SEEDING IMPLICATIONS ON THE LINE IN SEASON FINALE AT LONGWOOD

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Radford's regular season winds down this weekend in a crucial three-game series at Longwood on May 3-4. Entering the final three games of the season, the Highlanders (22-25, 14-7 Big South) are in third place, a game back in the loss column behind the Lancers (35-15, 14-6). Radford can finish between second and fourth depending on this series and the outcome of the series between Campbell and Charleston Southern.

All games will be streamed for free on the Big South Sports Network.

Last Time Out – Radford was swept in its final non-conference tilt of the season, dropping a pair of close contests at Virginia Tech on May by the scores of 2-1 and 4-2... In the opener, Rachael Walters put forth another strong performance against the Hokies, but came out on the short end... She allowed an earned run on six hits, with four strikeouts and two walks in the 2-1 defeat... Mackenzie Blackwell homered in the seventh and RU (7 LOB) had the tying and go-ahead runs on base, but could not complete the rally... The Highlanders jumped out to a 2-0 lead after a half inning, but the Hokies scored four runs in the bottom half of the frame and the score remained the same the rest of the way.

Highlander Bites – Heading into weekend, RU can finish second (win series), third (win one/Campell loses one) or fourth (get swept and Campbell sweeps CSU)... Dropped a pair of close games at Virginia Tech on Thursday, 2-1 & 4-2… Wrapped up its brief home season, 11-3, playing all 14 games between April 5-27, taking the final two games in league series against Gardner-Webb… Reached 50 home runs for the first time since 2010 (74) in series finale against Coastal and rank fourth in a single-season with 53… Entered week, ranked 18th (NCAA) in home runs per game (1.16), tops in the league… Hit over half (30) of their 53 home runs over last 20 games… Jessie Hutchens continues her power surge, hitting her 17th home run and knocking in RBIs 46, 47 & 48 on senior day (April 27), ranking second and tied for second in those single-season categories… Hutchens is one shy of the single-season HR mark and eight from the RBI mark; She is tied for third with 32 career round trippers and ninth with 117 career RBI… Hutchens has hit the most long balls and knocked in the most runs since Nichole Beall's 18 HRs (2010) and Ashley Taylor's 48 RBI (2007), respectively; With two more RBI, she will become the second Highlander to reach 50 in a season (Melissa Pickel 56/1996)… In the NCAA, Hutchens ranks seventh in HRs per game (0.38), ninth in home runs (17), 17th in slugging (.813) and 31st in RBI per game (1.07)… With Rachael Walters (117) and Abby Morrow (110) eclipsing the 100-strikeout mark, it is the first time two RU pitchers have done so in a single season since 2007 (Ashley Taylor, 266 & Bre Felix, 200)… Becky Mantel leads the NCAA in hit by pitches per game (0.72) and overall (34)… Mantel has been hit more times (34) than seven of the eight other Big South programs… As a program, RU has been hit a single-season record 59 times

Big South History – Radford has won five of its seven league series this season… Competing in its 23rd season of Big South play, Radford is 197-136 in league games, 120-42 since 2006… The Highlanders are 39-8 in conference weekends since the league introduced three-game series in 2007… They won a league-record 21 straight series between 2008 & 2011.

The Lancers – Longwood has won four of its last games, but prior to that dropped four straight league games… Included in those victories were shutouts of South Carolina and Virginia Tech… Megan Baltzell (.468) highlights a very balanced offense that bats .299 and sports five batting averages above .300… Baltzell lead the Lancers with 66 hits, 16 doubles, three triples, nine home runs, 42 RBI and 44 runs scored… She also owns the league's top slugging (.816) and on base (.579) percentages… Emily Murphy (.304) has scored 40 runs to go along with 11 doubles and seven home runs… Elizabeth McCarthy is one of the top pitcher in the Big South, posting a 17-5 mark with a 1.66 ERA, four shutouts and 121 strikeouts in 143.2 innings… Libby Morris is 15-9 with three shutouts and 81 strikeouts in 145 innings.

The Series – Radford holds a 15-11 advantage in the series… Longwood swept last year's series and have won four of the last five meetings… RU has dropped its last two in Farmville with its last victory, a 12-0 triumph in 2010… The Highlanders are 6-7 all-time in Farmville

Up Next – The 2014 Big South Tournament hosted by Coastal Carolina will be next week, May 8-11 at CCU Softball Field. Radford's first round game will be on Thursday, May 8, but its opponents and game time all depends on this weekend's outcomes.

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