RIDER (5-3, W1) at RADFORD (3-7, L2)
RADFORD UNIVERSITY BASEBALL FIELD

Saturday, March 13 – 2 p.m. | Live Stats
Sunday, March 14 (Game 1/9 inn.) – Noon | Live Stats
(Game 2/7 inn.) | Live Stats

Radford begins a streak of five consecutive home weekends, hosting Rider in a three-game set Saturday and Sunday.

The Highlanders and Broncs will play a single game on Saturday at 2 p.m. and two on Sunday beginning at noon with a nine-inning game following by a seven-inning contest, weather permitting.

This weekend is the first home series for the Highlanders.  Radford played its first home game, in Salem, on Tuesday, a 9-5 loss to George Mason at Salem Memorial Ballpark.   In Tuesday's game, the Patriots smacked three home runs and built an early 6-0 lead en route to a win over the Highlanders.

In games away from home, the Highlanders started the season 3-6 and went 3-2 in their last five, playing in tournament games at The Citadel and Elon.

Rider begins a nine-game, eight-day trek through Virginia that takes the Broncs to Salem, Virginia Tech and Longwood.   The Broncs are in a stretch of 18 consecutive games away from home before beginning play in Lawrenceville, N.J. on March 27 with a series against Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference member Niagara.  Rider began the season with a four-game sweep of Maryland-Eastern Shore (Feb. 28-March 1), before falling in three games at Appalachian State (March 5-7).  The Broncs beat Lafayette on Tuesday, 14-9.

The Broncs are the second MAAC team the Highlanders will welcome to town, with Siena coming in for a three-game set March 27-28.

WEEKEND NOTEBOOK

•    Radford will send #Eddie Butler# to the hill in the first game of Sunday's doubleheader in search of his third win in three collegiate starts.  Last Saturday, Butler allowed two runs on six hits in five innings, holding a Bucknell offense at bay that was hitting better than .340 as a team.
•    Opponents are hitting .263 off Butler this season, with 12 strikeouts against five walks.
•    Aerik Taylor, who makes his fourth start on Saturday night, is still in search of his first decision of the season.  Taylor has two quality starts (6 IP, 3 ER) under his belt in 2010, and nine in his Radford career.
•    Through 10 games, the Highlanders are on pace to shatter the school record for stolen bases, which is 112 in 1994.   If Radford plays each of its remaining games and averages 3.1 stolen bases per contest, the Highlanders will finish the season with 171 steals.  That total would be good for fifth in Big South history (211 – Armstrong State, 1986).
•    Through last weekend's games, the Highlanders were tied for first in the Big South with 28 steals (High Point).  National statistics have not been released yet in 2010.
•    #Jeff Kemp#, who sat out Tuesday's game against George Mason, has a five-game hitting streak (7-for-18).
•    #Matt Mack#, who leads the Highlanders with a .359 average (14-for-39, 10 starts), has hits in eight of his first 10 games of the season and five multi-hit games.   He enters the weekend with four hits in his last nine at-bats.
•    Tuesday was the fourth time in 10 games that Radford scored five or more runs.