CHARLESTON, S.C. - Charleston Southern starts its six-game road trip to close out the 2021 regular season as the Buccaneers head to Sherman Carter Memorial Stadium on the campus of Radford University for a three-game series this weekend. First pitch in Friday night's opener is set for 6 p.m., while Saturday's doubleheader is projected to start at 1 p.m. All three games will be carried live via ESPN+.

Radford University Restricted Attendance Policy

Game One – Friday, May 14, 2021
Charleston Southern at Radford
6 p.m. * Radford, Va. * Sherman Carter Memorial Stadium * Live Stats * ESPN+
Projected Starters: CSU RHP R.J. Petit (5-4, 2.33 ERA) vs. RAD TBA

Game Two – Saturday, May 15, 2021
Charleston Southern at Radford
1 p.m. * Radford, Va. * Sherman Carter Memorial Stadium * Live Stats * ESPN+
Projected Starters: CSU TBA vs. RAD TBA

Game Three – Saturday, May 15, 2021
Charleston Southern at Radford
40 minutes after conclusion of game two * Radford, Va. * Sherman Carter Memorial Stadium * Live Stats * ESPN+
Projected Starters: CSU RHP Daniel Padysak (3-4, 4.56 ERA) vs. RAD TBA

CHSO Baseball Game Notes - at Radford*

Back On the Road
The road has not been kind to the Buccaneers this season, but CSU will look to break the trend as they close out the final two weeks of the season away from Nielsen Field at the CSU Ballpark. The Bucs are 5-10 overall in true road games this season and have lost five of their last six on the road dating back to the Campbell series on April 9-10.

CSU opened the road portion of the 2021 season on a positive note taking a midweek contest from Presbyterian and two of three from Gardner-Webb early in the year. However, the Bucs fell in four straight against Winthrop and PC to fall below .500 on road trips this season. Heading into April, the Bucs took the opening contest in the Campbell series, but fell in the Saturday doubleheader to the Camels at Jim Perry Stadium. Following a midweek loss to then-No. 11 South Carolina, the Bucs fell in two of three at UNC Asheville.

CSU faces off against a Radford team that has struggled to defend its home turf this season with the Highlanders sitting just 12-10 overall at home this season and have lost four of their last five home games dating back to April 23.

Bucs in Big South Play
Charleston Southern enters the final stretch of the season with a 15-19 mark in Big South play on the year following last night's win over Presbyterian. The Buccaneers currently sit 0.5 games back of Presbyterian (13-15) for the final spot in the 2021 Ingles Baseball Championship.

CSU's win last night sparked the Bucs' offense at a much-needed time as the Buccaneers were bouncing back after falling in seven of their last eight contests. The Bucs have added conference series wins over two of the top three teams in the standings taking two of three in their first matchup against Gardner-Webb, while adding two of three wins against USC Upstate over April 16-17.

CSU travels to Radford (13-17) for a three-game series this weekend, before closing out the year with a three-game series at Longwood (9-20) with a berth in the four-team conference championships potentially on the line.

Big South 40-Flex-10
The Big South Conference announced prior to the start of the season that the schedule would be a "40-flex-10" model this season featuring 40 conference games, while allowing for up to 10 nonconference contests on the year. The Bucs only play single series against High Point, USC Upstate, Campbell, and Radford this season, while matching up against the other conference foes multiple times on the year.

Big South Postseason Implications
The top three spots at the 2021 Ingles Big South Baseball Championships are likely secured as USC Upstate (25-9), Gardner-Webb (22-9), and Gardner-Webb (22-11) are likely to advance to the four-team postseason championships. Less sure is the fourth seed with potentially up to four teams still in the mix for the final spot at the tournament that will be held at SEGRA Stadium in Fayetteville, N.C. for the second time in the last three seasons.

Presbyterian (13-15) is currently in the driver's seat with the Blue Hose sitting 0.5 games ahead of CSU (15-19). The Blue Hose finish up the year with six more games on the road heading to a three-game series at High Point (12-19) on May 14-15, and a series at Winthrop (12-18) on May 21-22.

CSU travels to Radford (13-17) for a three-game series this weekend, before closing out the year with a three-game series at Longwood (9-20) with a berth in the four-team conference championships potentially on the line.

Radford is also in the mix for the final postseason spot welcoming CSU this weekend for a three-game series before traveling to Gardner-Webb on May 20-21.

UNC Asheville (14-20) has arguably the toughest stretch of the four teams with the Bulldogs hosting USC Upstate three more times, while traveling to Gardner-Webb over the final two weeks of the season. Asheville travels to Gardner-Webb for a three-game series this weekend. They return home to host USC Upstate for a final three-game series on May 20-21.

Recapping Last Night
It took an 1:28 weather delay, but the time off worked in Charleston Southern's favor as the Buccaneers utilized a late ninth inning rally capped by Tyrell Brewer's walk-off two-run double to top visiting Presbyterian College on Tuesday night, 9-8.
CSU trailed 8-7 heading into the bottom of the ninth with the Bucs looking to battle back in a key Big South midweek contest at Nielsen Field at CSU Ballpark. With lightning hitting within an eight-mile radius of the ballpark the contest went into a delay at 7:13 p.m.

