RADFORD, Va. – Radford baseball heads south once again for the weekend, this time to Joseph P. Riley Park in Charleston, S.C., for four games in The Citadel Memorial Challenge hosted by the Charleston Crab House.
Schedule/Probable Starting Pitchers
Friday, 2:30 p.m. vs. The Citadel –
RHP Aerik Taylor (0-1, 4.50 ERA) vs. RHP Wes Wrenn (0-0, 7.20 ERA)
Friday, 6 p.m. vs. Marshall –
RHP Shane Pysh (0-0, 8.31 ERA) vs. TBA
Saturday, 6 p.m. vs. Tennessee Tech – TBA
Sunday, 11 a.m. vs. Marshall – TBA
Riley Park is the first of five minor league facilities Radford will visit this season. The 6,000-seat facility situated along the banks of the Ashley River is the home of the Charleston RiverDogs, the Yankees' Class-A affiliate.
This weekend features a pair of first-time meetings for the Highlanders, beginning Friday with Marshall. The two clubs were scheduled to meet last season before rain cancelled a March 4 affair at Radford University Baseball Field. Friday's encounter is the first of four with the Thundering Herd, including Sunday morning's game, and a pair of meetings scheduled in the New River Valley for May.
Marshall brings a 2-2 record to the Holy City, following four games last weekend at the Wake Forest Invitational.
Tennessee Tech and Radford have never met on the diamond and the Golden Eagles are the first Ohio Valley Conference opponent for the Highlanders since Eastern Illinois in 1998.
Tennessee Tech visits the Lowcountry with a 3-2 record, taking 3-of-4 in a weekend series over Saint Peter's and dropping a Wednesday game to Middle Tennessee State.
The Citadel has a 2-1 series edge on Radford, with the last tilt between the two clubs coming in 1998. The Bulldogs are one of three teams from the Southern Conference on the Highlanders' schedule this season (Appalachian State, Davidson).
The Bulldogs (1-3) rallied to earn a win in the final game of four against Indiana State last weekend at Riley Park.
Weekend Notebook:
- Radford finished a Friday-Sunday (Feb. 20-22) series at UAB with a 1-2 record, salvaging the set with a 4-3 win on Sunday.
- The Highlanders got five innings in the series finale from freshman lefty
Paul DeVito, who earned the win (1-0) in his collegiate debut. DeVito allowed three earned runs on three hits, and left in the sixth inning with a 4-1 lead over the Blazers.
- Senior left-hander
John Lloyd and freshman righty
Jason Patten made DeVito's performance stand with four scoreless frames. Lloyd went 3 1/3 innings before giving way to Patten in the ninth, who induced a game-ending double play earn his first collegiate save.
- Lifting Radford at the plate was senior left fielder
Will Naylor, who went 3-for-9 with three extra-base hits (including his first career home run on Saturday) and three RBI. Naylor's first-inning triple with two outs drove in a pair to give the Highlanders a 2-0 lead on Sunday, and he scored the go-ahead run on freshman catcher
Carl Travers' sacrifice bunt in the fifth.
- Senior first baseman and 2009 Big South Preseason Player of the Year
Alex Gregory picked up four hits over the weekend and extended his current hitting streak to 13 games, which began on May 9 of last season at Winthrop.
- Seven true freshmen made their debuts for the Highlanders in the series, with four making starts (2B
Brett Mollenhauer, SS
Jeff Kemp, C
Carl Travers, LHP
Paul DeVito). Leading the newcomers at the plate was Mollenhauer, who went 4-for-10 with a double, triple, and RBI. The product of Roanoke tripled in the first official plate appearance of his collegiate career, in the third inning of Friday's game.
- Junior right fielder and Brooks Wallace Award Watch List player
Reggie Keen enters the weekend with hits in three of his last four trips to the dish.
Radford Probable Starting Pitchers
Friday vs. The Citadel – Junior RHP
Aerik Taylor (Williamsport, Md./Hagerstown C.C.)
Taylor made his first Division I start and return to college baseball's highest level last Saturday at UAB. The righty was saddled with the loss after allowing four runs (one earned) in two innings. In the bottom of the first, Taylor worked out of a one-out, bases-loaded jam, getting a punchout and fly ball to right field to retire the side. In the second, Taylor faced seven batters in an inning that began with an error.
Friday vs. Marshall – Sophomore RHP
Shane Pysh (Wheeling, W.Va./John Marshall)
Pysh, making his second career start on Friday, does so against a team from his home state of West Virginia. The sophomore right-hander got the nod on opening day and set down 11 in a row before running into fourth-inning trouble. Pysh finished the game in the fifth, working 4 1/3 innings and allowing four earned runs on three hits in a no-decision.
