RADFORD WELCOMES HIGH POINT FOR BIG SOUTH WEEKEND SERIES

RADFORD, Va. – As the regular season winds down, Radford will play its final six games at home, which happen to be six crucial Big South contests as the Highlanders welcome High Point to Carter Memorial Stadium for a weekend series starting on Saturday afternoon with a doubleheader.

SETTING THE STAGE

Series: High Point leads (30-24)
Location: Williams Family at Carter Memorial Stadium (Radford, Va.)
The Panthers swept the Highlanders in 2016, their second swept in the last four meetings.
Since 1999, Radford is 12-13 in games played in Carter Memorial Stadium, taking the 2015 series 2-1.
Game Notes
Live Stats
Live Video (Friday | Saturday | Sunday)
Live Audio

ON THE HILL
Saturday, May 13th – 1 p.m.
RHP Andrew Gottfried (3-2, 3.48) vs. LHP Zack Ridgely (5-5, 2.81)
Saturday, May 13th – 4 p.m.
RHP Drew Daczkowski (5-3, 2.95) vs. RHP Danny Hrbek (3-4, 5.31)
Sunday, May 14th – 2 p.m.
RHP Trevor Holloway (3-4, 3.71) vs. TBD

HIGHLANDER HIGHLIGHTS

Current record: (20-27) | Home: (9-9) | Away: (10-17) | Neutral (1-1)
Big South (8-10)
Streak: L3
Tied 2-2 after six innings, Radford was unable to answer seven straight runs in the final three innings Wednesday night as the Highlanders dropped a 9-2 decision to No. 16 Wake Forest
Richard De la Cruz led the Highlanders with two of the six hits, both coming as doubles.
Kyle Butler provided a RBI ground out and Danny Hrbek connected for his first home run since May 19, 2016.
Hrbek continues to close in on several milestones in his career as the senior needs only three hits for 200 in his career and nine RBIs for 100. Hrbek possesses 14 career triples, needing only one to set the program record.
Despite the two runs on six hits, Radford's offense has been on tear of late, scoring 60 runs over its last eight games on 89 hits.
The Highlanders seven-game streak of double-digit hits ended on Wednesday as they have totaled 21 on the season.
Radford enters the series with 38 home runs on the season, 13 have come in the last eight games.
In the last eight games, Radford has swiped 20 bags, giving them 67 stolen bases for the season. They have swiped just under three per game in the eight-game stretch.
Radford pitchers have combined to strikeout 76 batters in the last eight games. On the season, Radford has punched out 348 batters in 413.1 innings, ranking fourth in the league with 7.58 per game.
The Highlanders do not issue free passes often as they have only walked 150 batters through 47 games, ranking 49^th nationally with 3.27 walks per nine innings.
The bellcow for the Radford pitching staff over the past two seasons, junior Zack Ridgely enters the series with a 2.81 ERA on the season, while holding a 1.70 clip in conference play. In 42.1 Big South innings, Ridgley has surrendered only five walks, while striking out 45 batters.
Opposing batters are only hitting .222 off the lefty, while Big South opponents have only managed a .192 average.
The reigning Big South Pitcher of the Week ranks eighth nationally with a 8.00 strikeout-to-walk ratio and 17^th nationally with 1.05 walks allowed per nine innings.
Closer Kyle Zurak joins Ridgely as the only other Highlander with an ERA under 3.00 as the senior enters the series with a 2.61 clip. Zurak has been a strikeout machine in 38.0 innings, striking out 48.
Zurak has been lights out in Big South play, holding a 0.83 ERA, striking out 33 batters in 21.2 innings pitched.
As a team, Radford boasts a 3.30 ERA in 18 Big South games.
Austin Gerber (1.32 ERA), Ryan Sande (1.72 ERA) and Colin Reid (1.80 ERA) have been key down the stretch in Big South contests.
Gerber has only allowed two earned runs in 13.2 innings out of the bullpen, while Reid has struck out nine batters and given only one hit in five innings.
Sande has started three Sunday contests, allowing only three earned runs, holding opponents to a .197 average.
Butler continues to lead the offensive charge with the 10th best average in the league, entering play with a .324 clip. Butler leads the team with 57 hits, 38 runs and 11 doubles.
Spencer Horwitz is second on the team with a .317 average, while collecting 51 hits and 26 RBIs. Horwitz is second on the team with seven home runs.
In 18 Big South games, Butler leads the team with a .316 average and Horwitz follows with a .311 clip.
The Highlanders have inched up the Big South home run rankings, entering the contest ranked fourth. Jonathan Gonzalez is third in the league with 11 to his name, combing with Horwitz for 18 of the 38 homers.
Six of Horwitz's seven home run have come in Big South play, while Gonzalez follows with five of his 11.
Four different Highlanders have over 50 hits on the season, including six with over 35 hits.
Seven different Highlanders have scored 20-plus runs.

SCOUTING HIGH POINT

Current record: (26-18) | Home: (15-8) | Away: (11-10)
Big South (12-9)
Streak: W4
Coming off a weekend sweep of Charleston Southern, the Panthers defeated its highest-ranked opponent since 2010 with a 5-3 win at No. 16 Wake Forest on Tuesday.
High Point scored four runs in the first inning and never looked back as nine pitchers combined to hold one of the top offenses in the nation to eight hits and three runs over nine innings.
The sweep of Charleston Southern was the first weekend sweep on the season for High point.
Tim Mansfield was named the Big South Player of the Week after going 8-11 in the three games and accounting for nine of HPU's 13 runs with five RBIs and four runs scored. He recorded multiple hits in all three games and finished the weekend with three doubles and three stolen bases.
Mansfield leads the Panther offense with a .343 average, but does not have enough at bats to rank in in the Big South.
Blake Schunk follows with a .336 clip, which is seventh in the Big South.
Leading the team in hits (47), home runs (8) and RBIs (30) is Austen Zente.
Zente also leads the team with 34 runs scored and has swiped 13 of 17 bags, while ranking 10^th in the country with 17 hit by pitch.
Josh Greene appears to be back to his old self as the senior is hitting .300 in 35 starts with five home runs and 25 RBIs. Greene is 18 for 23 on the base paths, which is tied for fourth in the league.
As a team, High Point has swiped 73 bags in 99 attempts, ranking second in the league.
Offensivly, High Point ranks ninth in the league with a .259 average and 383 hits. In 44 games, the Panthers have collected 202 RBIs.
On the rubber, High Point sports the second-best ERA in the Big South at 4.26. Opposing teams are only hitting .248 off Panther pitchers.
Drew Daczkowski leads the weekend rotation with a 5-3 record and 2.95 ERA. The righty has held opposing bats to a .219 clip, while striking out 63 in 64 innings. He currently ranks fifth in the Big South in ERA, opponent batting average and strikeouts.
All three weekend starters hold an ERA under 3.80.
Matt Hodges has been the go to man out of the bullpen, appearing in a team-high 20 games, the sophomore holds a 5-1 record and a 2.50 ERA. Hodges has struck out 42 in 39.2 innings, holding opposing bats to a .201 clip.
High Point is 3-6 in Big South road games.
The weekend series against the Highlanders will wrap up Big South play for the Panthers.

ON DECK

Radford will conclude Big South play next week with a three-game series against Winthrop starting on May 18.
The series will be Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
Friday's game time has been moved to 7 p.m. to accommodate the ESPN3 broadcast.

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