SIENA (8-11, W5) at RADFORD (10-8, L1)

March 27 (Game 1), Noon | Live Stats
RHP Aerik Taylor (1-0, 4.55 ERA) vs. RHP Justin Brantley (2-3, 7.90 ERA)
March 27 (Game 2) | Live Stats
RHP Eddie Butler (3-0, 3.26 ERA) vs. RHP Kyle Sumple (0-2, 15.85 ERA)
March 28, 1:00 p.m. | Live Stats
RHP Bobby Bolling (0-0, 4.97 ERA) vs. RHP Zach Hartman (0-2, 8.84 ERA)

Radford looks to win its sixth home weekend series in the last seven when the Highlanders host a three-game non-conference set against Siena beginning on Saturday.

Dating back to last year's sweep of Canisius (March 7-8), the Highlanders have won 17 of their last 19 weekend games at home and have swept both of their home weekend sets this season.  Radford has enjoyed a long stretch of home weekends – the Highlanders will play two more three-game home sets following the Siena series.

The Highlanders have been buoyed by their weekend pitching at home this season, both from their starters and bullpen staff.  Radford's three weekend starters (Aerik Taylor, Eddie Butler, Bobby Bolling) are a combined 2-0 at home with ERAs under 3.00, with each averaging six innings per start.   As a team, the Highlanders have a 2.09 home weekend ERA with opponents hitting .217 off Radford pitching.

Despite a 22-10 setback at East Tennessee State on Wednesday that snapped a seven-game winning streak, the Highlanders are 7-3 in their last 10 games entering the Siena series.   

Siena College, located in Loudounville, N.Y., is the second Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) team to visit Radford this season, joining Rider (March 13-14).   

The Saints enter the weekend winners of five straight, having played all but four of their games this season south of the Mason-Dixon Line.  Siena began its five-game streak with a win at SEC opponent Georgia on March 14, continued it with a win in the home opener against Holy Cross last Wednesday (March 17) and enters the series following a three-game sweep at New York Tech last weekend.

Saints head coach Tony Rossi is in his 40th season, joining Augie Garrido of Texas (41st season) as one of two active Division I coaches with 40 or more years of experience.

Radford joins Coastal Carolina as the only Big South teams not participating in league games this weekend.  The Highlanders will step back into conference action next weekend, hosting Charleston Southern in a three-game series (April 2-3).

WEEKEND NOTEBOOK
•    With his fifth-inning single on Wednesday, Raphael Turner extended his hitting streak to nine games (13-for-32, .406 average)
•    Last season, Reggie Keen and Alex Gregory led the team with 13 game streaks
•    Turner's .310 season average is second on the team – in his two full seasons (2007, '08), Turner's best effort was a .288 season in 2008
•    Reggie Keen is 9-for-24 (.375) with eight RBIs in his last five games, raising his season batting average to a team-best .313
•    After stealing 48 bases through their first 14 games (3.4/game), the Highlanders have nabbed just a pair of bags on four attempts in the last four games
•    With four triples in two games last weekend, Matt Hillsinger leads the Big South in that category
•    Hillsinger matched Brett Mollenhauer's season total from last year (team leader) in just two games
•    Eddie Butler, who enters the weekend in search of his fourth win, is fourth in the Big South in innings per outing, with 6.07
•    Right-handed reliever Brad Wimmer hasn't allowed an earned run since Feb. 28, a streak of 13 consecutive scoreless innings (eight appearances)