RADFORD (21-19, 8-7, W2) at VMI (29-17, 10-8, L9)
GRAY-MINOR STADIUM - LEXINGTON, VA.

Friday, 6:00 p.m. | Live Stats | Live Audio
Saturday, 4:00 p.m. | Live Stats | Live Audio
Sunday, 1:00 p.m. | Live Stats | Live Audio

Radford goes for its third Big South road series win in a row this weekend when the Highlanders travel to VMI for a three-game set beginning Friday night.

Entering the weekend, the Highlanders have won four of their last six Big South games, with 2-1 series wins at High Point (April 16-18) and Winthrop (April 23-25).  The weekend continues a stretch of three sets in a row away from home, after Radford played its first three conference weekends at home.

On Tuesday, Radford wrapped up its busiest stretch of the season – the Highlanders played 11 games in 15 days and made it a success, winning eight of the 11 games.

Fueling the success for the Highlanders over the last 11 games has been the big inning, late-game rallies and the running game.   

Over the 11-game 15-day stretch, Radford has scored four or more runs in an inning 11 times, including seven of the eight wins.  The Highlanders plated seven runs in innings against JMU (1st, April 13) and Winthrop (6th, April 23), and nine in a loss at High Point (2nd, April 17).

Comebacks have been frequent – when trailing after six innings over the last 11 games, the Highlanders are 3-3.  Radford is 2-3 when trailing after seven innings, including come-from-behind wins over High Point (April 18) and East Tennessee State (Tuesday).  

Radford continues its assault of the school's stolen base records, with the 2010 team already having the most single-season stolen bases in school history at 113.    The Highlanders have 44 steals on 47 attempts in their last 11 games, a total higher than seven complete seasons in program history.   Entering the week, Radford was sixth in the nation in total steals, one swipe ahead of Coastal Carolina.  

The weekend is a critical one in the Big South standings, with Radford sitting just a half game behind VMI for third place.   The Keydets have played one more league series than Radford entering the final weekend of the month.

Since their 12-3 win over top-ranked Virginia on April 21, the first win over a No. 1 team in program history, the Keydets have streaked in the wrong direction, losing nine in a row.  Following the win over the Cavaliers, VMI was tied with Coastal Carolina for the most wins in the nation at 29, but suffered sweeps at Liberty (April 16-18) and at home to then-No. 7 Coastal Carolina (April 23-25).   VMI dropped midweek games at home with No. 18 Virginia Tech (Tuesday) and at VCU (Wednesday).

WEEKEND NOTEBOOK:
•    In addition to topping the school's single-season stolen base mark, set in 1994, Reggie Keen and Tyren Rivers are within striking distance of the top single-season marks in school history – Keen is two steals behind Kellen Wohlford, who stole 27 in 2004, and Rivers is one behind Keen
•    Rivers is six steals away from tying Wolhford's career record at 66
•    Keen entered the week 15th nationally in steals, while Rivers was 26th
•    Keen's Big South player of the week honor was the first for a Radford player since the 2008 season
•    Raphael Turner has hit in a team-best 13 consecutive games this season, with a hit streak dating back to April 10 (20-for-52, .385)
•    Turner has now reached safely in 31 straight games, dating back to March 9
•    Robert Lamas, who had the day off on Tuesday, had started in 18 consecutive games behind the plate, dating back to March 30
•    Aerik Taylor, who went seven innings on the way to his fourth win of the season on Friday, has piled up 13 quality starts (6 IP, 3 ER) in two years with the Highlanders
•    Brad Wimmer, who sits eight appearances away from tying the school's single-season record of 30, is fourth in a single season in ERA (min. 20 IP) at 3.00 in 39 innings