Radford University

-          Radford finished the regular season with a 25-23 record, clinching the school’s first winning season since 2000, when the Highlanders went 26-22. Since 1985, Radford has five winning seasons.

-          A standout season in 2009 was also marked by the team’s 16-9 conference record, just the third time in program history that the Highlanders have won 16 or more Big South games. Radford’s .640 league winning percentage is its third-best showing ever, and best since 1995 when the Highlanders went 17-7 in conference play (.708).

-          The 25 victories also give the Highlanders their first 25-win season since 2000, the eighth 25-win campaign in program history. This season is also the first time since 1994-95 that the Highlanders have won at least 24 games in back-to-back seasons. Head coach Joe Raccuia was a player on the ’94 and ’95 Radford squads.

-          In his five years as either a player or coach for the Highlanders, Raccuia has been a part of four 24-plus win seasons and 125 total wins in a Radford uniform, including his stint as an assistant coach in 1996. 

-          Following its series win over Liberty May 14-15, Radford has six Big South series wins this season, including sweeps of UNC Asheville and Gardner-Webb. Three series triumphs have come at home and the other three away from home.

-          Radford’s 2009 home record was 15-5, a .750 winning percentage, marking the second-best home record in program history. Only the 1989 team bested this mark, going 19-5 (.791) at Radford University Baseball Field, en route to a 27-19 overall ledger.   The team’s 2009 home record is a stark contrast to 2008, when Radford was below .500 on its home field.

-          For only the sixth time in school history, the Highlanders have won 10 games away from home, entering the tournament 10-14 in away games, and 0-3 in neutral-site games.

-          Despite a 16-9 conference record in 2009, the third most Big South wins in program history, Radford has not had either a Big South pitcher or player of the week this season. The last time Radford didn’t have either honor was 2003, when the Highlanders won just five conference games. Only three times since the player/pitcher of the week honor began in 1995 have the Highlanders been shutout for the season: 1998 (7-11 Big South record), 2001 (5-16), 2003 (5-14).

 

-          Entered the Liberty series 11th in conference history with a .376 batting average.   His current .375 career mark is believed to be second-best in Radford program history. Duane Filchner’s .389 average (1992-95) is tops in team history.

-          He enters the conference tournament at .405, bidding for his third straight .400-plus season: that would make him the first player in Big South history to accomplish the feat, and the second player in Division I over the last three seasons along with North Carolina first baseman Dustin Ackley.

-          Gregory has only failed to reach safely in two Big South games this season (VMI: April 17-18)

-          His 21 strikeouts are a career-low.

-          Gregory carrries a perfect fielding percentage into the conference tournament.

-          After hitting .173 in his first 13 games, and entering the weekend series at Presbyterian (March 20-22), Keen has gone .367 at the plate to up his season batting average to .317 entering the tournament.

-          Keen has reached safely in 23 of 25 Big South games in 2009; he has hits in all but four conference games this season.

-          Named to the 2009 Brooks Wallace shortstop of the year watch list, Kemp was the only Big South shortstop named to the initial list of the nation’s top shortstops.

-          Kemp’s batting average is believed to be the second-highest freshman average in school history: Duane Filchner hit .357 (45 games) in 1992 to set the school’s current mark. Filchner is the school’s career batting average leader at .389.

-          Has a career-high three homers in 2009.

-          He has 17 stolen bases entering the Big South conference tournament: the seventh-best in a single-season in program history.

-          Entering the conference tournament, Mollenhauer has just three errors on the season, averaging 4.6 chances per game. He’s been a part of a team-high 32 double plays this season, a category the Highlanders lead the league in.

-          Nine multi-hit games in Big South action, including six hits and five runs driven in during the Gardner-Webb series (May 1-2).

-          Minter has set career-highs in nearly every statistical category in 2009, including games started, batting average and extra-base hits.

-          His eight games with three hits is tied for the team lead with Alex Gregory.

-          Defensively, Lamas is third on the team among players with 200 or more chances with a .976 fielding percentage; he’s caught 10 runners on the basepaths entering the tournament.

-          In addition to the physical demands of being the number one catcher, Lamas has been hit by a team-high 10 pitches in 36 games; his on-base percentage of .432 is boosted by his 21 free passes this season.

-          Hoogstraten has been far and away the team’s top pinch hitter in 2009: he’s 6-of-13 (.462) in pinch-hit appearances.

-          This has been a career season for the junior: despite starting 23 games entering 2009, Hoogstraten has only been penciled in to the starting lineup five times, but has career-highs in nearly every offensive category, including his 19 hits and 10 knocked in.

-          In his first season as a full-time position player, Naylor has produced a career-high .305 batting average, and is among the team leaders in steals (8) sacrifice hits (4) and hit-by-pitches (7).

-          Since returning from an injury that held him out of the lineup most of the season, Turner has seven of his first 13 hits; six of his season hits have been with runners in scoring position.

-          Taylor leads the Radford pitching staff with his seven quality starts (6 IP, 3 ER or fewer), including a streak of five in a row in Big South games between April 3-May 1 (3-0 record).

-          He leads Radford starters with a 4-2 record and 4.50 ERA in Big South games; Taylor averages six innings per conference start entering the tournament

-          In Big South games, opponents are hitting just .254 off of Pysh, who is in his first season as a weekend starter for Radford.

-          Of his 50 strikeouts this season, Pysh has 40 in Big South games.

-          In Patten’s record-setting freshman season, seven of his nine saves have come in Big South games. Patten is 7-for-8 in conference save opportunities.

-          His conference saves alone would have been good for second all-time in a single season, entering the conference tournament.