Box Score |
Game 2 Photo Gallery
RADFORD, Va. – Three runs in the fourth inning were enough for the White team to hold off Gray, 5-3, on Friday afternoon and tie the 2009 Radford Baseball Fall World Series at one game apiece.
With the White victory, the deciding game will be played Saturday at noon, weather permitting.
In the three-run fourth inning for White, senior center fielder
Tyren Rivers (Suffolk, Va./Nansemond River) connected on a run-scoring double down the left field line and senior second baseman
Rick Hoogstraten (Poquoson, Va./Poquoson) hit a RBI single and later scored in the inning, giving White a 5-1 advantage.
Rivers went 1-for-3 with a double, RBI and run scored. Hoogstraten added a 3-for-4 performance, scoring two runs and driving in one. Freshman right fielder
Cory Turner (Manassas, Va./Osbourn) also contributed a 2-for-3 afternoon with an RBI for White.
Freshman left-handed starter
Brandon Crigger (St. Leonard, Md./Calvert) picked up the win, throwing five innings while giving up only three hits and striking out three. Redshirt sophomore right-hander
Abram Williams (Radford, Va./Radford) converted a two-inning save to seal the White victory.
On the Gray side, senior right fielder
Reggie Keen (Danville, Va./George Washington-Danville) was 1-for-4 with an RBI double, and redshirt sophomore center fielder
Zach Costello (South Riding, Va./Paul VI) finished 2-for-3 with a double and run scored.
The White team got on the scoreboard in the top of the third after a Hoogstraten single, two stolen bases and a run on a passed ball. Turner then drove in a run on a single up the middle to make it 2-0.
Gray responded in the bottom half when redshirt sophomore left fielder
Cory Cook (Carroll, Ohio/Tree of Life) was hit by a pitch, stole second and later scored on a fielding error.
After the three-run fourth inning by the White team, the Gray squad chipped away at the lead, grabbing a run in the fifth on Keen’s RBI double and in the sixth when Costello scored on a fielding error.
POST GAME QUOTES
White coach Rick Oliveri – “In Game 2, obviously the outcome was better for us. I’m proud of the guys, they came out and battled and they didn’t pack it in. The pitching was great. Brandon Crigger wasn’t feeling well and threw very well and Abram coming in to close it down after getting hit in the hand; being able to throw the way he did showed a lot of toughness. I’m proud of the way he played and the way we battled. Game 3 will be fun.”
Gray coach Allen Rice – “I thought we came out with a very slow start, didn’t pitch, didn’t play defense and didn’t do much offensively to begin the game. Brewer came in and held them at bay for the middle innings, but we didn’t generate enough offense to win the game.”
Recap by Radford Athletic Communications Student Justin Thompson