RADFORD TO OPEN BIG SOUTH CHAMPIONSHIP WITH CHARLESTON SOUTHERN

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. – The Radford baseball team will begin its run for a third Big South Conference Tournament Title on Wednesday at 12:30 p.m., opening tournament play with No. 7 Charleston Southern at Segra Stadium.

SETTING THE STAGE
Opponent: No. 7 Charleston Southern
Date/Time: Wednesday, May 22 at 12:30 p.m.
Location: Segra Stadium (Fayetteville, N.C.)
Watch Live (ESPN3) | Listen Live (WRAD 101.7 FM) | Live Stats | Ticket Information | Tournament Central | Game Notes

LAST TIME OUT
The Highlanders finished off the 2019 regular season with a series win over High Point at Carter Memorial Stadium. They celebrated Senior Day with a 10-4 victory over the Panthers thanks in large part to a six-run sixth inning. With the game knotted at 2-2 heading into the bottom of the sixth, Radford got a one-out walk from Matt Roth and a pinch hit single from Jimmy Goldsmith to set the table for a rally. Colby Higgerson forced the go-ahead run across the plate on a sacrifice bunt that was misplayed and the Highlanders were off to the races from there.

Spencer Horwitz drilled a two-run double down the right field line, Andrew Szamski hit a sacrifice fly, J.D. Mundy went against the shift to line an RBI double to left center field, and David Bryant put an exclamation mark on the end of the inning with an RBI single into center field. It was a complete team effort at the plate as eight different Highlanders picked up at least one hit and seven drove in at least one run. Horwitz (3-4, R, 2 RBI) and Podaras (3-5, R, RBI) led the way while Kyle Butler (2-3, 2 R, 2 BB) and Mundy (2-3, R, RBI, 2 BB) also had multi-hit games.

SERIES HISTORY
Radford leads the all-time series with Charleston Southern, 40-36. The two teams faced each other on March 22-24 in Charleston, S.C. The Highlanders swept the Bucs and outscored them 22-12.

LOVE THE LONG BALL
Radford relied heavily on the long ball to power its offense this season, ranking first in both total home runs (67) and home runs per game (1.24) in the Big South. Those two numbers also ranked 20th and 23rd in the nation, respectively. Juniors J.D. Mundy (13) and Andrew Szamski (10) are the only Highlanders to reach double-digits this year so far, but they are just two of a whopping 11 players to hit multiple bombs over the course of the season.

BIG SOUTH TOURNEY SUCCESS
Radford has been extremely consistent in the Big South Tournament, winning at least one game in the postseason every single season since 2011. During that eight season streak spanning 2011-2018, the Highlanders have won 13 Big South Tournament games including four en route to the 2017 championship.

NO STADIUM TOO BIG
This year's Big South Tournament will be played at Segra Field, the brand-new home of the Fayetteville Woodpeckers - the Houston Astros' high-A affiliate. There's no need to worry about the 5,290 seat ballpark intimidating the Highlanders though as they already have some experience playing at a minor league stadium this year. Back on March 1st, Radford earned an 8-7 victory over UAB in an exciting contest held at Regions Field, a.k.a the home of the Birmingham Barons.

RADFORD RACKS UP THE AWARDS
After leading the Radford baseball team to a 19-8 record and the No. 2 seed in the Big South Championships, six Highlanders have earned All-Conference honors. Kyle Butler and J.D. Mundy were named to the First Team, Andrew Szamski and Bruce Hudson were named to the Second Team, Spencer Horwitz was Honorable Mention and Straton Podaras made the All-Academic Team.

This is the second time in the last three seasons that the Highlanders have had six or more All-Big South representatives. It's the third time Horwitz has appeared on the postseason awards lists and the second time for Butler.

SCOUTING CHARLESTON SOUTHERN
Charleston Southern defeated No. 8 USC Upstate, 6-2, on Tuesday night. The Buccaneers put together a four-run seventh inning after falling behind 1-0 in the early stages of the game. Ryan Stoudemire leads the team with a .300 batting average and a team-best 10 doubles and 14 round-trippers. His 61 hits are second on the team behind Reid Hardwick, who has 63. Cody Maw has the team's best ERA, but threw 7.0 innings against the Spartans. Jaret Bennett and Cam Weinberger each have 13 starts and are only .30 points separated in ERA. Bennett has a 5.29 ERA, while Weinberger has a 5.59. Bennett also bests him in strikeouts with 41 and innings pitched with 68.

UP NEXT
If the Highlanders win their first game they'll play Thursday at 9 a.m., against the second-highest/top-seeded winner of games 3-5. With a loss the Highlanders will play Thursday at 7:30 p.m.

FOLLOW RADFORD BASEBALL ON SOCIAL MEDIA
For more information on the Radford baseball team follow @RadfordBaseball on Twitter and Instagram or Radford Baseball on Facebook.

Print Friendly Version