Weekend Notebook | 2011 Season Yearbook

RADFORD (0-0) vs. ARMY (0-0), DAVIDSON (0-0) Feb. 18-20 | Wilson Field | Davidson, N.C. Friday, 2:00 p.m. | Radford vs. Army RU RHP Eddie Butler (6-4, 5.36 in '10) vs. ARMY TBA Live Audio Saturday, 7:00 p.m. | Radford vs. Army RU RHP Mark Peterson (no record) vs. ARMY TBA Live Stats | (no broadcast) Sunday, 2:00 p.m. | Radford vs. Davidson RU RHP Bobby Bolling (2-2, 5.75) vs. DAV TBA Live Stats | Live Audio

Radford opens the 2011 college baseball season at Davidson College this weekend, beginning with a two-game Friday-Saturday series against Army and a Sunday matinee against the host Wildcats.

The 2011 season is the 27th of intercollegiate play for the Highlanders, who are in search of their third consecutive winning season under the direction of fourth-year head coach and 1995 RU graduate Joe Raccuia. Radford has only mounted three consecutive seasons with a .500 or better record one other time, stringing together four from 1992-95.

Friday's matchup with Army begins a string of three consecutive weekends away from home for the Highlanders, which open the season on a 12-game road trip while awaiting further progress on the stadium project at RU Baseball Field.

Radford is in search of its first opening day win since the 2000 season, and its second since 1995. The Highlanders own six opening day wins in program history.

Radford and Army have never met on the diamond – the Black Knights went 28-17 overall and 16-4 in the Patriot League last season, losing in the conference semifinals (best-of-three series) to eventual conference champion Bucknell, a Radford opponent in 2010 (RU, 4-2). West Point, which has made four Regional appearances since 2000, was last involved in NCAA play in 2009, advancing to the Austin Regional finals.

Davidson, a former Big South member, meets the Highlanders for the first time since a 12-6 Radford win in 2009. The Wildcats, who finished 19-32 and 5-25 in Southern Conference play a year ago, lead the series 10-6.

2010 SEASON RECAP
• Radford finished 29-26 overall, the seventh winning season in school history and one victory shy of the program's top mark of 30, set in 1995
• The Highlanders posted a third place finish in the Big South Conference, going 16-10
• Designated hitter Matt Hillsinger earned First Team All-Big South and First Team All-State honors (Virginia Sports Information Directors); Hillsinger hit .348 with 2 home runs, 36 RBIs and 15 stolen bases
• Radford finished fifth in the nation in stolen bases, shattering a school season record with 143 steals
• Radford's pitching staff compiled the seventh-lowest single season team ERA in school history, and the second-lowest in a decade at 5.89

WEEKEND NOTEBOOK
• Radford was picked to finish in a tie for fifth with VMI in the 2011 Big South Preseason Poll; Rivals/SEBaseball.com picked RU fourth, and Baseball America tabbed the Highlanders sixth
• The last time Radford opened its season in a series at Davidson, the Highlanders went 2-1 in Raccuia's first season (2008)
• Radford is buoyed in 2011 by an experienced infield – 1B Matt Mack, 2B Brett Mollenhauer, 3B Alex Guerra, SS Jeff Kemp
• Mollenhauer, Guerra and Kemp, along with right-handed reliever Jake Quigg, were named captains in 2011
• Kemp was a 2009 Freshman All-America selection and the Big South Freshman of the Year in his last full season
• Kemp played in just six games last season before receiving a medical redshirt, going 7-for-20 at the plate
• He carries the longest active hitting streak into '11, having hit in five straight last year
• Kemp's career batting average of .338 is tied for fifth with Kelly Dampeer (1994-97); Kemp is 73-for-216 in career at-bats
• Mollenhauer and Guerra will return to their natural positions in 2011, while Mack moves from 3B to 1B
• Mollenhauer was one of two Radford players (Tyren Rivers) to start all 55 games last season, posting a .330 average while hitting primarily out of the No. 9 spot
• Matt Hillsinger, who was the primary DH last season, will play in LF
• Hillsinger was selected to Rivals/SEBaseball.com's Preseason All-Big South team
• Zach Costello, who has not played since the 2009 season at the University of Delaware, is Radford's projected opening day starter in CF
• Jake Taylor, a 6-4, 230-pound freshman who hit .518 with 9 home runs as a senior at Our Lady of Good Counsel high school in Maryland, is expected to begin the season as Radford's designated hitter
• Right-hander Eddie Butler will get the ball on opening day – a 35th round pick of the Texas Rangers in 2009, Butler began his collegiate career with four wins in his first six outings for the Highlanders, including five starts
• Butler completed six innings in nine of his 14 starts last season, and posted seven quality starts (6 IP, 3 ER or fewer)
• Junior righty Mark Peterson is Radford's Saturday starter – Peterson spent last season at Pitt Community College (N.C.), going 6-1 with a 3.47 ERA and 66 strikeouts over 58 innings
• Radford's bullpen is a strength entering 2011 – the Highlanders return back-end pitchers RHP Abram Williams, RHP Brad Wimmer and right-handed closer Jason Patten. Radford also welcomes back Quigg, who missed all of last season following shoulder surgery
• Williams, Wimmer and Patten combined to make 78 appearances with an 11-7 record and 111 strikeouts in 124 1/3 innings
• Wimmer set a school record with 33 appearances last season
• Patten needs five more saves to become the program's all-time leader with 19
• Williams is currently fifth all-time with his 4.73 career ERA in 116 innings