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Softball

SURGING HIGHLANDERS HEAD TO CHARLESTON SOUTHERN FOR LEAGUE SERIES



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Riding a six-game winning streak and coming off two straight series sweeps, Radford heads back out on the road to face Charleston Southern in Big South play this weekend. The Highlanders (15-19, 9-3 Big South) and Buccaneers (19-26-1, 5-8) will play a doubleheader on Saturday, April 12 and conclude on Sunday. Both days' first pitches are scheduled for 1:00 p.m.
                   
Last Time Out – Powered by an offensive surge, Radford swept its second straight Big South series, defeating Liberty by a combined score of 38-7 (12-0, 16-5, 10-2) on Tuesday and Wednesday at RU Softball Stadium… The Highlanders launched 11 home runs, recorded 36 hits and batted .462 over the three-game stretch… Senior Jessie Hutchens batted .700 (7-10) with four home runs (2 grand slams), knocked in 13 and slugged 2.000… Sophomores Whitney Davis (.700) and Becky Mantel (.714) each recorded five RBI…Mantel hit three long balls, scored nine runs and recorded an .833 OBP and 2.143 slugging percentage… Davis tallied two round trippers, two doubles and six runs… RU pitchers surrendered just four earned runs, struck out 22 in 16 innings and limited the Lady Flames to a .183 batting average… Freshman Abby Morrow was 2-0 with a 1.00 ERA, 13 strikeouts and one walk in 7 innings… Sophomore Rachael Walters (1-0) also posted a 1.00 ERA, eight punchouts and zero walks in seven innings… Morrow and Walters limited their opponent to .154 and .160 batting averages respectively.
 
Highlander Bites – RU is currently in third place in the Big South… Played its first six home games of the season, opening in April for just the second time in program history… Played first 28 away from RU Softball Stadium… Shut out an opponent four straight games for the first time since 2011… Recorded three straight (four overall) double figure run outputs for the first time in program history … Those were the first shutouts and double figure scoring games of the season… Hit 17 home runs in last six games and three grand slams, two by Hutchens, in the last four… Hutchens has reached base safely in 19 straight games and 32 of 34 this season… She leads RU in hits (37), average (.381), HR (12), RBI (34), slugging (.804) and OBP (.488) … Davis (G3-PC) and Hutchens (G2-LU) both matched school records with six RBI in a three-game span… Davis is on a career-best nine-game (17-29, .586, 10 R, 17 RBI) hitting streak which included seven multi-hit games… Sophomore Nia Chiles has a career-best seven-game hitting streak (9-24, .375) going during which she's scored nine runs… Mantel was plunked four time against Liberty and now owns the all-time mark with 40… She also has been hit 20 times in each of her first two season, tied for the top mark… As a program, RU has now been hit a single-season record 40 times.
 
Power Surge – Radford's recent power surge over the last six games (PC & Liberty series) has not been seen in program history before… Team: 17 home runs, 3 grand slams, 61 runs, 60 hits, .400 average, .793 slugging and .477 on base percentages… If you count a 7th inning home run versus Marshall, RU has hit 18 home runs in the last 31 innings… Add the 11-hit, game two effort at Marshall, the Highlanders are averaging just over 10 hits the last seven games… Individual: 5 players batted between .467 and .600; 4 scored between 8 and 14 runs; 3 hit four or five home runs and slugged 1.316 or better; 2 had 14-plus RBI; 1 hit two grand slams… Hutchens (.600, 9 H, 4 HR, 16 RBI, 8 R, .1533 SLG, .667 OBP); Davis (.579, 11 H, 4 HR, 14 RBI, 9 R, 1.316 SLG, .571 OBP); Mantel (.563, 9 H, 5 HR, 14 R, 8 RBI, 1.625 SLG, .708 OBP); Kayla Bishton (.471, 8 H, 1 HR, 7 RBI, 6 R); Summer Robinson (.467, 7 H, 5 R, 3 RBI); Chiles (.375, 7 H, 9 R)
 
Stingy Pitching – You can't forget about the impressive pitching performance during this power surge… The staff went 6-0 with a 0.80 ERA and struck out 42 in 35 innings… They recorded four shutouts and held opponents to a miniscule .129 batting average (16-124) with just four walks and two extra base hits (both doubles)… Walters and Morrow were both 3-0 and allowed one earned run in 18.1 and 13.0 innings, respectively… Walters, who twirled a one-hit shutout in game two against PC, posted a 0.38 ERA with 18 punchouts and held her opposition to a .097 average… Morrow (0.54 ERA) struck out 22 of 49 batters faced and held her opponents to a .146 average.
 
Big South Rankings - Jessie Hutchens ranks in the top 10 in average (.381 – 5th), home runs (12 – 3rd), RBI (34 – t4th), runs (9th – 26), slugging (.804 – 2nd) and OBP (.488 -4th) ... Freshman Julie Gardner ranks second in walks (20) and eighth in OBP (.440)... Whitney Davis is fourth in slugging (.680) and tied for seventh in home runs (7)… Becky Mantel is sixth in home runs (8) and tied for sixth in runs (27)… Rachael Walters ranks in the top 10 in strikeouts (87 – 8th), appearances (24 – t7th) and opp. average (.236 – 6th)… Abby Morrow is tied for fifth in appearances (26) and seventh in strikeouts (91)... Morrow and Walters are two of five pitchers with two saves… As a team, RU leads the league in home runs (41) despite playing the fewest game… Rank in the top 4 in slugging (.426 – t3rd), OBP (.337 – 4th), strikeouts per 7IP (6.57 – 2nd), strikeouts (222 – t 3rd) and fewest walks per 7IP (2.06  - 4th)
 
Big South History – Radford has won six straight after sweeping PC and Liberty, respectively, at home and won eight of its last nine league contests… RU posted four shutouts and allowed just seven runs in the last six games… Competing in its 23rd season of Big South play, Radford is 192-132 in league games, 115-38 since 2006… The Highlanders are 37-7 in conference weekends since the league introduced three-game series in 2007… They won a league-record 21 straight series between 2008 & 2011.
 
Big South POW – Walters was tabbed Big South Pitcher of the Week (4/7)  following her performance last week… She held Presbyterian to no runs and two hits in 11.1 innings of work and allowed just three earned runs in three starts last week… She twirled a one-hit complete game shutout in game two in which she struck out five and faced just two batters over the minimum… At one point, she retired 19 straight batters starting in the fourth of game two and ending with one out in the fourth of game three… In the series finale, she struck out five more in 4.1 innings and allowed one hit and one walk…. For the week she held opponents to a .148 batting average.
 
The Buccaneers – Charleston Southern currently sits in sixth in the Big South standings… They have dropped six straight after being swept in a doubleheader at Coastal Carolina on Wednesday… Jessica Brock paces the offense with team-best a .346 average, 45 hits, 10 doubles, five home runs and 29 RBI… Jennifer Giles posts a staff-best nine wins and 2.26 ERA… Cheyenne Gandara is 7-10 with a 2.61 ERA and team-best 111 strikeouts in 123.1 innings
 
The Series – Radford leads the all-time series, 44-24, after sweeping CSU at home last season… RU is 19-12 in Charleston, taking two-of-three in their last series (2012)…
 
Up Next – Radford steps out of conference for a home twinbill against Appalachian State on April 17.
 
 
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