UPWARD TREND CONTINUES
After turning in a 29-26 overall record in 2010, Radford is the only Big South program to show an upward trend in wins over the last five seasons. Three of those seasons have featured 24 or more wins, including just the third campaign of 29 or more victories (1993, 1995, 2010).
LATE-SEASON SURGE
After being as many as four games below the .500 mark in the first month of the season, Radford went 16-10 from April 13 onward and 11-6 in its last 17 Big South games, dating back to the beginning of the High Point series (April 16). The Highlanders made their most noise in the Big South standings on the road, going 8-4 in road games from April 16 on. Radford’s third-place Big South finish was its first since 2000.
CHALLENGING CALENDAR
In their 53 regular season games, the Highlanders played 13 against teams that advanced to NCAA Regional play, 25 percent of their regular season schedule. Of their 27 non-conference games, 11 were against Regional teams. Radford put together a three-game sweep over Rider (Austin Regional) and a single win over Bucknell (Columbia, S.C. Regional).
HAND-IN-HAND
Radford posted the third season with a team batting average better than .300 and an ERA lower than 6.00 in 2010 (.302 avg., 5.89 ERA). Historically, wins and numbers go hand in hand – the only other times that the Highlanders achieved those marks were in 1993 (29 wins) and 1995 (30 wins).
RECORD-SETTING SEASON
The Highlanders topped or matched the following team/individual records in 2010:
Career stolen bases – Tyren Rivers, 69
Season stolen bases – Rivers, 33; Reggie Keen, 31
Season at-bats – Rivers, 243
Season appearances – Brad Wimmer, 33
Team double plays (tie) – 59
Team stolen bases – 143
Game stolen bases (tie) – Keen, 4 (at North Carolina A&T, March 17)
Rivers, 4 (Longwood, April 14)
Game walks (tie) – Brett Mollenhauer, 4 (at VMI, May 1)
Game triples (tie) – Matt Hillsinger, 2 (vs. UNC Asheville, March 19, 20)
Matt Mack, 2 (at Marshall, May 18)
RUNNING WILD
Radford shattered the school’s single-season team record for stolen bases in 2010, swiping 143 on 174 tries. The previous best was 112 in 1994, and 2010’s total was just the third time that the Highlanders have reached the century mark as a team. Three of 2010’s individual performances rank among the top 10 in a single season at Radford – Tyren Rivers with 33 (single-season record holder), Reggie Keen with 31 (No. 2, first to 30 in school history) and Raphael Turner with 22 (T-No. 5). Two other players, Matt Hillsinger (15) and Matt Mack (12), joined that trio with double-figure steals.
STALWART STARTERS
Radford’s Friday-Saturday starting pitchers, Aerik Taylor and Eddie Butler, became just the second tandem of Highlander pitchers to work 85 or more innings in a season while making 14 or more starts. Both Taylor and Butler won six games.
CONTROL FREAKS
Radford’s pitching staff is 38th in the nation in fewest walks per nine innings, with 3.15. Individually, Bobby Bolling heads the staff with 1.48 walks per nine innings, 23rd fewest in the land. Bolling, Abram Williams and Brad Wimmer, three of Radford’s six most-used arms, each walked fewer than 14 batters in 2010.
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PLAYER NOTES
RAPHAEL TURNER
Turner was the triple crown winner for the Highlanders in 2010, batting .363 with 10 homers and 51 RBIs … He was one of 14 Radford players to hit 10 or more homers in a season and one of 11 to drive in 51 or more runs … Turner finished his career on a seven-game hitting streak – he also had 15 and 13 game streaks to his credit in 2010, along with a stretch of 36 consecutive games in which he reached safely (March 9-May 9).
REGGIE KEEN
A second team all-conference performer, Keen finished the season hitting .353, second on the team and the second-best season of his career (.384, 2008) – his career .354 average is the fourth-best in school history … Keen, named Big South Player of the Week on April 26, hit six homers, 49 RBIs and 31 stolen bases – all career-highs – and was the first player in Radford program history to steal 30 bases in a season.
