs on eight hits while striking out five.
"Aaron has been our workhorse," said Mau. "What a body of work he's put together in four years. He's a competitor and he made a couple of mistake pitches today which hurt us with the long ball, but he gave us a chance to win."
After adding an insurance run in the eighth, Radford turned to closer Ryan Meisinger to shut the door in the ninth. After walking Washington to lead off the inning, the Big South saves leader sat down three-consecutive to send the Lancers into the elimination bracket on Wednesday.
Longwood will face the loser of Liberty and High Point, which square off tonight at John Henry Moss Stadium.
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