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SOFTBALL BEGINS CONFERENCE ROAD STRETCH AT LIBERTY ON WEDNESDAY

LIVE STATS GAME 1 | GAME 2 | LIVE AUDIO
 
Coming off a three-game sweep of Charleston Southern, Radford softball begins a stretch of five straight Big South road games on Wednesday when the Highlanders tangle with in-state foe Liberty in a doubleheader starting at 2:00 p.m.

Radford enters Wednesday's contests in second place in the league, percentage points behind Coastal Carolina, whom RU will face this weekend on the road.
 
LAST TIME OUT: Radford swept its first league series of the season with three big wins over Charleston Southern… The Highlanders won by the scores of 12-4 (5), 8-1 and 7-1… RU batted .403 (31 hits) and outscored CSU, 27-6… The defense committed just one error in 83 attempts (.988)… Ryndee Ruch was 4-for-7 with three doubles, four RBI and recorded a .625 OBP... Casey Burns knocked in five runs and batted .500 (3-6) with sac fly and sac bunt… Morgan Eye hit two home runs in Friday's twinbill, including her first collegiate grand slam in game two… Rachael Walters was 2-0 with a complete-game four-hitter (game 2) and a near perfect relief performance in the finale (5 IP, retired first 14 batters she faced and 15 of 16).
 
RU TIDBITS: - The Highlanders are Radford snapped a four-game slide with the two wins on Friday… Jessica Agee is riding a six-game hitting streak (11-19 / .579 / 8 RBI) after Saturday…Becky Mantel has reached base safely in 15 of her last 16 games and is currently on a season-best seven-game hitting streak (9-21/.429)… Radford has scored 12 runs in the second inning the last four games, including a combined nine in the doubleheader vs. CSU; Prior to that, RU scored just once in the first 25 games… Jessie Hutchens has five of RU's 11 game-winning RBIs… Ruch is 5-for-10 in her last four games with three doubles and four RBI… Maggie Johnson is two wins shy of 100 in her coaching career (87-80 at Georgia Southern)… Since starting 3-13, Radford has gone 8-5 in large part due to its improvements on offense... Over the last 13 games, RU is batting .367 and averaging 9.5 hits and 6.5 runs per game…Prior to that, the Highlanders were batting .184 and averaging 4.3 hits and 2.3 runs
 
THE LADY FLAMES: Liberty is looking to rebound after being swept on the road at Campbell last weekend… The Lady Flames dropped a pair of 4-3 contests on Friday and the finale, 5-2 on Saturday… LU is 3-0 at home in league play after sweeping Presbyterian on March 22 & 23 and 5-1 overall at LU Softball Field this season… Katie Zavodny (.384) is on a 21-game hitting streak and ranks second in the nation with 0.93 stolen bases per game… Sammi Shivock (.362), Amber Donovan (.333), Hanna Nichols (.302) and Kelby Allen (.273) have all hit four homers apiece this season… Annah Jo Brittingham and Chandler Ball pace the Flames in the circle with six and five wins, respectively.
 
THE SERIES: These will be games 70 and 71 with Radford holding a 44-25 advantage in the series after winning the series opener, 6-3 on March 20 at RU Softball Field… Trailing 3-0, the Highlanders rallied behind a pair of two-run home runs from Hutchens and Agee and a shutout relief performance by Walters… RU is 15-11 in Lynchburg and has won five of the last seven at LU Softball Field… The Highlanders won 6-3 in 2012.

UP NEXT: Radford stays on the road to face first-place Coastal Carolina on April 6 (DH) and 7… The games will be played at Carolina Forest High School in Myrtle Beach, S.C., while the current field is under renovation.
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