March 22, 2008

Game One Box Score | Game Two Box Score

RADFORD, Va.--In a game that featured 25 runs, 28 hits and 13 pitchers, it was an unearned run that proved to be the difference. Yale (6-13) and Radford (11-9) each scored seven runs in the third and five in the fifth, but heads-up base running gave the Highlanders an extra run in the fourth that proved to be the decisive tally, as Radford notched a 13-12 victory in game two of a doubleheader at Dedmon Center Park on Saturday afternoon. The Highlanders also took game one, 2-1.

Davis Stanley got Yale's seven-run inning started with a double off the third base bag that broke him out of an 0-for-14 slump. He scored on Josh Cox's RBI single. RBI singles by Ryan Lavarnway, Jake Doyle and Stefan Schropp gave the Bulldogs a 4-0 lead and knocked Radford starter Kyle Starr out of the game. Cassidy McDaniel came in to relieve him and yielded three-run homer to the first batter he faced, Andy Megee. Megee's first career long ball made it 7-0 Yale.

Bulldogs starter Chris Finneran no-hit the Highlanders over the first two innings, but Finneran was working on three days' rest, so he was relieved by Alex Christ in the third. Steven Ellis belted a leadoff double, then scored on Tyren Rivers' single. Radford made it 7-4 when Nate Toth's three-run double to right center chased Christ. After a Reggie Keen single, pinch hitter Jonathan Spears jacked a three-run homer to roughly the same spot in right field as Megee's blast to tie the game at 7-7.

Radford manufactured a run in the bottom of the fourth to take the lead. Rivers led off the inning with a single and moved to second on a P.J. Gorynski error. Alex Gregory followed with a chopper to short, but beat out the double-play throw from second. As Yale argued the call, Rivers rounded third. He beat Schropp's throw home to give the Highlanders an 8-7 lead.

Yale countered with a five-spot in the top of the fifth to go back in front. Radford pitching contributed more to the rally than Yale hitting did, as the Highlanders' hurlers walked five and threw two wild pitches in the inning. Stanley walked with the bases loaded to tie the game at 8-8, then back-to-back wild pitches led to two more Yale runs. After Lavarnway was intentionally walked to load the bases, Doyle roped a two-run single that gave the Bulldogs a 12-8 advantage.

Following three consecutive singles to open the Radford fifth, Schropp was called upon to move over from first base to the pitcher's mound. After a sacrifice fly and an RBI single, Raphael Turner legged out a triple to right that drove in two runs and tied the game. Nate Toth's single to center brought Turner home and put the Highlanders back in front, 13-12.

The Bulldogs threatened in the top of the sixth, loading the bases with two down, but Gorynski struck out to end the inning. Yale loaded the bases again in the seventh, this time with one out. Lavarnway was hit by a pitch to start the inning, then Chris Sweeney doubled down the left field line. After pinch hitter Dan Soltman was walked intentionally to load the bases and set up the double play, Megee popped foul to first. Stanley was up next, but he was called out on strikes to end the game.

Stanley, who had one hit all season entering the game, went 3-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored. Cox went 2-for-3 with two runs, while Doyle and Megee each drove in three. Schropp (1-2) took the loss after giving up two runs and three hits in 0.1 innings on the mound.

Rivers went 4-for-5 with three runs scored for the Highlanders. Steven Ellis was 3-for-3 with two runs scored, while Nate Toth went 2-for-4 and drove in four runs. As a team, Radford had 15 hits. Will Naylor (1-0) got the win after allowing one run and one hit while striking out one and walking two in 0.2 innings. Mark Beppler earned his first save after yielding two hits and two walks with four strikeouts in two scoreless innings.

Game one was the polar opposite of game two, as pitching ruled the day. Yale took a 1-0 lead in the top of the third when Gorynski's double drove in Cox. That was all Radford starter Adam Hoyt (3-1) would allow, however, as he gave up just four hits in six innings. Hoyt also struck out four and walked three.

Yale's Brian Irving was getting the better of Hoyt until the bottom of the fifth, when Radford tied the game on Mario Duarte's RBI single. Turner walked leading off the bottom of the sixth and moved to second on Keen's sacrifice bunt. Pinch hitter Nate Toth followed with a single to center that knocked in the winning run. The Bulldogs got the tying run on base in the seventh on Cox's two-out double, but Josh Hammonds struck out Gorynski looking to end the game and earn his second save of the year.

Irving (1-2) suffered a tough-luck loss. He gave up two runs and seven hits while striking out seven and walking two in 5.2 innings. John Henry Davis came in with two down in the sixth and struck out the only batter he faced. Cox was the only player on either side to notch two hits in the game. He went 2-for-4 at the plate and scored Yale's only run.

Saturday's twinbill concluded Yale's 16-game, 15-day Spring Break road trip. The Bulldogs return to their home state for their next contest, a 3 p.m. tilt at Connecticut (9-10) on Wednesday. Yale opens Ivy League play next weekend with doubleheaders at Penn and Columbia.

Report filed by Joe Clifford, Yale Sports Publicity