RAIN ALTERS SOFTBALL'S WEEKEND AT WINTHROP

GAME 1 OF SATURDAY'S DOUBLEHEADER IS STILL ON ESPN3

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Radford Softball heads to Rock Hill, S.C. for its second straight Big South road series, facing off against Winthrop this weekend. Due to inclement weather on Friday and Saturday morning, the series' schedule has been altered. Today's contest has been canceled and the teams will now play a doubleheader starting at 5:00 p.m. on Saturday, followed by the finale on Sunday at 12:00 p.m.

Game one of Saturday's doubleheader will still be featured on ESPN3.

The Highlanders (7-16, 1-2 Big South) are coming off a 1-2 showing in its Big South opening series at Campbell last weekend, while the Eagles (16-16, 4-5) also went 1-2 on the road at defending league champion, Longwood.

Last Time Out – Radford went 1-2 in its Big South opening series at Campbell this past weekend, picking up a 4-3 win in game two… The Camels took games 1 and 3 by the scores of 4-2 and 5-4… In game two, Radford scored two runs in the fifth to complete a rally and edge Campbell, 4-3… Freshman Abby Morrow held a high-powered Campbell offense to five hits with three strikeouts… She induced 12 groundouts, all snagged without an error, led by third baseman Whitney Davis' six assists… Senior Jessie Hutchens knocked in the game-winning run with an infield single in the fifth… Davis homered to start the comeback and sophomore Nia Chiles recorded two of RU's seven hits… Morrow provided a great relief effort in game one, but the Highlanders could not overcome a 4-0 hole after just four batters… Morrow allowed just two hits and struck out seven in six innings of work… Radford's rally fell short in series finale… Trailing by just one, the Highlanders did not take advantage of great scoring opportunities in the sixth and seventh innings… Sophomore Hayley Tabora homered and Davis recorded a two-run double during the comeback bid.

Highlander Bites – Radford is two wins shy of 600 in its program's history… Recording a hit in each of the last three games, Hutchens extended her hitting streak to five games and her on base streak to eight… She has reached base safely in 21 of 23 games this season… Morrow tossed 16 of the 19 innings against Campbell with 10 strikeouts… She has appeared in 19 of RU's 23 games so far this season… Sophomore Becky Mantel was plunked two more times bring her season total to 13, and career mark to 33, just three shy of the school record held by Kristen Shifflett… That was Davis' first collegiate triple in game three…

Big South – Highlanders dropped their opening series to Campbell, picking up a game two victory… Competing in its 23^rd season of Big South play, Radford is 184-131 in league games, 107-37 since 2006… The Highlanders are 34-7 in conference weekends since the league introduced three-game series in 2007… They won a league-record 21 straight series between 2008 & 2011… RU had its five-game winning streak in Big South openers snapped with a 4-2 defeat at Campbell last weekend.

The Eagles – Winthrop is coming off a 4-2 loss at Presbyterian on Wednesday afternoon, but still won the series, 2-1… The Eagles have dropped three of their last four… McKenzie Corn paces the offense with a .432 average, 41 hits, 7 doubles, 14 RBI, 20 runs and a .500 OBP… Maddie Antone (.381) has 4 home runs and 13 RBI, while Mel Andrea (.317) also has 4 home runs and team-best 24 RBI… Antone is batting a team-best .542 in league play... Sara Allen is 7-7 with a 2.41 ERA and 80 strikeouts in 93 innings.

The Series – Following a 3-1 edge in matchups last season, the Highlanders hold a 38-31 lead in the all-time series… Last season, Radford swept Winthrop at home last season, but the Eagles topped the Highlanders in the first round of the Big South tournament in Rock Hill…The opening game of this year's matchup will be the 70^th between the programs… It is the second most games against a conference foe (Liberty - 71)… The tournament victory by Winthrop snapped Radford's 13-game winning streak against the Eagles.

Up Next – RU heads to Marshall for a mid-week non-conference doubleheader on April 2.

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