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Baseball

RADFORD AND COASTAL CAROLINA IN TITLE SHOWDOWN

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No. 23 Radford (42-14) vs. Coastal Carolina (38-18) • John Henry Moss Stadium • Boiling Springs, N.C.

BIG SOUTH CHAMPIONSHIP • Saturday, May 23 • 4:00 p.m.
LIVE STATS • LIVE RU SPORTS NETWORK AUDIO • LIVE ESPN3 VIDEO
RU Mitchell MacKeith (7-4, 4.17) vs. CCU Bobby Holmes (4-0, 2.10)

BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. - The top two seeds have advanced to Saturday's championship final at the 2015 Big South Tournament presented by Hardee's and Enterprise Rent-A-Car. #1 Radford and #2 Coastal Carolina will meet in the title game for the first time in the 26-year history of the tournament. The Highlanders are making just their second appearance and first since 1993.

Radford dropped the 1993 title game to Liberty, 6-1. The Highlanders won their first regular season title this season and were the top seed for the tournament for the first time in program history. With the 3-0 record this year at the tournament, it marks the first time an RU team has won more than two games at the Big South postseason event. Radford won two games apiece in tournament runs in 1993 and 2008. In all, the Highlanders enter Saturday's title match with a 16-35 record in the Big South Tournament. The Highlanders are 1-8 all-time against the Chanticleers in tournament play with the win coming in the 2009 tourney.

The two teams met four straight seasons in the tournament from 2009-12, which are the only four tournament contests coached by Joe Raccuia against the Chanticleers. CCU has won three straight after an 11-7 win in 2009 by RU.

Radford won the regular season series between the two teams in Conway, S.C. in mid-April. The Highlanders won the opener, 4-3, and the finale 7-1 over the Chants. CCU took the middle game of the series, 3-2. Radford has won 12 straight Big South series dating back to the 2014 matchup with Coastal at RU Baseball Stadium when the Chants took two of three.

The Highlanders enter Saturday's game with the second-longest winning streak in the country. Only Missouri State's current 15-game streak is longer that Radford's 14-game school record string of wins. St. John's also has a 14-game streak entering Saturday's games.

Coastal Carolina's storied success in the Big South is impressive. The Chants are appearing in their 18th championship game having won the title 13 times previous, including a string of six straight banners from 2007-12. CCU has lost four times in the title game with the last loss coming 10 years ago in 2005. This will be their first championship game since the 2012 season.

The second-seeded Chanticleers carry a 77-27 all-time record in Big South Tournament games into Saturday's final. Coastal is 65-26 all-time against Radford. Entering the contest, Radford ranks #17 in the NCAA RPI, while Coastal is at #19.

 
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Players Mentioned

Mitchell MacKeith

#5 Mitchell MacKeith

LHP
5' 10"
Junior
L/L

Players Mentioned

Mitchell MacKeith

#5 Mitchell MacKeith

5' 10"
Junior
L/L
LHP