Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, April 7, 1993 TAG: 9304070097
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-8 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: CHRIS STEUART
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
PRESS BOX BIG NEWS AS RU FINALLY GETS TO PLAY BASEBALL
Radford University's baseball team finally got to play last Thursday.And they rallied from 9-0 to beat the Bristol Bulldogs 12-11 in 10 innings in the first home game in weeks that hadn't been rained out.
The game was great. But the real news was the new press box.
Now, you might not readily appreciate the addition of this structure on top of the utility building behind home plate.
But those of us who have braved the elements at the ball park by the New River appreciate the thing tons.
Thursday was an appropriate day to christen the new structure, which seats about 10 people:
It was gloomy and cold with periodical rays of sun to spur the breeze off the chilly river.
As game time approached the Bulldogs still weren't there.
Usually folks like Mike Ashley, Radford's assistant sports information director, would have been shaking in the breeze and purple-lipped for a few more excruciating minutes.
And reporters who weren't prepared with a hefty paperweight would have had to fight the blowing pages of their scorebooks with fingers they barely could move because of the cold.
Ashley jokingly tabbed the press box, "The Mike Ashley Cold and Flu Season Memorial Press Box."
But when the Bulldogs drove up - in seven cars - 20 minutes before game time, all was well.
The members of the media were safely tucked away inside the cozy new press box, like Goldilocks with her porridge.
Minutes before the game started, Radford radioman Dave Hunziker asked the fans to rise for the national anthem.
They turned and faced the press box and - silence. The tape player didn't work.
"Let's just play ball," Hunziker said to all the laughing fans who peered into the press box after about a minute of silence.
A few moments later he added, "That moment of silence was dedicated to the Washington Senators and the Seattle Pilots."
The more things change the more things stay the same.
\ MORE BASEBALL: Designated hitter Brian Pardue from Johnson City, Tenn., is a real hit.
Last fall he hit the books to the tune of a 4.0 grade-point average. This spring he's pounding the baseball.
The Radford junior is hitting at a .417 clip and has a robust .792 slugging percentage.
He banged out three homeruns last week.
\ SOFTBALL RECORD-BREAKERS: After a pretty rocky inaugural season last year, the Radford women's softball team is breaking records at every turn in 1993.
The team is 6-14; the six wins already equals the number of victories the team finished with in last year's 6-25 season.
Among the records are 154 hits (153 in 1992) and 65 stolen bases (30 in 1992). Freshman outfielder Suzie Rath has emerged as a leader on the team. She has 20 steals and is hitting at a .441 average.
Third baseman Kate Neuman leads the team with a .451 average.
Further evidence of the Radford's growth was a 7-4 victory over 19th ranked UVa on March 26 in Charlottesville in the opening round of the tournament hosted by UVa.
\ RU BABIES GALORE: On March 28 the men's tennis team beat Appalachian State 4-3. Real big news, huh?
Well, there's a hitch to this:
Radford coach Bruce Harrison's wife, Susan, gave birth to a baby girl on Sunday morning. Harrison missed the match, but senior Denni Bueno from Chesapeake stepped in to fill his coach's vacancy and notched his first career coaching win.
The men's team is 10-7 and the women's team is 9-7.
Rick Rogers, Radford's sports information director, and his wife, Kim, had a baby girl, Emily Catherine Rogers, on March 31.
Chris Steuart covers sports for the Roanoke Times & World-News' New River Valley bureau.