LEAGUE PLAY BEGINS AS SOFTBALL HOSTS LIBERTY ON WEDNESDAY

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Radford begins defense of its four straight regular season titles on Wednesday when it hosts in-state rival Liberty at RU Softball Field. First pitch for this single game between the Highlanders (7-14) and Lady Flames (11-11) is scheduled for 4:00 p.m.

LAST TIME OUT: The Highlanders went 4-1 at the City of Clearwater Invitational last weekend picking up wins over LIU-Brooklyn, Quinnipiac, Cornell and Rhode Island… The offense found its stride in the Sunshine State, batting .394, raising their average from .184 to .239… In three of its games, Radford recorded 13-plus hits, matching a season-high with 14 against Quinnipiac… They averaged 10.4 hits and 7.0 runs during the five games.

RU TIDBITS: Radford has won the last four regular season Big South titles, becoming first program to do so outright (UNCG tied twice)... Since 2008, RU is 75-15 (.833) in regular season Big South games and have won 30 of 32 series... The Highlanders are 11-10 in league openers, 5-1 at home… They have won four straight league openers, the last two seasons against Liberty, and six of its last seven…The Highlanders' eight-run third against LIU-Brooklyn was the biggest inning this year… They also went to work on the base paths, stealing 20 bases, matching the school record of eight on two occasions against Quinnipiac and Rhode Island… Senior Morgan Eye, who stole six on the weekend, tied a single-game mark with three against the Rams… Eye also saw a significant jump in her average… In six game last week, Eye jumped from .154 to .306, thanks to a 10-16 (10-16) performance at the plate… Freshman Becky Mantel hit her first collegiate home run against LIU-Brooklyn and has reached base safely in eight straight contests and 10 of last 11 games… In the circle, senior Jackie Jenkins picked up her first two wins of the season, while freshman Allie Reid earned her first collegiate victory with a complete-game effort against Rhode Island in which she retired 18 of the last 20 batters, including the final 12.

THE LADY FLAMES: Liberty went 6-4 over its southern Spring Break trip, including 3-2 at the USF Spring Invitational… After falling to UCF, Iowa State and USF, Liberty won its last three games, including two on Saturday in walk-off fashion… The Lady Flames hit .270 as a team, scoring 4.8 runs per game… Katie Zavodny (.397) is on a 14-game hitting streak and is first in the nation with 1.05 steals per game… Sammi Shivock bats .371 with a team-high 17 RBIs, while Amber Donovan (.365) has 11 RBIs…

THE SERIES: This will be the 69^th meeting between the Highlanders and Lady Flames with Radford owing a 43-25 advantage… RU is 20-9 at home, which includes winning 16 of the last 17 meetings at RU Softball Field… The last time the Highlanders were defeated by the Flames in a regular season home game was April 27, 2002…The only triumph by LU at RU Softball Field since 2002 was a 5-3 win to force the if necessary Big South Championship Game in 2009… Radford swept the season series in 2012, winning two at home and the other in Lynchburg, Va… The Highlanders topped the Lady Flames, 6-3, in the league-opener on the road… They followed twith a doubleheader sweep with a 9-1 five inning win and a 4-3 10-inning marathon victory.

UP NEXT: Radford continues its season-long five game home stand this weekend hosting Kent State and Binghamton as part of the two-day Radford Invitational on March 23 and 24.

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