RADFORD HOSTS BORDER FOE ETSU IN TUESDAY BATTLE

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RADFORD, Va. – Radford welcomes border foe ETSU for a Tuesday matchup, concluding the Highlanders four-game homestand with a 6 p.m. contest. The Highlanders will look to remain hot, winning seven of its last nine games.

SETTING THE STAGE
• Series: ETSU leads (24-18)
• Location: Radford Baseball Stadium (Radford, Va.)
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ON THE HILL
Tuesday, March 28 – 6:00 p.m.
RHP Griffin Krieg (0-1, 5.74) vs. LHP Andrew Nardi (0-2, 6.23)

HIGHLANDER HIGHLIGHTS

Current record: (10-13) | Home: (7-2) | Away: (2-10) | Neutral (1-1)
Big South (2-1)
Streak: L1
Radford picked up some more hardware on Monday as Zack Ridgely was named Big South Pitcher of the Week for the third time in his career and Jonathan Gonzalez earned Co-Player of the Week honors.
Ridgely is fresh off tossing another gem this past weekend. In 7.2 innings of work; Ridgely allowed only three hits, surrendering no runs in the 10-0 route of Longwood in the Big South opener. He punched out a career-high 11 batters.
Gonzalez remained hot at the plate, extending his hit streak to 14 games. His honor came after a 9 for 17 performance at the dish; highlighted by three home runs, in addition to eight RBIs and five runs scored.
Following Radford four games a week ago, Gonzalez now has seven multi-hit games, including a team best four three-hit performances. He also leads the team with six multi-RBI games. Gonzalez ranks third on the team with a .345 batting average and second with 29 hits. He leads the Highlanders with five home runs and 18 RBIs in 22 games.
In addition to Gonzalez's streak, Kyle Butler (seven games) and Anthony Miano (six games) are riding hit streaks of their own.
Recently, Radford has experienced a surplus of the long ball. In the last seven games, the Highlanders have sent 13 balls over the fence. Gonzalez has provided four of his five home runs during the span.
The Highlanders had recorded no triples in the first 21 games of the season, before erupting for three in Saturday's doubleheader. Two of which came from the bat of Matt Roth.
Roth and Gonzalez have been excellent at finding a way on base this season. Roth holds a 19-game on-base streak, while Gonzalez sits at 16 straight.
Butler continues to perform at a high level for the Highlanders, his .371 batting average ranks fifth in the Big South and his 21 runs scored puts him in a tie for third. Butler is coming off a strong series against Longwood, scoring two runs on five hits and two RBIs.
As a team, Radford have proved to possess patient eye of late, recording 16 free passes in the series against Longwood. Over the last seven games, Radford has collected 33 walks.
The Highlanders have made the most of their opportunites with runners on base, holding a .300 clip (111-370). Radford has however left 159 runners on base.
Radford held a .204 team batting average on March 5, raising the average to .270 over the last 12 games.
The Highlander pitching staff has lowered the team ERA from 7.52 to 5.65 over that span.
They rank 20^th in the country with three shutouts.

SCOUTING ETSU

Current record: (12-9) | Home: (8-4) | Away: (4-5) | Neutral (0-0)
SoCon (1-2)
Streak: W1
As a team the Buccaneers find a way to score runs, having not been shutout in 21 games.
Junior outfielder Hunter Parker leads the team with a .419 batting average and an astounding .500 on-base percentage.
As a team, ETSU possesses a .325/.454/.405 slash line.
Redshirt junior Caleb Longley adds a deep ball threat to the Bucs lineup, having hit five bombs this year. Longley is tied with Christian Bailey for second on the team in RBIs with 19.
Cullen Smith leads the team with 22 runs driven in.
Hagen Owenby has shown his ability to put the ball in play this season, only striking out three times in 87 at bats.
This year the Bucs have proved they can seduce the double play ball, having turned 22 on the season. They rank 21^st nationally for double plays per game with 1.05.
Aaron Maher and Chris Cook have both been superb on the bases for the Bucs. The duo has combined for an outrageous 15 of 16 successful stolen bases. They have also teamed up to cross the plate 50 times this season.
Holding a 4.71 team ERA, ETSU has tallied 177 strikeouts in 189.1 innings as opposing batters are hitting .274.

ON DECK

Following Tuesdays contest, Radford will head to Clinton, S.C. on Friday to face Presbyterian in its first road Big South series of 2017.
Radford holds a 11-3 record in the all-time series.
Despite meeting in the 2016 Big South Tournament, the two foes have not played one another since 2011.

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