Radford begins the 2012 college baseball season, as well as a 12-game road trip, with an opening weekend three-game series at Samford that starts Friday night.
Coming off a school record-31 wins in 2011, the Highlanders open a highly-anticipated year with the first of two straight weekends at Southern Conference opponents. Radford returns eight starting position players and 11 pitchers, and was tabbed third in the Big South Preseason Coaches' Poll and second in the Baseball America Big South poll.
Fifth-year head coach
Joe Raccuia has the luxury of working with arguably his most seasoned squad, with eight Highlanders beginning their fourth year this weekend and
Abram Williams starting his fifth. The class has seen the program's fortunes change drastically, as Radford went from a 24-32 record in 2008 to three straight winning seasons, a first in school history. Radford lost just one starting position player from a season ago (INF
Alex Guerra) and brings back a pair of starting pitchers.
In addition to five All-Big South returnees from a year ago, the Highlanders also get back SS
Jeff Kemp and RF
Cory Turner – productive bats that missed the second half of last season.
A season ago, the Highlanders won their first opening day game since 2000, a 7-4 win over Army on Feb. 18. Radford has seven opening day victories since 1985, the first season of baseball at RU.
Radford's opening weekend draw, Samford, played in the SoCon Championship game a season ago against Georgia Southern, the eventual league winner and RU's opponent next weekend. The Bulldogs were projected second in the league's preseason poll and fell just short of a regional bid in 2011 after going 37-23 overall. Like Radford, Samford enters the season with all but one everyday player and with significant returning production in OF Phillip Ervin (.371, 41 RBIs), 1B Saxon Butler (.355, 9 HR, 61 RBIs) and C/OF Brandon Miller (.270, 16 HR, 43 RBIs). All of Samford's starting pitchers this weekend return from starting roles a year ago.
The Bulldog lineup will face RHP
Eddie Butler on opening night – the junior makes his second straight opening day start for Radford. Butler matched a school single-season record with nine wins last year (9-2, 4.15 ERA) and spent his summer pitching in the Cape Cod League for Harwich. Right-handed newcomers
Tyler Costello (Saturday) and
Keith Fritz (Sunday) will make their Radford debuts this weekend in consecutive starts. Senior RHP
Mark Peterson, who is recovering from a mild arm injury, will not start this weekend – he will be available to work and will return to his role as a Saturday starter.
WEEKEND NOTEBOOK:
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The 28th season of collegiate baseball at Radford University begins on Friday
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In the previous 27 seasons, Radford has opened 25 of them on the road and each since 1994
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Like last season, the Highlanders begin 2012 on a 12-game road trip
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Radford was 6-6 on the road before playing its first home game on March 12
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Before winning last season on opening day, the Highlanders had won just two openers since 1995
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Radford set a school record with 31 victories in 2011 and posted its second 30-win season since the program's inception in 1985 (1995 was the last time)
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Radford was 17-18 record away from RU Baseball Stadium in 2011, the program's most-ever wins away from home. Of those wins, 12 were in true road games
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Radford and Samford last met in 1990 in a doubleheader in Birmingham (Feb. 24) – the Highlanders won the first game 5-4 and dropped the nightcap 4-3 in extra innings
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This is the third time that the Highlanders have played an early-season series in Alabama – RU was at UAB in 2009 (1-2) and Auburn in 2011 (1-2)
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Opening day was kind to Jeff Kemp a season ago – he went 3-for-5 and homered in his first at-bat of the season in RU's win over Army – Kemp missed the majority of 2010 and the final 16 games of 2011
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Kemp homered in four of the Highlanders' first nine games last season
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No player enters the season on a hitting streak of longer than a game – five players have that distinction
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Last season's opening day starter, Eddie Butler, carried a no-hitter through 5 1/3 innings of the lid-lifter against Army
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The debut of Keith Fritz on Sunday marks the fourth time in four seasons that Radford has opened the season with a JUCO transfer starting pitcher (Aerik Taylor – 2009, Bobby Bolling – 2010, Mark Peterson, 2011)
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Tyler Costello, who redshirted last season, is the first Radford freshman to start an opening weekend game since Paul DeVito in the series finale at UAB in 2009
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DeVito and Costello both return from injuries that shut them down for all of 2011
