RADFORD, Va. – Radford hits the road in search of its fourth straight Big South baseball series win this weekend when the Highlanders travel to No. 19 (NCBWA) Coastal Carolina for a three-game set beginning on Friday.

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Probable Starting Pitchers:

Friday, noon – RHP Aerik Taylor (3-3, 4.89 ERA) vs. LHP Cody Wheeler (6-0, 2.38)
Saturday, noon (G1) – RHP Shane Pysh (3-1, 6.10) vs. RHP Austin Fleet (4-2, 4.00)
Saturday, Game 2 – RHP Abram Williams (1-2, 4.40) vs. RHP Anthony Meo (4-0, 1.93)

Radford (14-11, 7-3 Big South) brings a four-game winning streak and five-game Big South winning streak into the weekend series with the Chanticleers (26-7, 6-2), and comes off a Wednesday romp over East Tennessee State, 11-4, at Radford University Baseball Field.

As the fifth weekend of Big South play approaches for the Highlanders and Chanticleers, the series shapes up to be an important one in the standings.  Radford and Coastal Carolina are tied for third, a game-and-a-half behind first place Liberty (9-2), and the same distance ahead of fourth-place VMI.  Winthrop is a half-game ahead of Radford and Coastal at 9-3.

Entering the weekend, six Big South teams sit at .500 or better (Liberty, Winthrop, Coastal Carolina, Radford, VMI and Charleston Southern; respectively).

Winners of seven in a row, the Chanticleers have appeared in the top 20 of the Collegiate Baseball Writers' poll for the bulk of the season and are the second ranked team the Highlanders will face this season.  Radford dropped its only match-up with a ranked foe, falling 12-2 to No. 10/21 Virginia at Salem Memorial Ballpark last Tuesday night.

Coastal Carolina scored 27 runs over two games to sweep the mid-week action, going on the road to earn wins over Elon on Tuesday (11-10) and Wake Forest on Wednesday (16-13).  The weekend series with Radford breaks up a stretch where the Chanticleers play 7 of 10 away from Watson Field/Vrooman Stadium.

Radford and Coastal Carolina share three non-conference opponents this season: Tennessee, The Citadel and James Madison.  The Chanticleers picked are a combined 3-0 against the Vols and Bulldogs, but fell 8-6 to JMU at home on Feb. 22, while the Highlanders swept the season series with the Dukes.

Through 33 games, David Anderson is the primary offensive threat for the Chanticleers, hitting .365 while leading his club with 11 homers and 37 driven in.  Adam Rice is the reigning co-Big South Player of the Week, after going 12-for-20 in five Coastal wins a week ago, including a 5-for-5 performance with two homers and four driven in during the first game of the Gardner-Webb series last Friday.

Radford Baseball Notebook:

−    Radford scored 10 or more runs for the eighth time this season on Wednesday, and moved to 7-1 when producing double-digit runs.
−    The Highlanders got on the board early and often, scoring six in the first inning.  This season, Radford is outscoring opponents in the first frame 32-18, the widest gap of any inning for the Highlanders this season.
−    For the fourth time this season, the Highlanders nabbed five stolen bases, including four in the first two innings.
−    Junior right fielder Reggie Keen picked up a first inning single to extend his hitting streak to 12 games.  Senior first baseman Alex Gregory owns the season's longest string for Radford at 13 games.  Over those 12 games, Keen is 22-of-55 (.400) with 14 runs. 11 RBI and seven stolen bases.  His batting average has improved from below .200 prior to the Presbyterian series, to .290 entering the weekend.
−    Gregory's batting average continues to rise midway through the season.  Despite a 2-for-5 showing on Wednesday, Gregory is hitting .440 this season, in a bid to post his third-straight season at .400 or better.  Over his recent 13 game hitting streak that ended last Sunday, Gregory hit .574, drove in 17, scored 19 runs and drew 10 walks.
−    Freshman lefty Paul DeVito's 6 1/3 innings of work against the Bucs yesterday gave him his third quality start of the season, tying him with junior righty Aerik Taylor for the most quality outings on the Radford pitching staff.

Radford's Probable Starting Pitchers

Friday – Junior RHP Aerik Taylor (Williamsport, Md./Williamsport)

Taylor toes the rubber looking for his fourth quality start of the season on Friday, on the heels of his second seven-inning effort last Friday in the series opener with UNC Asheville at McCormick Field.  Against the Bulldogs last Friday, Taylor fanned six hitters, a career-high, while allowing two runs on six hits to limit Asheville.  His 22 punchouts leads the Radford pitching staff in 2009.

Saturday (G1) – Sophomore RHP Shane Pysh (Wheeling, W.Va./John Marshall)

Pysh looks to rebound from his shortest league outing this season on Saturday against the Chanticleers.  Despite five earned runs on nine hits against the Bulldogs last Saturday in 5 1/3 innings, Pysh earned his third straight win.  Pysh will make his seventh start this season, and owns quality outings in two of his last three Big South outings, where he's won all three of his games this season.

Sunday (G2) – Redshirt freshman RHP Abram Williams (Radford, Va./Radford)

Williams earned his first win as a starter by turning in the finest performance of his collegiate career, tossing eight scoreless innings to lead Radford to a sweep of UNC Asheville last Sunday.  As his distance has improved over his last three starts, so has his ability to limit his opponents' production.  Over his last 15 innings of work, Williams has yielded just one earned run on 11 hits, lowering his season ERA to 4.40, the best mark among Radford starters.