SOFTBALL HEADS SOUTH FOR AUBURN'S WAR EAGLE CLASSIC

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Tournament Central

Radford heads down to Auburn, Ala. for its final regular season tournament of the season, the War Eagle Classic, hosted by Auburn University, March 14-16 at Jane B. Moore Field. The Highlanders open with Ball State and the host Tigers on Friday at 3:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m., respectively. They will also take on Alabama A&M (9:00 a.m.) and Savannah State (11:00 a.m.) on Saturday and IPFW on Sunday at 9:00 a.m. All game times are central time zone.

Last Time Out – Radford was swept in a mid-week doubleheader at North Carolina State on Tuesday... The Highlanders were limited to three and two hits, respectively... Five different Highlanders singled... Freshman catcher Julie Gardner threw out her first two collegiate base runners trying to steal in game two... Mackenzie Blackwell record her first stolen base in game two.

Highlander Bites – Jessie Hutchens leads team in hits (16), average (.333), runs (8), home runs (3) and RBI (8), while reaching base safely in 14 of 16 games this season... In three games last weekend, she batted .600 (6-10) and posted .692 on base and 1.200 slugging percentages with 2 home runs, three RBI and four runs… Becky Mantel has been hit a team-best seven times and is ranked second on the top-10 career list with 27… Rachael Walters has all four wins in the circle…This is the second meeting against Auburn this year, falling 8-0 to the Tigers at the Citrus Classic.. RU is playing Alabama A&M, IPFW and Savannah State for the first time… RU is 1-1 against Auburn and 1-2 against Ball State.

The Cardinals – Ball State (12-7) had dropped five straight after being swept at UAB on Wednesday with two of those losses coming at the hands of then-No. 7 Arizona… Prior to that, the Cardinal had won eight straight, including a win at then-No. 3 Arizona State… BSU hits .338 as a team under first-year head coach Tyra Perry… Six players bat .328 or better led by Briana Evans' .434 average and 12 runs, along with Jennifer Gilbert's (.397) 6 doubles, 7 home runs, 24 RBI and 22 runs scored…Kelsey Schifferdecker is 6-1 with a 3.73 ERA and 22 strikeouts in 50.2 innings.

The Tigers – Host Auburn (20-4-1) has won three straight and seven of eight, which includes taking their first SEC series from LSU last weekend… The offense is pace four Tigers batting above .300 and two over .400.. Kasey Cooper is at .420 with 6 home runs, 31 RBI and 31 runs scored, while Branndi Melero bats .418 with 6 doubles, 6 home runs, 38 RBI and 22 runs… In the circle, Lexi Davis is 9-4 with a 1.53 ERA, 74 strikeouts and four shutouts in 87 innings.

The Lady Bulldogs – Alabama A&M (8-13) has dropped four straight after being swept in doubleheader by Austin Peay… Three players bat .333 or better led by Raven Grubbs who bats .358 with 19 hits, five RBI and 13 runs, along with 10 stolen bases… In the circle, Anisa Britt is 4-4 with a 5.71 ERA in a team-high nine appearances (8 starts) and 52 innings with 20 strikeouts and is holding opponents to a .252 average.

The Lady Tigers – Savannah State (10-9) is on a seven game winning streak after sweeping a doubleheader from Fort Valley State on Tuesday… The Tigers are batting .300 as a team eith player batting .300 or better… Kelsey Swinson is batting a team-best .400 with 10 hits and five RBI… Toririan Wright provides the power with five home runs and 12 RBI to go along with her .348 average… Amanda McDowell and Amanda Hallman have each recorded five wins for the Lady Tigers pitching almost the same amount of innings, 63.0 and 63.1 respectively… Hallman has 58 strikeouts, while McDowell has 55 punchouts.

The Mastodons – IPFW (16-6) has won its last two contests and nine of its last 10… The Mastadons are coming off a 3-1 weekend at the Aces Invitational in which they closed out with back-to-back shutouts of Murray State and host Evansville.

Up Next – The Highlanders open up Big South play with a three-game series at Campbell, March 21-22.

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