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CHALLENGING WEEKEND AWAITS SOFTBALL IN SUNSHINE STATE



Notre Dame (Live Stats) | Auburn (Live Stats / Audio) | Florida (Audio)
 
A challenging weekend awaits Radford Softball at the Diamond 9 Citrus Classic in Kissimmee, Fla. Over three days, the Highlanders (2-4) are tasked with facing four of the five nationally-ranked programs participating in the tournament held at ESPN's Wide World of Sports (WWOS) Complex.  Radford opens play with Maryland on Friday, Feb. 28 at 3:30 p.m. On Saturday, the Highlanders take on No. 17 Missouri (3:30 p.m.) and No. 23 Notre Dame (5:45 p.m.) followed by No. 25 Auburn (10:00 a.m.) and No. 1 Florida (12:00 p.m.) on Sunday.

Sunday's contests will have live audio, courtesy of Auburn and Florida athletics. Live stats links for the final four games will be added once made available. There will be no live stats for Maryland.
 
Last Time Out – The Highlanders went 1-4 at the Frost Classic in Chattanooga, Tenn… RU defeated Middle Tennessee, 6-3 in its second game at the tournament… Against the Blue Raiders, the Highlanders recorded nine hits over the first four innings and in a tight contest took the lead for good in the bottom of the third and went on for the 6-3 victory… Eight different players recorded a hit led by freshman Julie Gardner, going 2-for-3 with a double, home run and two RBI… Freshman Kayla Bishton had what proved to be the game-winning hit with a RBI triple in the third… Radford was defeated by three (5-2), two (3-1), two (2-0) and one (1-0) run in its losses.
 
Highlander Bites –Gardner leads the team, batting .400 with two doubles, two home runs and four RBI… She is slugging .933 and has a .526 on base percentage… Becky Mantel (.365) has scored a team-best five times with a home run and a .545 on base pct… She has been hit five times this season, including a school-record three times against Austin Peay… Sophomore Rachael Walters has both wins in the circle, and freshman Abby Morrow saved both those game, including a recording the final seven outs versus Middle Tennessee… Morrow and Walters have each appeared in five contests.
 
Highlanders vs. Top-25 - This will be RU's first meeting against the No. 1 ranked team in the NCAA… Gators are highest ranked squad on RU's schedule since facing No. 2 Arizona State (2/23/08)… Last win was a 3-2 victory over No. 20 Florida State (3/3/12 – Honolulu, Hawai'i)… Two of three wins over Top-25 programs came at the hands of Florida State… Defeated the Seminoles, 3-2 in 2010 Regionals, propelling them to regional final against Georgia… First win was 3-1 over No. 25 Mississippi State (3/8/09 – Honolulu, Hawai'i)… The last time RU played four top-25 teams in a season was 2012 (Hawai'i, Florida State, Tennessee, North Carolina).
 
The Terps – Maryland (1-14) have dropped eight straight coming into this weekend… Three of those defeats came at the hands of nationally-ranked Washington, UCLA and Stanford… Shannon Bustillo is batting .319 with five doubles and seven RBI… Kaitlyn Schmeis (1-2 4.78) and Brenna Nation (0-6, 3.94) have appeared in 11 and 10 games, respectively… Schmeis has a staff-best 35 strikeouts in 41 innings… The Highlanders are 3-3 against the Terrapins following a 4-3 victory in College Park last season.
 
Mizzou – The Tigers (7-3) are coming off a 3-2 performance at the Mary Nutter Classic, picking up wins over then No. 14 Arizona, Fordham and San Diego State… Dropped pair of one-run games against UCLA (No. 8) and Baylor (No. 15)… Five players bat .324 or better led by Taylor Gadbois' .462 average with 10 runs and 10 stolen bases… Emily Crane (.346) has a team-best 11 RBI… The pitching staff boasts a 1.15 ERA… Tori Finucane (4-2, 1.05) and Casey Stangel (2-1, 1.40) lead the way… Finucane striking out a team-best 22 batters and holding opponents to a .235 average, while Stangel holds her opponents to a .226 average…. RU is 0-1 against Mizzou, falling 6-5 in 10 innings to the Tigers when they were ranked No. 4 at the 2010 NFCA Leadoff Classic.
 
Fighting Irish – Notre Dame (10-3) went 4-2 at the Mary Nutter Classic earning three shutouts (Pacific, BYU, Cal State Fullerton) and 12-11 victory over UC Davis… Two losses came against California and No. 6 Oregon… The Irish bat .347 and post a 1.69 ERA… Karley Wester (.436, 10 RBI, 11 R), Megan Sorlie (.429) and Jenna Simon (.400, 7 R) pace an offense that has eight players batting .333 or better… Allie Rhodes is 3-1 with a 1.14 ERA and Laura Winter is 6-2 with 2.11 ERA with 51 strikeouts in 49.2 innings… This will be the first meeting against the Fighting Irish.
 
Auburn – Auburn (13-2-1) had its 10 game winning streak snapped on Wednesday, dropping a 5-4 decision to Florida State at home… The Citrus marks the first time the Tigers will leave their home state and the first time they will play away from home since their season opener… Auburn is under first-year head coach Clint Myers, who won two national championships at Arizona State… The Tigers are batting .308, averaging 7.5 runs per game and holding opponents to a .199 average… Three players are batting above .400; Emily Carosone (.436, 11 RBI, 24 R), Branndi Melero (.432, 5 2B, 4 HR, 28 RBI) and Kasey Cooper (.419, 4 HR, 23 RBI, 21 R)… Lexi Davis (7-2, 1.50) has recorded 56 strikeouts and three shutouts in 56 innings, while holding opponents to a .182 average… Marcy Harper (5-0, 3.20) has struck out 33 in 35 innings and has held opponents to a .185 average…. Radford has won the only meeting in the series, a 5-4 victory on March 9, 1997.
 
The Gators – Florida (16-0) enters the tournament undefeated following a 5-0 week at home, including a 4-0 mark at their University of Florida Lipton Invitational… They earned a pair of victories over Indiana and Troy by a combined score of 32-3… The Gators bat .337 with 21 home runs and average 8.2 runs per game… In the circle, they post a 1.35 ERA and hold opponents to a .148 average… Justine McLean bats a team-best .412 with 13 runs, six stolen bases and a .512 on base percentage… Kelsey Stewart (.393) recorded a team-high, 22 hits, 18 RBI and 21 runs… Hannah Rogers paces a trio of pitchers with six wins, three shutouts, 36 strikeouts and a .156 opponent batting average in 39 innings… Lauren Haeger (5-0, 1.03, 35 K) and Delanie Gourley (5-0, 2.17, 31 K) are holding opponents to a .100 and .196 batting averages, respectively… This is the first meeting between the two schools.
 
Up Next – Radford will head to Elon for a three-game series with the Phoenix on March 8 and 9.
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