BASEBALL TO FACE PRINCETON, BUCKNELL, ELON AT ELON INVITE

RADFORD (1-5, L1) at ELON INVITATIONAL
LATHAM PARK, ELON, N.C.

Friday, March 5 vs. Princeton, 6:00 p.m. – Live Stats | Live Video
RHP Aerik Taylor (0-0, 1.50 ERA) vs. RHP Dan Barnes (0-1, 6.23 ERA in '09)
Saturday, March 6 vs. Bucknell, 7:00 p.m. – Live Stats | Live Video | Live Audio
RHP Eddie Butler (1-0, 3.37 ERA) vs. RHP Dylan Seeley (1-1, 9.00 ERA)
Sunday, March 7 at Elon, 4:00 p.m. – Live Stats | Live Video | Live Audio
RHP Bobby Bolling (0-0, 10.57 ERA) vs. RHP Daniel Britt (1-1, 3.60 ERA)

Weekly Report

Radford plays its third straight weekend away from home to open up the 2010 baseball season with three games at the Elon Invitational Friday through Sunday.

The Highlanders will face Princeton for the first time, meet Bucknell for first time since 1993, and take on the host Phoenix for the first time since the 2003 season.

This weekend's games at Elon are also the second round-robin tournament weekend for Radford. Last weekend, the Highlanders played three games at the Charleston Crab House Shootout, hosted by The Citadel.   Radford picked up its first win of the season in Charleston, 11-2 over Saint Joseph's last Saturday.

After having its second midweek postponement of the season on Wednesday, Radford will try and work through its offensive struggles this weekend.   As a team, Radford is hitting .249 through the first six games, and reaching base at just a .310 clip. The Highlanders have been outscored 48-25 by their opponents through the first six games of the season.

Radford will continue to look to its starting pitchers for help early on. Through the six games, the Highlanders have three quality starts, including a pair from 2009 Second Team All-Big South selection Aerik Taylor.   Through his first two starts, Taylor, who is looking for his first decision of the season, has a 1.50 ERA and the right-hander is allowing opponents to hit just .227. Freshman righty Eddie Butler has been impressive in his first two collegiate outings, with a 1-0 record and 3.37 ERA. The 35th round selection of the Texas Rangers in 2009 has issued just a pair of walks in 11 1/3 innings, while opponents are hitting .250 off the newcomer.

Highlighting the Invitational this weekend is host Elon, which finished the 2009 season ranked 24th by Baseball America and advanced to Atlanta Regional play.   Picked as Southern Conference champions in the preseason polls, the Phoenix are coming off a challenging weekend against a tough field at the Rice Invitational.   The Phoenix dropped all three games, falling to No. 6 Rice, Texas A&M Corpus Christi and Nebraska. Elon leads the all-time series with Radford 9-6.

Radford's Friday night opponent, Princeton, will be playing its opening day game against the Highlanders. The Tigers, which finished 18-19 last season, begin a 10-game North Carolina swing with the weekend games at Elon.   Princeton, runners-up in the Ivy League's Gehrig Division last year, will have to replace the first six hitters in the lineup as well as a pair of weekend starters.

Bucknell, which finished 22-25 and 13-7 in Patriot League games last year, has won three straight entering the Elon Invitational. After a season-opening sweep by VMI, the Bison reeled off three in a row last weekend in a four-game series at Old Dominion.   Bucknell is playing a stretch of 18 games away from home to begin the 2010 season. Radford swept a three-game series from Bucknell in 1993, the last meeting between the two programs.

BASEBALL TO FACE PRINCETON, BUCKNELL, ELON AT ELON INVITE

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