SERIES NOTES
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RADFORD at NORTH CAROLINA STATE
March 8-9 | Doak Field | Raleigh, N.C.
RU in 2011: 6-4 | Last 10: 6-4 | Streak: W3
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Radford baseball plays the final leg of its longest road trip of the season, when the Highlanders travel to North Carolina State for a two-game midweek series beginning on Tuesday afternoon.
NOTE: The two games of this series were originally scheduled for 3 p.m., but have been moved ahead one hour to 2 p.m. on both Tuesday and Wednesday.
The Highlanders enter the week on their longest win streak of the season, three games, after sweeping the weekend at the Wake Forest Invitational. After rolling with seven runs over the eighth and ninth innings in a 12-3 win over Towson on Friday, the Highlanders had to rally for back-to-back 5-4 wins over Fordham and Wake on Saturday and Sunday.
Radford's win over Wake Forest on Sunday night is its second victory over a “power conference” program – the Highlanders took the first game of a three-game series from Auburn, 9-6 in 13 innings on Feb. 25.
The two-game series between the Highlanders and Wolfpack is the first meeting between the two since 2008 – NC State beat Radford 11-2 at Doak Field on April 16 of that season.
NC State (5-5) is 3-3 at Doak Field this season. The Wolfpack have wins in three of their last five games, including victories over Coastal Carolina and Davidson, but dropped a home series to Penn State over the weekend.
MIDWEEK NOTEBOOK:
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Cory Turner is emerging as Radford's most consistent offensive player, following a 6-for-13 week
• Turner leads the team with his .531 average, .636 on-base mark and .719 slugging percentage
• Entering the week, Turner has hits in seven straight games (12-for-23)
• His best day came in Radford's Friday win over Towson - with RU ahead 2-1 in the top of the fifth, Turner broke open the game with a three-run homer with two outs to open up a 5-1 lead, an advantage the Highlanders never gave up
• Turner was perfect at the plate against Towson, going 2-for-2 with three walks, scoring three times
• Against Wake, Turner went 2-for-5, and scored for the Highlanders in the sixth inning of their late-inning comeback
• Radford scored 13 runs with two outs in the three games at Wake Forest – the Highlanders totaled 22 runs over that three-game stretch
• The win on Sunday night was the second of the season for
Jason Patten
• Patten escaped the ninth with the bases loaded and no one out – he retired the final three hitters to keep Wake Forest off the board
• Opponents are hitting .200 off of Patten this season
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Jeff Kemp hit first-inning homers on Friday and Saturday - three of his four homers in 2011 are first-inning swats
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Zach Costello's tie-breaking homer in the eighth inning against Fordham on Saturday was the first of his collegiate career – Costello played two seasons at the University of Delaware
• The Highlanders open a seven-game homestand on Friday against Hartford
