NO. 5 RADFORD FACES NO. 1 WINTHROP FRIDAY NIGHT

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LEXINGTON, S.C. – Radford will play its second game in 17 hours as the Highlanders take on No. 1 Winthrop in its second game of the 2017 Big South Baseball Championships as the two teams advanced to the winner's bracket with wins Thursday night. The eighth game of the championships is slated for an 8 p.m., first pitch.

SETTING THE STAGE

Series: Winthrop leads (57-40)
Location: Lexington County Baseball Stadium (Lexington, S.C.)
Winthrop won the 2017 series, 2-1.
The Highlanders were outscored 16-7 in the three-game series, while being outhit 30-18 by the Eagles.
Adam Whitacre put together a strong series against the Eagles, collecting three multi-hit games to go 7 for 13 with three runs scored and two RBIs as the Radford leadoff batter.
Radford's pitching staff struck out 25 batters in 27 innings, allowing only four extra base hits.
The two teams have only met twice in the Big South Tournament since 2009.
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ON THE HILL (SUBJECT TO CHANGE)
Thursday, May 26th – 8:00 p.m.
RHP Colten Rendon (7-3, 3.07) vs. RHP Danny Hrbek (4-5, 4.74)

ABOUT LAST NIGHT

After waiting two days before getting a chance to open the 2017 Big South Baseball Championships, No. 5 Radford almost had to wait three days as the Highlanders took control early in the 11:45 p.m. start, taking a 6-3 victory over No. 4 High Point in the opening round of the tournament Thursday night.
The win improved Radford to 6-8 as the No. 5 seed and 3-3 against High Point in the tournament. The Highlanders are now 7-2 in its last three conference tournaments.
Radford improves to 11-5 when scoring in the first inning and 5-9 in night games. The neutral site win marked the second on the season for the Highlanders.
Matt Roth and Spencer Horwitz combined for five RBIs on four hits, while Jonathan Gonzalez scored all three times he reached base.
On the mound, starter Zack Ridgely teamed up with closer Kyle Zurak as the Highlanders held the Panthers to four hits, combing for 10 strikeouts.
After only striking out double-digit batters once in the last nine games, Radford finished with 10 strikeouts.
Entering the tournament 3 for his last 46, Roth killed the slump with a 2 for 4 performance with a career-high three RBIs.
Horwitz finished as the only other Highlander with multiple hits, collecting his 18^th multi-hit game on the season.
The second team performer drove in two runs, marking the eighth time he has finished with a multi-RBI game.
Jonathan Gonzalez matched a career-high three runs scored. Adam Whitacre, Danny Hrbek and Gonzalez collected the other Radford hits.
Radford left seven runners on base, while High Point stranded five.

TOURNAMENT QUICK FACTS

Number of Tournaments: 29
Radford Record at BSC Tourney: 21-36
Under head coach Joe Raccuia: 14-16
Number of Championships (Last): 1 (2015)
Record as the No. 5 Seed: 6-8
Radford has been the fifth seed in three out of the last six tournaments.
The Highlanders appeared in the 1993 championship game as the No. 5 seed, falling to No. 6 Liberty 6-1.
The No. 5 seed has won two championships, while appearing in five championship games.
The last No. 5 seed to win the tournament came in 2013 as Liberty went 5-1.

TOURNEY TIME

Radford is seeking to win at least one game in the Big South Tournament for the seventh straight season.
The Highlanders have won at least two games in four tournaments, including the last two tournaments.
Radford has only appeared in two championship games in its program's history (1993, 2015).
In 2016, Radford became the first No. 8 seed to win two games in the tournament's history.
The 2016 tournament saw Radford outscore opponents 39-30.
Radford has had 19 players named to the Big South's All-Tournament team.

TOURNAMENT RESUME

Campbell: 1-2 (L1)
Charleston Southern: 1-0 (W1)
Gardner-Webb: 3-2 (W2)
High Point: 3-3 (W2)
Liberty: 3-10 (L3)
Longwood: 1-0 (W1)
Presbyterian: 1-0 (W1)
UNC Asheville: 0-3 (L3)
Winthrop: 3-4 (W1)

BSC ALL-CONFERENCE HONOREES

Radford placed six players on All-Big South squads, the most among any team by two players. The six honorees match a program record set in 2015.
Zack Ridgely was named the 2017 Big South Pitcher of the Year, becoming only the second Highlander to achieve the feat. Ridgely will join the Big South's only MLB first round draft pick Eddie Butler with the distinction.
The lefthander finished with four first-place votes and 17 points in the voting, just ahead of Winthrop's (four first-place votes and 15 points).
Ridgely captured three Big South Pitcher of the Week awards, giving him five in his career.
Ridgely joins seniors Kyle Zurak and Danny Hrbek as the Highlanders were one of only two teams to play three players on the conference's first team.
Zurak was named to the lone reliever position on the first team, while Hrbek was named to the utility position.
The all-conference honor is the second of Hrbek's career, earning second team in 2016.
Kyle Butler, Spencer Horwitz and Jonathan Gonzalez were named to the Big South's second team.
The last time Radford placed more than two players on the second team was in 1994.
Kyle Palmer was named to the Big South All-Academic team.

