RADFORD TO TAKE ON LIBERTY TUESDAY IN TOURNAMENT OPENER

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SETTING THE STAGE

Opponent: Liberty
Series: Flames lead 59-38
Tournament: Flames lead 10-3
Location: Liberty Baseball Stadium (Lynchburg, Va.)
Radford took the season series against the Flames in Lynchburg, outscoring the Flames 24-18. The two teams finished with 27 hits each in the series.
The two Commonwealth foes last met in the tournament in an elimination game to advance to the 2016 championship game. Liberty held on for 11-10 victory in a slugfest.
Radford trailed 8-0 early in the game before battling back to knot the game at 10 in the eighth inning.
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PROBABLES
Tuesday, May 22 – 12:30 p.m.
RHP Austin Ross (9-4, 3.86) vs. RHP Zach Clinton (6-4, 4.59)

RECORDS

Radford – Overall: (24-30) | Home: (11-10) | Away: (13-18) | Neutral (0-2) | Big South (13-11)
Liberty– Overall: (29-24) | Home: (18-8) | Away: (11-16) |Big South (17-10)

HOW WE GOT TO 14-13 IN BIG SOUTH

Radford was unable to collect its sixth straight Big South series win after taking a 3-2 win in game one as Campbell's offense controlled the final two regular season contests.
Despite scoring first twice in the series, Radford fell to 11-5 when scoring in the opening inning
The Highlanders were outscored 15-9 in the three-game series, while being outhit 25-19
Spencer Horwitz went 5 for 11 with two RBIs in the series, while Luke Wise was 4 for 9 at the plate with five walks and four runs scored.
Horwitz has a 14-game hit streak, going 21 for 53 with 14 RBIs and 10 walks over the stretch.
During Radford's streak of five straight Big South series the Highlanders compiled a .284 batting average and 3.61 ERA.
Radford outscored opposing Big South teams 105-67 during the stretch with four Highlanders driving in double-digit runs for a team total of 92 RBIs.
At the plate, Matt Roth was 23 for 65 with 16 RBIs and 10 runs. Horwitz was 17 for 56 with 14 RBIs, 14 walks and 13 runs scored.
Radford earned 82 walks as four Highlanders walked 10-plus times.
On the mound, Austin Ross and Cameron Fritz were 3-1, while Ross struck out 33 over 29.0 innings.
During the 15-game span, Radford was 11-4, including a 6-3 mark on the road. The Highlanders started Big South play with a 2-8 mark.

NUMBERS NEVER LIE

Radford has needed to score six-plus runs on the season in order to collect a win as the Highlanders are 16-6 when doing so.
On the other end, Radford is 7-17 when opposing teams score six-plus runs.
Holding opponents to under six runs results in a 17-13 mark for the Highlanders.
Radford has outscored opposing teams 129-84 in the second through fourh innings.
The Highlanders have scored 40-plus runs in each inning.
Radford is hitting .296 in the second and third innings, while managing a .259 clip in the fourth.
Andrew Szamski is 10 for 21 in the second inning.
Spencer Horwitz is 13 for 28 in the third inning with three home runs and eight RBIs.
Kyle Butler is 11 for 22 with seven RBIs in the fourth inning.
Matt Roth has six RBIs in the third and Horwitz has six in the fourth.

RACCUIA MOVES INTO THIRD IN BIG SOUTH WINS

With two wins at Liberty, head coach Joe Raccuia collected his 150^th Big South win, moving into third all-time in league history.
Raccuia passed former Liberty head coach Jim Toman for third place, possessing a 150-119 over his 11 seasons as the helm of the Highlanders.
Coastal Carolina's Garry Gilmore holds the record with 331 wins in 21 seasons apart of the Big South, while Winthrop's Joe Hudak is second with 261 victories in 19 years.
Raccuia also ranks fourth in the Big South overall record with 319 wins at Radford. He is nine wins from passing Toman for third in that category.

TOURNEY TIME

Radford is seeking to win at least one game in the Big South Tournament for the eighth straight season.
The Highlanders have won at least two games in five tournaments, holding a 10-2 record in the last two tournaments.
Radford has appeared in three championship games in its program's history (1993, 2015, 2017).
Radford outscored opponents 29-8 in four tournament games in 2017, holding a 40-22 edge in the hit category.
In 2017, Radford led the tournament with a 1.50 ERA and 40 strikeouts. In 36 innings pitched, Radford's pitching staff surrendered only seven extra-base hits.
The four games saw Radford use only six pitchers, including only three relievers in the four games.
In 2016, Radford became the first No. 8 seed to win two games in the tournament's history.
Radford has had 23 players named to the Big South's All-Tournament team, including two Tournament MVPs.

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: 2-0 (W2)
UNC Asheville: 1-3 (W1)
Winthrop: 4-4 (W2)

TOURNAMENT FACTS

Number of Tournaments: 30
Radford Record at BSC Tourney: 24-36
Under head coach Joe Raccuia: 18-15
Number of Championships (Last): 2 (2017)
Record as the No. 6 Seed: 4-6
Radford has not served as the sixth seed since 2011, going 1-2.
The Highlanders are 10-2 in the last three tournaments with two championships.
The No. 6 seed has appeared in four championship games, winning one championship.
UNC Asheville won the 2006 tournament as the No. 6 seed, defeating No. 5 Liberty 16-11 in Conway, S.C.

