BASEBALL HEADS TO JMU TUESDAY FOR FIRST MIDWEEK GAME

Radford continues its long stretch away from home to begin the 2011 season with the first of two meetings against James Madison, starting Tuesday afternoon at 4 p.m.

The Highlanders enter their first midweek game of the season looking to get back over the .500 mark – Radford took the first game of a series with Auburn over the weekend before the Tigers took the final two.

Friday's win over Auburn, a team ranked No. 23 in the Preseason Collegiate Baseball Writers' Poll, was the first for Radford over a Southeastern Conference team since a two-game series split with South Carolina in 1999.

In the last eight meetings between the two teams, Radford is 6-2 against JMU.

The Dukes and Radford split the home-and-home series a year ago. JMU won in Radford's first trip to Veterans Memorial Park, a 9-2 win on March 30. The Highlanders won a wild 15-12 affair in Radford last season – in a first inning lasting better than 40 minutes, the Dukes took a 5-0 lead before RU rallied with seven in the home half.

JMU will visit Radford on March 17, the home finale for the Highlanders.

Following a series win over LeMoyne over the weekend, JMU is 7-1 and averaging 16.5 runs per game in 2011. The Dukes have bashed 29 homers already and have 29 stolen bases on 31 tries.

MIDWEEK NOTEBOOK:
• With Friday's win, Radford is 7-4 in extra innings over the last three seasons
• Matt Hillsinger's 13th-inning homer on Friday was the fourth of his career
• Alex Guerra turned in the second 4-for-4 performance of his career on Saturday - Guerra was 7-for-13 in the series
• Entering the week, Matt Mack (6-for-13, .462) and Cory Turner (6-for-10, .600) have hit in three straight games
• Radford relief pitching was sparkling all weekend at Auburn - four relievers tossed 10 2/3 scoreless innings
• Brad Wimmer led the effort with four scoreless frames in two games, including five strikeouts
• Derrick Brewer makes his first start in 2011 on Tuesday – Brewer made starts last season at home against Virginia Tech (L, April 20) and Coastal Carolina (L, May 20)
• Radford is back on the road this weekend at Wake Forest, with games against Towson (Fri.), Fordham (Sat.) and Wake Forest (Sun.)

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