MATT HILLSINGER
First Team All-Big South, Hillsinger’s first all-conference honor … Went from hitting .276 while starting in 18 games in 2009, to batting .348 in 48 starts … One of five Radford players to steal 10 or more bases … Opened Big South play with a bang, posting back-to-back three hit games with four triples against UNC Asheville (March 19-20), and drove home the winning run with a ninth-inning walk-off triple in the first game of the series ... his back-to-back games with two triples tied a school record for triples in a game.
TYREN RIVERS
Rivers finished his career with 69 stolen bases, a new Radford career record, and his 33 in a single season in 2010 top the school’s season list … One of two players to start in all 55 games … Upped his batting average from .256 in 2009 to .309 in 2010 while driving in 40 runs for the first time … Topped the school standard of 225 at-bats in a season, a record he set in 2008 … Led the Highlanders with 24 multi-hit games.
MATT MACK
Was an everyday player for the first time in his career in 2010, playing at third base … Started in 48 games before suffering a season-ending injury in the Coastal Carolina series … Second on the team with eight homers and a .552 slugging percentage (24 extra-base hits), and was one of five Radford players with 10 or more stolen bases … When Mack was batting in the heart of the order (4 or 5 spot), the Highlanders were 17-8.
ALEX GUERRA
Played in his first full season for the Highlanders after transferring from Division III Greensboro … One of seven regulars to hit over .300, while playing in the third-most games on the team (53) … Knocked in the go-ahead runs in the eighth or ninth innings of four Big South games … Had a memorable appearance on national television, hitting a go-ahead grand slam to lift the Highlanders to a win at Winthrop (April 23) on ESPNU … Almost single-handedly lifted Radford past Coastal Carolina in the regular season finale, driving in five of the six Highlander runs.
BRETT MOLLENHAUER
One of two players to start in all 55 games for Radford, transitioning from second base to shortstop … Topped his batting average from his freshman season (.306) and finished at .330 … Thrived in the No. 9 spot in the order for the Highlanders, helping Radford to a 22-13 record when he hit last … Tied a school record when he drew four walks in the second game of the series at VMI (May 1).
ANDREW COOK
Compiled a career offensive year (.262-6 HR-20 RBI), playing a significant number of games for the first time in his four years … Only started in 15 career games his first three seasons before starting in 28 in 2010.
ROBERT LAMAS
Logged a significant number of innings behind the plate, starting in 42 games … Started behind the plate in 18 consecutive games (March 30-April 25) … Career-highs in at-bats (141) and RBIs (20).
AERIK TAYLOR
Finished his collegiate career with a 6-1 senior year in 15 starts, just two shy of tying the school single-season mark … One of two Radford starters to win six games … Made eight quality starts, including the first complete game for a Radford pitcher in more than two years when he went the distance in the series opener against VMI (April 30) … Had 15 quality starts in his two seasons at Radford.
EDDIE BUTLER
Named Big South Pitcher of the Week on May 10, after tossing a five-hitter in the second game of the Presbyterian series … Won four of the first five starts of his collegiate career … Had seven quality starts … Finished the season with 65 strikeouts, 10th in a single season in school history.
BOBBY BOLLING
Worked as a Sunday starter in his first season with the Highlanders … Among the nation’s leaders in fewest walks per nine innings all year … Made three quality starts … Both of his wins came in Big South action (Charleston Southern – April 3; Winthrop – April 25)
ABRAM WILLIAMS
Among the school’s career leaders in ERA at the close of the season … Made a career-high 24 appearances, all in late-inning relief … Led the Radford pitching staff in opponents’ batting average at .252 … Had the team’s best hits-innings pitched ratio (allowed 41 hits in 44 2/3 innings).
BRAD WIMMER
Set a school record for appearances in his first season with the Highlanders, becoming the first pitcher in school history to appear more than 30 times in a season … Had a 4-to-1 strikeout to walk ratio, tops on the pitching staff.