Left fielder Patrick Marshall went 4-for-4 with four RBIs and Radford took control with a five-run third inning for a 9-3 lead before recording a 14-5 victory over JMU in a non-conference baseball game on Wednesday evening at the RU Baseball Stadium.
RU improved to 17-14 while JMU fell to 11-19.
Junior center fielder Kevin Husum (Panama City, Fla./Bay) drove in two runs for JMU and walked twice. Senior second baseman Conner Brown (Richmond, Va./Godwin) and sophomore designated hitter Bobby San Martin (Fairfax, Va./Centreville) each had two hits with a double, a run and an RBI.
The Highlanders led the Dukes in hits just 11-8 but stole seven bases and earned 10 walks. Marshall singled twice, doubled and hit his third home run. Designated hitter Zach Woolcock was the only other Radford player with multiple hits. First baseman Alexander Lee drove in three runs.
Mitchell MacKeith finished the fifth inning to earn the win for Radford after allowing one run on two hits in 3 1/3 innings. Junior Patrick Toohers (Florham Park, N.J./Seton Hall Prep) allowed the go-ahead run after a 3-3 tie to take the loss (0-4).
With the score tied at 3-3, Radford took the lead in the bottom of the second on Lee’s RBI groundout. The Highlanders then took command with a five-run third, loading the bases on the first three batters on an error and two walks. A wild pitch scored one run. Second baseman Josh Gardiner’s sacrifice fly was followed by right fielder Aaron Scoville’s bunt single to make it 7-3. Lee added an RBI groundout and Marshall made it 9-3 with his RBI double.
JMU picked up one run in the fifth on Brown’s RBI single to score Husum, but Radford responded with three in the bottom of the frame with Lee’s RBI single and Marshall’s two-run home run to right. The Highlanders struck again in the sixth with two runs scoring unearned on a throwaway on a steal attempt. The final run of the game came in the seventh as JMU got an RBI double from San Martin.
Radford took the early lead with three in the first with Marshall’s single with runners on the corners pushing in the first run. Woolcock added an RBI single and center fielder Blake Sipe drew a bases-loaded walk. JMU tied it in the second as redshirt sophomore shortstop Kyle Weston (Penn Laird, Va./Spotswood) singled to score the first run. Husum’s single to center pushed across two runs to make it 3-3.
Third-place JMU will seek its second straight CAA series win this weekend as it welcomes first-place William and Mary for a three-game set at Eagle Field at Veterans Memorial Park. First pitch Friday is at 6:30 p.m. with t-shirts for the first 100 fans of any age. Saturday’s game is also at 6:30 with Sunday’s finale at 2 p.m.
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Chris Graham