BIG SOUTH ALL-CONFERENCE HONOREES

The conference will announce the all-conference awards on Tuesday morning at 9 a.m.

INSIDE BIG SOUTH PLAY

Radford finished with a .264 average in Big South games, finishing fifth in the league.
The Highlanders ranked second in league games with 155 RBIs, 152 walks and 45 doubles.
Spencer Horwitz finished as the only Highlander hitting over .300 in Big South play with a .310 average.
Horwitz finished second with 26 Big South RBIs, tallying six home runs and 11 extra-base hits.
Matt Roth, Kyle Butler and Horwitz finished with 31 hits each in league games.
Eight Highlanders have double-digit RBIs, while six are hitting above .280.
Of Radford's 31 home runs, 21 have come in Big South action.
The Highlanders staff came in fourth with a 4.75 ERA, however Radford struck out a league low 168 batters in 240.2 innings.
Holding opposing teams to a .247 clip, Radford limited league left-handers to a .223 average.
Austin Ross led the league with six wins and Kyle Palmer ranks fourth with five saves.

RADFORD WITH RBI CHANCES

Radford is 141 for 574 (.246) with runners in scoring position.
Radford is 15 for 63 for a .238 average over the last six Big South games.
Spencer Horwitz leads the team with a 21 for 69 effort, hitting .304 with runners in scoring position.
Andrew Szamski is the only other Highlander hitting over .300, going 12 for 39 in scenario.

RIDE WITH ROSS

Finishing with a 9-4 mark, Austin Ross led the Big South in wins, including in league wins with six.
Ross became only the fourth Highlander to win nine-plus games in a season.
The redshirt senior could match Michael Boyle's season record of 10 wins set in 2015 during in the Big South Tournament.
Totaling a career-high 67 strikeouts in 63 innings, Ross is seven away from 150 in his career.
The 67 strikeouts rank eighth in the league, while ranking eighth with a 3.86 ERA.
Walking only 18 batters, Ross is second in the conference with a 3.72 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
Ross struck out 45 Big South batters in 44.2 innings, ranking eighth in Big South games with 9.07 strikeouts per game.
Ross' career 8.75 strikeouts per nine innings ratio is fourth best in program history.

BULLPEN GUYS

Radford's bullpen holds a 5.24 ERA, possessing 15 of Radford's 24 wins.
Austin Ross has four of the wins, while Cameron Fritz holds a 3-1 record.
Mack Krupp leads the way with a 2.45 ERA in 14.2 frames out of the bullpen. Fritz follows with a 2.92 clip in 24.2 innings.
Kyle Palmer has five of Radford's 10 saves, striking out 23 in 28.2 frames.

HIGHLANDERS AGAINST SOUTHPAWS

Radford has fared better against left-handed pitchers in the regular season
The Highlanders are 115 for 428 against lefties for a .269 clip. In Big South play, Radford hit .274 against conference southpaws.
Kyle Butler and Spencer Horwitz lead the team with 17 hits each.
Straton Podaras boasts a .333 clip, collecting 12 hits in 36 at bats.
On the bump, opposing left-handers are hitting a mere .246 in the regular season.
Radford's pitching staff held conference lefties to a .223 average with 73 hits in 327 at bats.
Only four times on the season has Radford not faced a single left-handed bat in a game, twice against William & Mary and Appalachian State.
Redshirt senior southpaw Mack Krupp has held opposing lefties to a .169 clip with 10 hits in 59 at bats.

HIGHLANDERS GET AROUND THE BASES

On the base paths, Radford is 74 for 111, which is third most steals in the league.
Radford is 40 for 61 against Big South teams.
Fourteen different Highlanders have swiped a base this season with 11 swiping three-plus.
The 74 stolen bases rank 51st in the country, while 1.37 steals per game mark is 59th.
Kyle Butler and Colby Higgerson are two of 14 Big South players to swipe 10-plus bases
Radford is one of three teams with two players inside the Top 12.
Butler leads the team as he is 11 for 15 on the base paths. Higgerson is 10 for 14.
As a team, Radford has six games with four-plus stolen bases.

MILESTONE WATCH

150 career hits - Kyle Butler (144)
150 career hits - Spencer Horwitz (125)
150 career hits - Matt Roth (117)
150 career hits - Colby Higgerson (107)
150 career hits - Luke Wise (107)
150 career strikeouts - Austin Ross (143)
100 career RBIs - Spencer Horwitz (75)
100 career RBIs - Kyle Butler (72)
100 career runs - Kyle Butler (91)
50 career doubles - Kyle Butler (27)
50 career doubles - Spencer Horwitz (24)
35 career stolen bases - Luke Wise (34)
20 career home runs - Spencer Horwitz (15)
10 career triples - Luke Wise (8)
10 career triples - Colby Higgerson (7)

ON DECK

The winner of Radford/Liberty will play the winner of No. 2 High Point/No. 7 Charleston Southern on Wednesday at 4:30 p.m.
The loser will play the loser of High Point/Charleston Southern on Wednesday at 9:30 a.m.

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