FRIDAY IS NOW RIDGEDAY

After moving into the Friday night role in 2016, Zack Ridgely is on his way to going down as one of the greatest pitchers in program history that includes two major leaguers.
Ridgely finished his 2017 regular season campaign with a 6-5 record in 14 starts, while holding down a 2.91 ERA.
In 89.2 innings, Ridgely has struck out a career best 80 batters, while only walking 10.
The 80 strikeouts are ninth most by a Highlander in a single season.
Nationally, Ridgely ranks eighth with an 8.00 strikeout-to-walk ratio. He also ranks 11th with 1.00 walks allowed per nine innings.
His 2.91 ERA is fifth best in the league, while opponents only hit a mere .218 off the lefty, which ranks seventh in the conference.
Ridgely finished with a 2.13 ERA in Big South play, commanding a 4-2 record, surrendering only six walks.
Big South foes finished with a .191 batting average against the southpaw.
In the regular season, Ridgely walked zero batters in seven of his starts.
With 15 career wins, Ridgely stands in a three-way tie for eighth in program history.
Striking out 189 batters over 46 appearances, Ridgely needs 11 more to become the fourth pitcher in program history to strikeout 200 batters in a career.
His 3.14 career ERA is currently second best in program history

OH DANNY BOY, OH DANNY BOY

Stepping into a two-way role during the 2017 season, Danny Hrbek has made the most of his senior season.
Hrbek continues to close in on several milestones in his career as the senior collected his 200th career hit on a RBI double in a 3-2 win over High Point on May 13.
After tallying eight RBIs in the last nine games, Hrbek needs only four for 100 in his career.
With at least two more guaranteed conference tournament games in his career, Hrbek needs only one triple to set the program record for career triples. He is currently sitting at 14.
Entering the tournament with 199 career games played in a Radford uniform, Hrbek will become the seventh Highlander to appear in 200 games in a career.

A BUT ABOVE THE REST

Having only started 15 games in his career, Kyle Butler was inserted into the lineup after a season-ending injury to Colby Higgerson.
Butler has done nothing but hit, since being inserted into the lineup as an everyday starter on February 25.
Ending the regular season with a .318 average, Butler finished 10th in the league.
Butler scored 43 runs, ranking as fourth most in league.
With 64 hits to his name, Butler is only 10 hits away from moving into a four-way tie for 10th most hits in a season.
He is seven runs away from moving into a three-way tie for ninth most in a season.

PITCHERS DOMINATE BSC PLAY

Radford finished the 24-game Big South schedule with a 3.09 ERA, ranking third best in the league.
Opposing teams only hit .241 off the Highlander pitching staff.
Kyle Zurak led all Big South pitchers with a 1.03 ERA, striking out 40 batters in 26.1 innings.
Zurak compiled a 1-2 record with five saves, starting two of his 11 appearances.
Austin Gerber joined Zurak as another strong option out of the bullpen. Gerber finished league action with a 2.70 ERA, holding opposing bats to a .194 average.
Radford's rotation sported a strong ERA: Ryan Sande (2.05), Zack Ridgely (2.13) and Danny Hrbek (4.23).

MILESTONE WATCH

200 career strikeouts - Zack Ridgely (194)
100 career RBIs - Danny Hrbek (96)
100 career hits - Jonathan Gonzalez (97)
100 career hits - Kyle Butler (78)
100 career hits - Luke Wise (78)
70 career RBIs - Jonathan Gonzalez (66)
30 career doubles - Danny Hrbek (26)
20 career doubles - Kyle Butler (17)
15 career triples - Danny Hrbek (14)

ON DECK

The winner will move to Game 11 against the winner of Game 9 (No. 6 UNC Asheville and No. 3 Presbyterian/No. 7 Gardner-Webb). The game will be featured on ESPNU on Saturday at 4 p.m.
The loser will move to Game 10 against the winner of No. 4 High Point/No. 8 Campbell Saturday at 12 p.m. The game will be played at River Bluff High School (Lexington, S.C.).
Updated Bracket

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