Saturday, March 17
Farmville, Va.
2 p.m.
Radford University
at
Longwood
HIGHLANDERS BEGIN BIG SOUTH PLAY WITH SERIES AT LONGWOOD
3/16/2018 4:38:00 PM | Softball
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RADFORD, Va. – The second half - and one of the most important times of the season - will get underway this weekend as the Radford softball team begins Big South play in Farmville, Va., against defending Big South Tournament champion, Longwood.
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Saturday's doubleheader contests against the Lancers will begin at 2 p.m., and game one will be broadcast live and can been seen on ESPN3 via WatchESPN. Sunday's game will begin at 1 p.m.
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SETTING THE STAGE
HIGHLANDER HIGHLIGHTS
SCOUTING LONGWOOD (12-8)
For the latest on Radford Athletics, please subscribe to our weekly newsletter, Highlander Happenings.
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RADFORD, Va. – The second half - and one of the most important times of the season - will get underway this weekend as the Radford softball team begins Big South play in Farmville, Va., against defending Big South Tournament champion, Longwood.
Â
Saturday's doubleheader contests against the Lancers will begin at 2 p.m., and game one will be broadcast live and can been seen on ESPN3 via WatchESPN. Sunday's game will begin at 1 p.m.
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SETTING THE STAGE
- Opponent: Longwood (12-8)
- Series: Longwood leads 24-15 (Last Meeting: May 10, 2017 | Longwood won 6-1)
- Location:Â Farmville, Va. (Lancer Field)
- Watch Live (Saturday)
- Live Stats
HIGHLANDER HIGHLIGHTS
- Radford (14-9) traveled to the Panhandle over spring break and had games against Florida A&M, North Florida and Savannah State.
- The Highlanders came away with a 2-2 record over that week with two wins over Florida A&M.
- As a team the Highlanders are hitting .238, but Marissa Gagliano leads the squad with a .414 batting average. Her batting average ranks fourth in the Big South.
- Gagliano leads the Big South with a .534 on-base percentage and is eighth with a .600 slugging percentage.
- Radford has 82 RBIs this season, led by Hunter Mundy with 15. She is also tied for the tam lead with four doubles.
- The Highlanders have a 2.79 team ERA. Abby Morrow has been the key element in the circle and leads the team with a 1.75 ERA and a 9-5 record.
- Abby Morrow ranks inside the top 10 nationally in walks allowed per seven innings averaging 0.38 (third).
- The Highlanders have not lost three games in a row this season. They've lost back-to-back games only twice this season.
- Talia Douglas is hitting .343 with three home runs and 14 RBIs. She leads the Highlander freshmen in both categories.
- Sofia Tapia and Hunter Mundy have eight of Radford's 19 home runs as each player has four.
SCOUTING LONGWOOD (12-8)
- Winners of 12 games this season, Longwood posted a 30-29 record last season but took up the Big South Tournament title and made the Knoxville Regional.
- The Lancers were picked to finish first in the conference this season.
- Longwood has faced some tough teams this season, but has come away with three wins in a row. One of them came against James Madison, who is receiving votes in two polls.
- Radford is one of two teams Longwood has never lost to since joining the Big South, going a perfect 17-0 during the regular seaÂson and postseason against the HighlandÂers.
- Longwood has four players batting above the .300 mark after not having a single player bat above .300 a season ago. Jessica Smith leads the way with a .361 average, while Jordan Clark (.338), Kaylynn Batten (.333) and Krista Kelly (.317) all batting above .300.
- Sydney Backstrom leads the team with a 1.76 ERA and a 5-3 record. Sydney Gay has a team-high 45 strikeouts this season.
For the latest on Radford Athletics, please subscribe to our weekly newsletter, Highlander Happenings.
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Players Mentioned
IF
/ Softball
SS
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
3B
/ Softball
OF
/ SoftballThursday, April 23
Sunday, April 12
Thursday, April 02
Saturday, March 21
