Ritchie’s Walk-Off Homer Gives Radford Sweep of Flames

RADFORD, Va.--Radford shortstop Stuart Ritchie hit a two-run two-out walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the Highlanders a 9-8 win and series sweep over Big South rival Liberty Sunday afternoon at Dedmon Center Park.(Box Score)

Ritchie’s home run, which plated centerfielder Jesse Ross, offset a two-out two-run homer in the top of the ninth by Liberty left fielder Phillip Laurent that gave the Flames an 8-7 lead. The game was also a record day for RU first baseman Mark Fleisher, who hit his team-leading 12th home run of the season to tie the RU record of 21 for consecutive games with a hit.

Highlander closer Bret Lieberman (2-1) picked up the win, throwing one inning, allowing two hits and two runs while striking out two. Liberty’s Jason Jones (2-6) took the loss, throwing 3.1 innings, giving up four runs on six hits.

Radford (19-18; 10-5 Big South) got the scoring started early, posting a run in both the first and second innings. Ritchie hit a sacrifice fly in the first to score centerfielder Jesse Ross. Left fielder Kellen Wohlford scored in the second inning when designated hitter David Landman singled through the left side.

The Flames (19-21; 5-10 Big South) took the lead in the top of the fourth when designated hitter Josh Carter doubled to centerfield, scoring first baseman Jeff Brown, third baseman Carlos Garcia and Laurent. RU responded in the bottom of the sixth with three runs, sparked by a leadoff triple by Ross. Second baseman Alan Ashworth then doubled to right field to score Ross. Fleisher, who had been hitless in the game, then hit his home run to left centerfield to score Ashworth and give RU a 5-3 lead.

Laurent doubled down the left field line in the Liberty seventh to drive in centerfielder Jeremiah Boles and right fielder Michael Garcia to tie the game at five. Radford added another run in the bottom of the inning when Ashworth tripled to score Ross, who reached on a single. The teams traded runs in the eighth, Liberty scoring on a ground out to shortstop by Brown that scored second baseman Michael Just, who reached on a single. Matt Mantione singled up the middle to score Wohlford, who reached on a double to right field to give RU the lead and set up the ninth-inning drama.

Ross led RU at the plate Sunday with a 4-for-5 performance. Ritchie and Fleisher each were 1-for-4 but collected three and two RBI respectively. Ashworth, who was 3-for-5 also had two RBI. Fleisher tied hitting streaks set by Mike Lombadi in 1998 and Mike Potter in 2000. Ashworth is one game behind Fleisher, having hit safely in 20 straight games. Laurent paced the Flames with a 3-for-4 day at the plate with four RBI.

Radford will be at Virginia Tuesday for a single game versus the in-state rival Cavaliers at 7:00 pm. Liberty will host in-state rival William & Mary at 3:00 pm on Wednesday