Radford eases past Liberty in Big South baseball tourney

Published: May 22, 2008

The moment the words “nice pitch” escaped Jim Toman’s mouth, a chain reaction started. Home-plate umpire Ted Miller didn’t like the tone in Toman’s voice and gave him a warning. Toman didn’t like the warning and stormed out of the Liberty dugout to confront Miller.

“What did I say!” Toman barked angrily. “I just said ‘nice pitch!’”

Miller really didn’t like Toman’s tone at that point, and he quickly ejected the Flames’ first-year coach. Liberty’s troubles in Game 2 of the Big South tournament just snowballed from there. Radford, a team Liberty swept in the regular season by a combined score of 35-13, outplayed the flat Flames in every aspect of the game, embarrassing Liberty 15-4.

Second-seeded Liberty dropped into the loser’s bracket and will play eighth-seeded UNC Asheville today at 11 a.m. The Flames will have to make do without their head coach. Toman’s second ejection of the season (he was tossed March 20 against Columbia) earned him a one-game suspension, meaning assistant coach Scott Jackson will take on the lead role in today’s elimination game.

“We were all kind of shocked he got tossed,” Liberty catcher Errol Hollinger said. “In my opinion, it was a pretty weak excuse to get tossed. He didn’t say anything that showed the umpire up. He just wanted to know where the pitch was. The umpire just had thin skin and tossed him.

“Guy gave him a warning, and he went to ask why he got a warning, and boom. Toman did nothing wrong. He’s allowed to see why he got a warning.”

The Flames (31-25-1) had won 10 of 12 heading into the tournament, but all of that momentum unraveled early. No. 1 starter David Stokes, who was ranked second in the Big South in ERA, allowed 10 hits and seven runs in four innings, his worst start since allowing 12 hits and seven runs in seven innings against Columbia March 21.

Liberty’s defense, which has been shaky at best all season, didn’t help Stokes. Three of the runs were unearned, including two on Hollinger’s throwing error in the third inning that helped Radford push its lead to 5-0.

“I was just trying to throw strikes the whole time, and they just hit where I was throwing it,” Stokes said. “It was just one of those days.”

Radford (24-30) scored in each of the first six innings and led 9-0 before the Flames cracked the scoreboard in the bottom of the seventh. Hollinger hit a three-run double to pull Liberty within 9-3, but the Flames had all but conceded at that point. Jackson turned to little-used relievers Joe Steinwedell, Brett Curll and Doug Wallace to play out the string, and the results were predictable.

Steinwedell and Curll combined to allow six earned runs on four walks and two hits in two-thirds of an inning. Wallace finally retired the 11th batter of the inning on the 52nd pitch of the eighth. Radford had pushed the lead to 15-4.

Radford outfielder and Danville native Reggie Keen finished 2-for-5 with a pair of singles to extend his hitting streak to 18 games.

“Getting run off the field, it sucks,” Hollinger said. “I know we have a tough road ahead of us now. We‘ve got to come battle (today) and play hard.”

If there’s any small consolation for the Flames, it’s in one bit of historical perspective. The last time Liberty was blown out in its Big South tournament opener (a 14-5 loss to High Point in 2002), the Flames won four straight games in the loser’s bracket before losing to Coastal Carolina in the championship game.

“Things just didn‘t go our way today. We got off to a bad start, and it just kind of escalated,” Toman said. “We‘ll meet as a team and try to regroup. I feel like the guys have not given up all year long. I expect them to come out and play with a little bit of an edge to them (this) morning.

“I know they‘re not happy, and we‘re not happy as a staff.”

NOTES: Radford set a school record for runs in a tournament game. … The 15 runs were the second most allowed by Liberty in a tournament game. The most came in LU’s 16-11 tournament title game loss to UNC Asheville in 2006. … RU’s Adam Hoyt was the winning pitcher. He allowed nine earned runs in 4 2-3 innings against Liberty in April, but held the Flames to three earned runs in seven innings Wednesday. “Nothing really changed,” Hoyt said. “Everybody was making plays for me in the infield. I was throwing strikes and they were hitting the ball, but everybody behind me was fielding it and turning double plays.”