May 30, 2015
Radford Press Conference | Lipscomb Press Conference
NASHVILLE— Radford had been waiting 31 years to taste a victory in the NCAA Tournament. So waiting through a long rain delay on Saturday wasn’t much of a problem.
Facing No. 4-seeded Lipscomb in an elimination game of the Nashville Regional, the No. 2-seeded Highlanders earned a 5-2 win to extend their season and claim their first-ever NCAA Tourney victory.
The contest was delayed by rain for one hour and 20 minutes in the middle of the sixth. The stoppage in play occurred just moments after the Highlanders (44-15) had scored three runs in the top of the sixth to break open a 2-2 game. Neither team scored after play resumed.
Radford, which fell to Indiana 9-1 in Friday’s opener, will be back in action on Sunday at 3 p.m., facing the loserof Saturday’s Vanderbilt-Indiana game. Lipscomb (39-20) became the first team eliminated from the Nashville region, losing to Vanderbilt on Friday before falling to the Highlanders.
Radford scored the go-ahead run in the sixth inning on a throwing error on a failed pickoff attempt, then added another run on Aaron Scoville’s sacrifice fly. Trever Riggs capped the inning with a solo homer, his sixth long ball of the year.
Radford starter Zack Ridgely (5-1) earned the win, allowing two runs, both earned, on five hits in five innings. He finished with no walks and two strikeouts. Reliever Daniel Bridgeman followed Ridgley with three scoreless innings of one-hit ball and stuck out five. Ryan Meisinger pitched the ninth to close out the win.
Radford’s Chris Coia finished 2-for-4 with two runs scored. Brad Keen added two hits and scored a run, and leadoff hitter Shane Johnsonbaugh drove in two runs.
Josh Lee, a former Vanderbilt player, hit a two-run for Lipscomb in the second inning to give the Bisons an early 2-0 lead. But Radford answered with single runs in the third and fifth to tie it.