Brian Murphy
Steve McLaughlin
2
Univ. of Hartford HARTFORD 5-1
4
Winner Radford RAD 2-9
Univ. of Hartford HARTFORD
5-1
2
Final
4
Radford RAD
2-9
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Univ. of Hartford HARTFORD 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 6 2
Radford RAD 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 1 X 4 5 2

W: Mitchell,M (1-1) L: Murphy, Brian (1-1) S: Bridgeman,D (1)

Game Recap: Baseball |

Baseball Suffers First Loss of Season at Radford

THE BASICS:

RESULT: Radford 4, Hartford 2
LOCATION: Radford Baseball Stadium (Radford, Va.)
RECORDS: Hartford (5-1); Radford (2-9)

THE LEAD:
After grinding out back-to-back wins thanks to stellar outings by Kyle Gauthier and David Drouin, the Hartford baseball team could not complete the sweep, falling at Radford with a 4-2 final score on Sunday. Brian Murphy went five innings and surrendered three runs, while the Hawks bats struggled to create an offensive rhythm.

Aaron Wilson chipped in two hits and a steal in the effort, while Dalton Ruch added a hit and an RBI. Jonathan Gonzalez logged three hits, two RBIs and a steal for the Highlanders.

HOW IT HAPPENED:
The Hawks jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the opening frame. Wilson slapped a single up the middle to start the game, and David MacKinnon reached after a Radford error. Both men moved up a base on a double-steal, and Chris DelDebbio contributed an RBI groundout to put Hartford ahead early.
Murphy got off a solid start on the mound, quieting the Highlander bats to just one hit over his first three innings of work, picking up three strikeouts in that time.
Radford managed to push a run across to tie it when Zach Duff scored on a wild pitch for the Highlanders. Murphy managed to work out of a jam, with Radford threatening with two men on and two out.
Radford used small ball to take a lead in the sixth after Brian Stepniak took the mound to replace Murphy. After Duff laid down a sac bunt to put two in scoring position with one out for Radford, Gonzalez hit a two-run single to put his squad ahead 3-1.
Hartford claimed a run back on Ruch's sacrifice bunt to bring the score to 3-2 after singles by Ben Bengtson and TJ Ward to open the inning. The Hawks left Ward on base at second to end the inning still down by one.
Radford added some insurance in the bottom of the eighth by plating a run to go ahead 4-2. After Collin Ferguson replaced Stepniak on the mound, Shane Johnsonbaugh scored on an errant throw at second when Gonzalez attempted to swipe the base.
Bengtson would reach base on an error and made it to second, but the Hawks failed to close the gap and picked up their first loss of the season. The Hawks still won the series, 2-1, after picking up wins on Friday and Saturday afternoon.


INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
The Hawks have relied on scoring early in games to put the opposing team at an early disadvantage. After today's game, the Hawks have scored at least one run in the first inning in four straight performances.
Ward has been a consistent producer on offense for Hartford, as the sophomore third baseman has registered at least one RBI in four of six games this season. His single in today's game kept his six-game hitting streak intact.
The Hawks currently hold a plus-6 run differential, outscoring opponents 31-25 through six games.

NEXT UP:
The Hawks will come back to the northeast to take on Central Connecticut on the road in a Wednesday afternoon affair at 3 p.m. The Hawks and Blue Devils split their series last season, with Hartford winning in New Britain by a score of 4-3.

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