Radford continues its longest homestand of the season at brand-new RU Baseball Stadium this weekend when the Highlanders host Winthrop in a three-game set beginning on Friday.
NOTE: Wet weather is expected in the forecast for Saturday, causing potential scheduling changes to the series. Visit RadfordAthletics.com for the latest schedule information.
The Highlanders are in search of their third Big South series win – Radford took two of three series games from Presbyterian and VMI and won the final two games of the series against the Keydets last weekend.
Radford dropped a midweek decision to Virginia Tech on Wednesday night, 13-7, but seeks its seventh winning weekend of the season – the Highlanders have either series wins or have neutral site winning weekends in six of their previous eight. At home this season, the Highlanders are 8-2 following Wednesday's game.
Since Winthrop swept Radford in 2007, the Highlanders have series wins in each of the last three seasons against the Eagles – fourth-year head coach
Joe Raccuia's record against Winthrop is 6-2 in the regular season since 2008.
The Eagles, with their 8-4 Big South record and wins in eight of their last 11 games, play their third Big South road series of the season this weekend. Winthrop owns series triumphs over VMI, High Point (sweep) and UNC Asheville.
WEEKEND NOTEBOOK
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Zach Costello, Cory Turner, Jeff Kemp and
Brett Mollenhauer have been on an offensive upswing for the Highlanders of late
• Costello is 12-for-34 (.353) over his last nine games with three homers and eight RBIs, improving his season batting average by nearly 50 points
• Turner, who dipped to a season-low .330 at the start of the VMI series, is 7-for-15 (.467) over his last four games with two home runs and nine RBIs
• Turner is third on the team with a .348 average
• Kemp is on a team-best four-game hit streak, and has scored five times over the last four games
• Mollenhauer has hits in 7 of his last 13 at-bats (.538), with three multi-hit games
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Matt Mack continues his steady play heading into the series – Mack is 17-for-40 (.425) in the last 10 games with 18 RBIs
• Mack was third in the conference in overall batting average entering Wednesday's games, and is 16-for-36 (.444) in Big South games with a .500 on-base percentage
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Bobby Bolling will seek his second win over Winthrop – he worked five innings in the series finale last season to pick up his second victory in 2010
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Abram Williams enters the weekend as the Big South conference's saves leader, and needs just one more to match the school's single-season record of nine
• Williams has eight saves on nine chances in 2011
