ROCK HILL, S.C. -- Radford Softball heads to the Big South Championships presented by Musco Lighting as the top seed after claiming its third straight regular season title. The Highlanders (35-19, 14-4 Big South) earned a first round bye and will play the winner of the contest between No. 4 Charleston Southern and No. 5 Coastal Carolina at 8 p.m. on Thursday, May 12 at Winthrop's Terry Field.

Winners of the last two championships, Radford, under the direction of fifth-year skipper Mickey Dean, has played for the title four times in the past five years. The Highlanders defeated Liberty, 10-1 in the 2009 if necessary game for their first championship and repeated in 2010 with a 5-2 triumph over Winthrop.

Nichole Beall leads the Highlanders and ranks in the top three in the Big South in almost every offensive category. She tops the league in doubles, RBI, slugging and on base percentage, while ranking second in the league in batting average, hits and home runs. The second baseman also flashes the leather, posting the best fielding percentage amongst Big South middle infielders and has been a big part in Radford turning a NCAA-best 33 double plays this season.

In the circle, the underclassman duo of Jackie Jenkins and Stephanie Dameron have been cogs in rotation this season each recording 15 victories. Jenkins (15-4) sports the ninth best ERA (1.12) in the NCAA and has twirled a league-high six shutouts.

Dameron (15-5) has recorded the third-best ERA (1.96) in the Big South and posted a 6-1 record in conference contests. She has posted three shutouts and opponents are hitting .248 against her.

Depending on the outcome of Thursday night's contest, Radford will play on Friday at 10 a.m. if it loses and at 3 p.m. if it picks up a win. The championship game will be played a 12:00 on Saturday.

TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE

Thursday, May 12
Game 1: #3 Presbyterian College vs. #6 Gardner-Webb, 10:00am - Terry Field
Game 2: #2 Liberty vs. #7 Winthrop, 12:30pm - Terry Field
Game 3: #4 Charleston Southern vs. #5 Coastal Carolina, 3:00pm - Terry Field
Game 4: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2 - 5:30pm - Terry Field
Game 5: #1 Radford vs. Winner Game 3 - 8:00pm - Terry Field
Game 6: Loser Game 3 vs. Lowest Losing Seed Game 1 or 2, 8:00pm - Field C

Friday, May 13
Game 7: Loser Game 4 vs. Highest Losing Seed Game 1 or 2, 10:00am - Field TBA by Seeding *
Game 8: Winner Game 6 vs. Loser Game 5, 10:00am - Field TBA by Seeding *
Game 9: Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 7, 12:30pm - Terry Field
Game 10: Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 8, 3:00pm - Terry Field
Game 11: TBA vs. TBA (if necessary), 5:30pm - Terry Field **
Game 12: TBA vs. TBA (if necessary), 8:00pm - Terry Field **

Saturday, May 14
Championship Game: TBA vs. TBA, 12:00pm (TV: ESPN3.com)

* - game involving highest seed will play on Terry Field