HIGHLANDERS OPEN 2018 SEASON FRIDAY AT NORTH FLORIDA

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RADFORD, Va. – Radford baseball begins its 34^th season and will look to repeat at Big South Champions, giving the program its third title in the last four years. Continuing its youth movement, head coach Joe Raccuia possesses a roster of 23 underclassmen, including 13 sophomores that received a lot of experience a season ago.

For the second straight season, Mother Nature shined down upon the Highlanders as they were able to spend a majority of the January and February preseason practices outside.

Radford opens the season in the Sunshine State for the second straight year as the Highlanders make a return trip to North Florida. The Highlanders dropped the 2017 series 1-2 and look for their first Opening Weekend series win against an opponent from Florida since Jacksonville in 2013.

SETTING THE STAGE

Series: Second Meeting
Location: Harmon Stadium (Jacksonville, Fla.)
Record vs. Florida opponents: Jacksonville (2-1), Rollins (1-1), South Florida (1-1), North Florida (1-2), Stetson (0-1), Florida (0-2)
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SERIES HISTORY

North Florida outscored Radford 25-10 in the 2017 Opening Weekend as the Ospreys shutout out the Highlanders for 9-0 Opening Day victory.
The Highlanders only managed 15 hits in the series, collecting nine RBIs on five extra base hits.
North Florida recorded 12 hits in two games, finishing with 33 in the series.
Spencer Horwitz went 3 for 8 at the plate with four RBIs.
Out of the bullpen, Austin Gerber allowed only one unearned run on two hits with three strikeouts in 4.0 innings.

ON THE BUMP (2017 stats)
Friday, Feb. 16 - 6 p.m.
RHP Ryan Sande (0-4, 3.97) vs. RHP Brad Deppermann (4-3, 5.57)
Saturday, Feb. 17 - 1 p.m.
RHP Cameron Fritz (4-2, 4.31) vs. RHP Ethan Michaelis (0-0, -.--)
Sunday, Feb. 18 – 1 p.m.
LHP Mack Krupp (1-1, 8.72) vs. TBA

INSIDE OPENING WEEKEND

Radford is 12-18 in opening weekends during Raccuia's 11 years as head coach.
The Highlanders are 8-25 all-time on Opening Day and 2-8 in season openers under Raccuia.
Radford's last series win on Opening Weekend came in 2015 over Samford.

POSITION PREVIEWS

HIGHLANDER HIGHLIGHTS

2017 Record: 27-32 (11-13 Big South)
After finishing the regular season with a 23-30 record, Radford entered the Big South Tournament as the No. 5 seed.
The Highlanders became the third No. 5 seed to win the championship, rattling off four straight wins, similar to the 2015 tournament.
Radford outscored opponents 29-8 in the tournament, holding a 40-22 edge in the hit column. The Highlander pitching staff combined to strikeout 40 batters in 36 innings.
The Highlander staff got stronger as the season progressed in 2017, finishing third in the Big South with a 3.09 conference ERA, walking only 63 batters in 212.1 innings. Radford recorded 188 punch outs in league games.
Overall, Radford finished fifth in the league with a 4.54 ERA, striking out 440 batters to rank third. Holding opposing batters to .263 batting clip, Radford yielded only 182 free passes to rank second.
Radford ranked 40^th nationally with 3.15 walks allowed per nine innings.
Offensively, Radford hit for a .255 average as a team, ranking fifth in the conference with 511 hits and 276 RBIs.
Possessing one of the fastest lineups in the league, Radford legged out 11 triples and swiped 83 bases to rank second in both categories.

SCOUTING NORTH FLORIDA

2017 Record: 33-24 (12-9 Atlantic Sun)
The Ospreys went 25-13 in home games, only playing 17 road contests.
North Florida begins the season with 21 of its first 26 games at home, including six consecutive weekend series at home.
Winning at least two-plus games in the ASUN Tournament the previous two seasons, North Florida dropped the first two games of the 2017 edition.
Last season, North Florida led the ASUN in hitting with a .296 team average. It was the fifth straight year the Ospreys led the league in hitting. The average ranked 37^th nationally.
The Ospreys pumped out 105 doubles to lead the league and finished with 589 hits, ranking second.
North Florida turned in a 3.60 ERA to finish as the 26^th best clip in the country, while also ranking 53^rd with a .242 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

UP NEXT

Radford travels to Elon on Feb. 20 for its first weekday road game of the season. Action is slated for a 4 p.m., start.
The Highlanders hold a 7-11 record against the former Big South member.
A season ago, Radford dropped a 10-1 decision as Andrew Nardi fanned nine in 4.1 innings. Of the 10 Phoenix runs, six came via home runs as Elon hit four in the victory.
The 2017 meeting was the first between the two teams since March 7, 2010.
Radford's last win in the all-time series came on April 13, 2002 with a 12-9 victory in game one of the doubleheader.

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