Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, May 20, 1993 TAG: 9305190560
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-10 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: M.J. DOUGHERTY
DATELINE: RADFORD LENGTH: Medium
They thought the Highlanders could beat anybody they played.
And Radford did beat each of the teams it faced.
Unfortunately, it lost to Liberty the last two times the team played. And those games were in the championship round.
So Radford missed a trip to the NCAA tournament by one game.
Coach Scott Gines described the feeling as "bittersweet."
But after the tournament, Gines didn't dwell on the last losses. He knew how much the victories meant to Radford's baseball program.
"The program is nine years old and this is the first time we've taken home a trophy [from the tournament], although it was the smaller of the two," Gines said. "This should give a taste for next year. And hopefully it will be the beginning of us being here every year."
Gines has reason for the optimism - youth. The Highlanders have only four seniors - and all four are position players.
Scheduled to return next year are outfielder Duane Filchner (.401, 8 home runs, 57 runs batted in - a team record); designated hitter Brian Pardue (.359, 6, 30); first baseman Denny Van Pelt (.349, 7, 41, 13 stolen bases); outfielder Alex Vaxmonsky (.348); and third baseman Bob McCandless (.343).
Expected to be anchoring the pitching staff are Mark Walker (5-1, 3.32 earned run average); Jim Abbott (5-4, 3.41); and Eric Harris (6-0, 3.86).
It should be noted that as juniors, Van Pelt and Pardue are eligible to be selected in the Major League Baseball Amateur Free Agent Draft in June.
\ RECORD BOOK: Filchner's 57 RBI broke the mark set by Phil Haney last year. But it was just one of eight marks set this season by the Highlanders.
Harris' perfect 6-0 pitching mark set a new standard for wins without a loss. The old record was two.
Rob Amos tied for the team lead with 13 stolen bases. More importantly, those thefts gave him 38 for his Radford career, four more than the old record held by Donnie Just.
The Highlanders' set new records in three offensive categories - a .317 batting average, 41 home runs and 99 doubles.
Filchner broke the old record of 39 with his team-leading eighth homer at the tournament. Donnie Fields hit Highlander home run No. 41 - the first of Fields' career.
Radford also set a record for glove work with its .961 fielding percentage.
And last - and most importantly - the Highlanders' 29 wins were their most ever. It was one more victory than the squad posted last season.
\ TOURNAMENT HAPPENINGS: If Radford figured it just wasn't going to win Sunday, it had to look no further than what happened in consecutive at bats in the batters in the sixth inning of the finale.
Van Pelt hit a line drive off the shin of Liberty pitcher Rich Humphrey. Pardue followed with a line drive off Humphrey's arm.
But all they managed to do was injure Humphrey. Van Pelt was thrown out at first - by a dazed Humphrey. And Pardue's drive was caught on the fly by the third baseman.
Humphrey was taken to the hospital for X-rays. That's where Humphrey was when they announced he was the tournament MVP.
Three Highlanders joined Humphrey on the all-tournament team: Van Pelt, McCandless and senior catcher John Gegg. It was the first time more than one player from the school had been picked for the honor squad.
Radford won a season-best six games before losing twice straight to Liberty. . . . The Highlanders went 8-4 after exams this season after going winless in five games in 1992. . . . Three of Radford's late-season losses were to Liberty.
\ SEX EQUITY: Radford University was cited as one of the 10 schools in the country offering the most for women athletes.
At RU, 39.8 percent of all athletes are women. Meanwhile, 40.8 percent of scholarship spending, 39.8 percent of recruiting spending and 35.4 percent of day-to-day operating spending is on women's sports.
The list appeared in a recent issue of Women's Sports & Fitness. It is based on the results of a survey taken last fall by The Chronicle of Higher Education. Of the 298 NCAA Division I schools which were surveyed, 203 responded.
M.J. Dougherty covers sports for the Roanoke Times & World-News' New River Valley bureau.
by CNB