RADFORD, Va. – Radford seeks its third straight Big South baseball series win this weekend, when the Highlanders travel to UNC Asheville for a three-game set beginning Friday night.
Friday, 7 p.m. – RHP Aerik Taylor (2-3, 5.46 ERA) vs. RHP Taylor Wohlwend (2-6, 9.08)
Saturday, 2 p.m. – RHP Shane Pysh (2-1, 5.61) vs. RHP Michael Bogaert (1-3, 8.27)
Sunday, 1 p.m. – RHP Abram Williams (0-2, 6.10) vs. RHP Ryan Dull (2-5, 4.46)
The series begins on Friday night at historic McCormick Field, giving the Highlanders their second trip to an affiliated minor league park in as many games, and the third this season. McCormick Field, site of the 2009 Big South Baseball Tournament, is the home of the South Atlantic League's Asheville Tourists (A-Rockies).
Games two (Saturday) and three (Sunday) will be played at Greenwood Field on the UNC Asheville campus.
Radford (10-11, 4-3 Big South), winners of four of its last six conference games, took two of three from Winthrop at Radford University Baseball Field last weekend to pick up back-to-back league series wins for the first time since 2000.
The Highlanders will also try and get back on track after falling to No. 10/21 (College Baseball Newspaper/NCBWA) Virginia 12-2 on Tuesday night at Salem Memorial Ballpark. The Cavaliers plated nine in the second inning to open up the game, going ahead 10-1.
In the loss, Radford got a dominant pitching performance in relief from senior right-hander Josh Hammonds. Hammonds worked the middle seven innings after starting freshman lefty Paul DeVito was lifted in the second, tossing six shutout innings to hold down Virginia, a team that ranks in the top ten nationally in batting average and runs.
Midway through the game, Hammonds set down 12 of 13 straight Cavalier hitters. He finished the game fanning six hitters, and allowing three earned runs on six hits.
Freshman shortstop Jeff Kemp went 2-for-4 to lead Radford. The Highlanders touched Virginia with runs in the sixth and eighth innings.
On Tuesday night, senior first baseman Alex Gregory singled to extend his hitting streak to 11 games, going 21-of-39 (.538) over that stretch.
UNC Asheville (5-23, 3-8) is trying to get back on track, losing six of the last seven games, while seeking its first Big South series win of the season. Last weekend the Bulldogs dropped two of three at home to High Point, one of three common opponents they share with Radford (Virginia Tech, Tennessee). Asheville fell in midweek games at McCormick Field to Appalachian State on Tuesday (L - 7-17) and Western Carolina (L – 0-11) on Wednesday.
Second baseman Catlin Carter leads Asheville with a .337 average in 23 games, while third baseman/RHP Justin Schumer's four homers and 21 driven in are team-bests.
Radford Probable Starters:
Friday – Junior RHP Aerik Taylor (Williamsport, Md./Williamsport)
Taylor will try to get back on track against UNC Asheville on Friday night, making his fifth Friday start of the season. After firing a career-long 7 1/3 frames against Presbyterian, Taylor only lasted three innings last weekend in the opener against Winthrop. Taylor's 16 strikeouts this season are tied for the team lead.
Saturday – Sophomore RHP Shane Pysh (Wheeling, W.Va./John Marshall)
After Winthrop was able to break through in the first on Saturday, the bats went silent as Pysh tossed four scoreless frames, while getting the mid-game run support from his offense. Pysh won his second start in a row , allowing two earned runs on seven hits over 6 1/3 innings, while fanning a career-high seven Winthrop hitters. Pysh is one of two Radford starters this season that opponents are hitting less than .300 against (.292).
After 6 1/3 innings of work at Presbyterian, Williams followed that effort up by going a career-best seven innings in a no-decision against Winthrop last Sunday and allowed just one earned on seven hits. Williams, who has 12 strikeouts against five walks this season, is in search of his first win of the season on Sunday against Asheville.
