CHARLESTON SOUTHERN (10-17, 1-4 BSC , L3) at RADFORD (12-10, 3-0 BSC, L2)

Friday, April 1 – 3:00 p.m. | Live Stats
RHP Aerik Taylor (2-0, 4.50 ERA) vs. RHP Anthony Markham (0-3, 6.89)
Saturday, April 2 (Game 1) – Noon | Live Stats
RHP Eddie Butler (4-0, 2.97 ERA) vs. RHP Tyler Thornburg (4-1, 4.01)
Saturday, April 2 (Game 2) | Live Stats
RHP Bobby Bolling (0-0, 6.04 ERA) vs. LHP Andrew White (1-1, 4.64)

Radford resumes Big South conference action in a short three-game series this weekend, when the Highlanders host Charleston Southern beginning on Friday afternoon.

The three-game series concludes on Saturday with a doubleheader beginning at noon.

Through three league games this season the Highlanders are unbeaten and a half game ahead of No. 17 Coastal Carolina for first place.   Radford swept UNC Asheville (March 19-21) before playing its final weekend non-conference series of the season against Siena (March 27-28).  

For the fourth straight weekend, the Highlanders get to enjoy the confines of home.  Radford is 8-1 on campus this season (8-2 overall in home games) with its only blemish coming in a 9-6 12-inning loss to Siena last Sunday.

In the nine games played in Radford, the Highlanders have been impressive this season.  Radford is hitting 30 points better at home (Home - .285; Away - .255) with a staff ERA of 2.79 (Away – 7.75) and a team fielding percentage of .971 (Away – .946).

Charleston Southern enters the weekend at the bottom of the Big South standings, 1-4 and three games behind Radford.  The Buccaneers are 3-7 in their last 10 with losses in their last three games.   Four of Charleston Southern's 10 wins this season have come on the road, including wins over then-No. 6 Florida (March 14) and then-No. 28 VMI (March 27).

Catcher Nick Chinners, who leads the Buccaneers with a .415 average, has the third-highest batting average in the Big South.  Two-way player Tyler Thornburg was named Big South Pitcher of the Week following his 11-strikeout performance in Charleston Southern's win over VMI last Saturday. This season, Thornburg leads the team in home runs (5), walks (13), wins (4), strikeouts (41) and innings pitched (33 2/3).

WEEKEND NOTEBOOK

•    Raphael Turner's hitting streak came to a halt at 12 games when he went 0-for-1 against James Madison on Tuesday night; Turner was one of 31 hitters in Division I baseball to carry a streak of 12 games or more into Tuesday's games
•    However, Turner's hitting streak came to an end on an otherwise productive night against JMU – Turner drew three walks and scored on Matt Mack's RBI double after reaching on a free pass to lead off the sixth
•    Turner has an on-base percentage of .511 over his last 10 games, drawing eight walks
•    Tyren Rivers, who went 2-for-4 against the Dukes on Tuesday, now owns the team's longest streak at seven games
•    In the last NCAA statistical report (March 29), Radford was ninth in the nation in stolen bases – Coastal Carolina and High Point were tied with the Highlanders for ninth at 55 steals
•    Matt Hillsinger, the Big South's leader in triples with five, is fifth in the nation in total triples and second in triples per game (.31)
•    Hillsinger needs just two more to tie the school record of seven, set by Stuart Ritchie in 2004
•    Reggie Keen is 17-for-41 over his last 10 games to lift his season average to a team-leading .350
•    Keen entered the week ranked 22nd in the nation in stolen bases – for the season, Keen is 14-for-18 on the basepaths
•    Bullpen ace Brad Wimmer has allowed just one earned run in his last nine appearances (15 2/3 innings)
•    Through five starts, Eddie Butler is 4-0 – the school record for wins in a single season is Jim Abbott's nine in 1995