CONWAY, S.C. -- Radford enters the 2010 Big South Tournament presented by Musco Sports Lighting as the top seed after claiming its second straight regular season league title. The 2009 champions begin defense of their title at 4:30 pm on Thursday, May 13 at CCU Softball Field on the campus of Coastal Carolina.

Radford, which earned a bye after finishing with a 16-2 mark in league play, will face the winner of the tournament's opening contest between No. 4 Gardner-Webb and No. 5 Charleston Southern. It marks the second straight season the Highlanders will play either the Bulldogs or the Buccaneers in the first round. Last year, Radford opened the tournament with a 6-0 win over Gardner-Webb.

Despite going 4-5 (all on the road) against tough competition over the past few weeks, Radford did earn significant wins over North Carolina (first ever) and Winthrop (clinched regular season on ESPNU) during the final games of the regular season. They also moved up to 42 in the NCAA RPI, the highest ranking in program history.

Playing the last 12 games on the road, some Highlanders have shined away from RU Softball Field since their last home contest on April 14. Hope Creasy set a new career home run mark with her 32nd at Winthrop on April 24. A day later, Kristen Shifflett tied the mark against the same Eagle club.

In Radford's final regular season double header at Appalachian State, Nichole Beall launched her 16th long ball, matching Shifflett's single-season mark set just a season ago.

The defending champions won their first Big South title in 2009, defeating Liberty, 10-1 in the if necessary championship game on May 9 at RU Softball Field.

Radford went on to compete in the Chapel Hill Regional where it dropped a tough opener to eventual national semifinalist Georgia, 3-1. The Highlanders bounced back with a 9-5 victory over Campbell, the first NCAA team win for any Radford athletic program, before falling to host North Carolina, 9-4.

The 2010 Softball Championships begin Thursday, May 13 with five games scheduled and continue with bracket play through Saturday, May 15. The Big South's Tournament champion receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Softball Championship. The Conference Championship schedule is as follows:

Thursday, May 13 (Games 1-5)
Game 1: No. 4 Gardner-Webb vs. No. 5 Charleston Southern, 9:00am
Game 2: No. 2 Liberty vs. No. 7 Presbyterian College, 11:30am
Game 3: No. 3 Winthrop vs. No. 6 Coastal Carolina, 2:00pm
Game 4: No. 1 Radford vs. Winner of Game 1: 4:30pm
Game 5: Winner of Game 2 vs. Winner of Game 3, 7:00pm

Friday, May 14 (Games 6-10)
Game 6: Loser of Game 1 vs. Loser of Game 2, 9:00am
Game 7: Loser of Game 3 vs. Loser of Game 4, 11:30am
Game 8: Winner of Game 4 vs. Winner of Game 5, 2:00pm
Game 9: Winner of Game 6 vs. Winner of Game 7, 4:30pm
Game 10: Loser of Game 5 vs. Winner of Game 9, 7:00pm

Saturday, May 15 (Games 11-13)
Game 11: Loser of Game 8 vs. Winner of Game 10, 10:00am
Game 12: Winner of Game 8 vs. Winner of Game 11, 2:00pm (Championship Game)
Game 13: If necessary, Championship game, 4:30pm (only if the Winner of Game 11 wins Game 12)