Friday, April 13
RADFORD
6:30 PM
Radford University
vs
Fairleigh Dickinson
BASEBALL WELCOMES FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON FOR NON-LEAGUE WEEKEND
4/12/2012 6:00:00 PM | Baseball
|
RADFORD vs. FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON April 13-15 | RU Baseball Stadium RU in 2012: 18-15 | Streak: W1 | Last 10: 5-5 |
| Friday - 6:30 p.m. | Live Stats | Live Audio | Big South Network Video |
| Saturday - 4:00 p.m. | Live Stats | Live Audio | Big South Network Video |
| Sunday - 1:00 p.m. | Live Stats | Live Audio | Big South Network Video |
The FDU series is part of an open weekend from league play for the Highlanders – each Big South team only plays eight league sets in the regular season since there are an uneven number of schools.
Since the start of March, starting pitching has carried the Highlanders on the weekends – Tyler Costello leads the weekend staff in victories (6-0) and ranks seventh in the nation in wins, as he seeks his seventh in a row this Saturday. Costello's 1.53 ERA ranks third in the Big South and 30th nationally. Eddie Butler has been difficult for opponents to hit this season, allowing a .212 batting average against while striking out 43 (8.6 per game). Mark Peterson has 28 strikeouts against just eight walks in his seven starts, and posted a career-high 11 strikeouts two starts ago against UNC Asheville.
As a group, Radford starting pitching has a 3.30 ERA since March 1 and a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 3.5-to-1.
In addition, the back end of the bullpen has been at its most effective this season over the last month. Since March 16, Jason Patten and Abram Williams have earned five saves while yielding little offensively. Patten has eight appearances (16 1/3 innings) with a 1.10 ERA and .190 average against, while Williams has posted a 1.90 ERA in six outings (10 1/3 innings) and a .147 average against.
Fairleigh Dickinson is the second Northeast Conference opponent for the Highlanders in 2012 (Bryant – March 9-11). The Knights, from Teaneck, N.J., are 15-14-1 overall and carry a four-game winning streak into the weekend after a Wednesday win at Army. FDU is 10-6 in NEC play entering the off weekend – two games behind Bryant in the league standings.
WEEKEND NOTEBOOK
• Radford looks to improve on its 56-27 home mark since 2009, and 30-8 non-league record since '09
• However, the Highlanders only have a 2-5 record on Fridays this season, despite pitching Butler in six of those Friday games
• On Saturdays, Radford has a 7-3 record this season, with Costello picking up four victories
• Radford enters the weekend with a .981 fielding percentage, leading the Big South and ranking seventh in NCAA Division I – the Highlanders led the nation last week with a .983 fielding clip
• Against the current membership of the Northeast Conference, Radford is 7-3, all-time
• Matt Mack had a streak of 25 consecutive games reaching base snapped on Wednesday night – Zach Costello has the longest current streak at 19 games
• Over the last five games, Radford has been much more aggressive on the bases, posting 13 steals on 15 tries – Zach Costello leads the way with seven
• Cory Turner enters the weekend on a nine-game hitting streak (10-for-32, .312)
• Since March 1, Turner leads the Highlanders with a .325 average (26-for-80) and a .460 on-base percentage (15 walks, 8 Ks)
Thursday, April 23
Sunday, April 12
Thursday, April 02
Saturday, March 21
