Probable Starting Pitchers:
Tuesday at JMU, 3 p.m. – LHP
Paul DeVito (2-0, 7.71 ERA) vs. LHP James Weiner (1-1, 10.32)
Wednesday vs. App State, 3 p.m. –
LHP Mark Beppler (0-1, 5.27) vs. RHP Seth Grant (0-0, 7.71)
Tuesday's game is the second time in less than a week that the Highlanders will meet the Diamond Dukes, with Radford seeking its fourth straight win in the series against the 2008 CAA Champion. It's also the final time Radford will travel to JMU's Long Field/Mauck Stadium, with the Dukes relocating to renovated Harrisonburg Veterans Memorial Stadium in 2010.
In Wednesday's matchup at Radford University Baseball Field, the Highlanders snapped a three-game losing streak with a 7-4 win. Freshman shortstop
Jeff Kemp's two RBI and 2-for-3 day led Radford at the plate. Senior first baseman
Alex Gregory and senior third baseman
Nick Minter added 2-for-4 showings with an RBI and run each.
The Diamond Dukes got a 3-for-4 day from catcher Chris Johnson. Left fielder Matt Browning added a solo homer in the ninth, and finished 2-for-3.
Radford and Appalachian State will hook up for the first game of their home-and-home series on Wednesday. The Mountaineers and Highlanders will meet for the 15th time (ASU leads, 9-5) and first time since the 2007 season, a 15-3 Appalachian win in Boone, N.C.
The Mountaineers have dropped six of the last seven games, but salvaged a weekend Southern Conference series at home against Georgia Southern with a 3-1 win on Wednesday. Appalachian, whose non-conference slate included wins over Gardner-Webb (Feb. 25 – W, 11-5) and High Point (March 4 – W, 7-2) as well as a series with common opponent The Citadel (1-2 series loss, March 13-15), hosts North Carolina A&T Tuesday afternoon in Boone.
Radford heads to Boone to complete the non-conference set on April 28.
Weekend Notebook:
- Radford won its first Big South series and road league series since May 9-10 of 2008 at Winthrop.
- The Highlanders took the set by scoring 36 runs, but only collecting five extra-base hits of the 49. Radford didn't go for extra bases in its 13-3 win on Saturday.
- Coming into the series, Radford had nine stolen bases all season, but swiped 12 bags on 13 chances over the weekend.
- The back-to-back quality starts (at least 6 IP, 3 ER or fewer) from junior RHP
Aerik Taylor and sophomore RHP
Shane Pysh gave Radford three quality posts in a row, dating back to freshman LHP
Paul DeVito's outing against JMU on Wednesday.
- Kemp and Gregory used big weekends at the plate to lift their batting averages over .400 for the season. Kemp was 8-for-15 with three RBI and four runs, while Gregory was 6-for-11 with a .688 on-base percentage (2 BB, 3 HBP, 0 Ks).
- Junior right fielder
Reggie Keen came to life with a 6-for-13 weekend with six runs scored, a .563 on-base percentage and a 3-for-3 showing on the basepaths.
Radford's Probable Starting Pitchers:
Tuesday at JMU – Freshman LHP
Paul DeVito (Annapolis, Md./Archbishop Spalding)In his last outing on Wednesday against the Dukes, DeVito (2-0) yielded six hits and two runs while fanning three in 7 1/3 innings to hold down JMU. The southpaw put up four 1-2-3 innings, and got out of a second-inning situation with a 2-1 score and a man in scoring position by picking off catcher Chris Johnson at first to retire the side.
Wednesday vs. App State – Senior LHP
Mark Beppler (Chesapeake, Va./Hickory)The senior southpaw gets the nod for the first time in 2009 on Wednesday, when he faces the Mountaineers. His last start came in the 2008 Big South tournament, with a no-decision against Winthrop. In April of 2008, Beppler earned his last win as a starter, going seven innings without allowing an earned run in Radford's 3-2 win over VMI. Beppler last appeared on Wednesday, working an inning in relief of DeVito in Radford's win over JMU.