Play resumed at 8:41 p.m. on the field with CSU's Johnny Oliveira facing off against Presbyterian reliever Clark Dearman. Oliveira reached base for the fifth time in the contest on a PC error to put the Bucs on the base paths. Derek Horton drew a walk to put two runners on base, while Reid Hardwick sacrificed both runners into scoring position.

Connor Aldrich followed and drew a walk to load the bases bringing up Brewer to the plate. The freshman centerfielder drew a 1-1 count from Dearman before connecting on a line drive over the PC centerfielder allowing both Oliveira and Horton to cross the plate and igniting a Buccaneer celebration in shallow left field to close out the contest.

R.J. Petit worked a perfect ninth inning in his first relief appearance of the 2021 season as the Buccaneers utilized a season-high 10 different pitchers on the mound in the win. John Sendziak, Bradyn Kail, Hunter McIntosh, Jack Dungan, and Petit all posted scoreless outings on the day, while Kyle Sandstrom worked the first two innings in his second start of the season.

Last Time Against Radford
You have to go back to the 2019 season for the last matchup between the Buccaneers and the Highlanders as the teams faced off five times over the course of the season with two coming in the postseason.

The Highlanders swept the series in Charleston on March 22-24, but CSU had a measure of revenge in the Big South tournament with an 8-3 win to send Radford to the loser's bracket. However, the Highlanders had the last laugh as Radford defeated the Bucs in an elimination game at SEGRA Stadium to knock the Bucs out of the postseason.

CSU's last win over the Highlanders was one for the ages as the Buccaneers utilized a five-run rally in the top of the 13th inning to down Radford in the Big South Tournament. Facing a 2-0 deficit in the ninth inning, Charleston Southern rallied for a pair of two-out runs to force extra innings before prevailing 8-3 in 13 frames over No. 2 seed Radford.

Then-freshman R.J. Petit hurled five innings in relief in the Bucs' win, while CSU put together a five-run rally in the top of the 13th highlighted by a rare Reid Hardwick safety squeeze bunt to secure the postseason win.

All-Time Against the Highlanders
Radford holds the all-time 50-40 edge in the series history between the two teams dating back to the 1985 season when CSU won the inaugural matchup, 15-1. It has been a nearly even split between the two programs with Radford holding the 24-18 edge in games in Charleston, while the Highlanders hold the 20-18 advantage on games at Radford. In Big South play, Radford is 48-38 all-time against the Buccaneers.

The last 10 matchups have reflected this almost even split with CSU winning four of the first five contests, including season sweep over the Highlanders in 2017. The last six contests have featured five Radford wins, including the 2019 sweep over the Buccaneers at Nielsen Field.

CSU and Radford have also split the last four series up in Virginia with the Bucs winning the series in 2010 and 2013, while Radford took the series in 2015 and 2018.

About Radford
The Highlanders enter the weekend as one of four teams still in the hunt for the final position for the 2021 Ingles Big South Baseball Championships. Radford sports a 19-21 overall record and 13-17 mark in Big South play.

Radford opened the year with a series win over Ohio and a pair of wins over Villanova before diving into Big South play. In conference action, the Highlanders recorded a series sweep over High Point and a series wins over Winthrop to highlight their Big South schedule this year.

Radford was picked to finish fourth overall in the conference's preseason poll as voted on at the beginning of the season by the Big South's head coaches. The Highlanders received 73 total points overall with the roster highlighted by the return of Big South Player of the Year nominee Straton Podaras.

Podaras has lived up to the billing this year with a .290 batting average to sit second on the team. He's added nine extra-base hits and 23 RBI, while scoring 27 runs. Junior infielder David Bryant has been the team leader in multiple offensive categories on the season with a team-high .341 batting average with seven home runs, three triples, and 29 RBI. Garrett Matheny has added 12 doubles and 28 RBI on the year, while Sean Cheely has 11 doubles and 12 stolen bases.

Pitching-wise, Greg Duncan has been the ace of the staff with a 5-2 overall record and a 3.90 ERA to go with a 51:21 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Ryan Bywaters (2-5, 5.17 ERA) also has 11 starts on the season, while Vinnie Venturi has started eight games in 2021. Alex Perkins is the Highlanders' primary reliever with 16 appearances and six saves over 33.0 innings on the mound.

Among the Big South Leaders
Charleston Southern has several players dotting the top-10 in the Big South this season in individual categories.

• Triples – Dylan Stewart (4, T-1st), Johnny Oliveira (3, T-5th)
• Home Runs – Andrew Bullock (6, T-10th)
• Walks – Tyrell Brewer (26, T-7th)
• Hit by Pitch – Houston Parker (13, T-2nd), Reid Hardwick (10, 9th)
• Sacrifice Bunts – Reid Hardwick (6, T-5th)
• Stolen Bases – Kyle Sandstrom (12, T-3rd)
• ERA – R.J. Petit (2.33, 2nd)
• Opposing Batting Average – R.J. Petit (.219, 2nd)
• Innings Pitched – R.J. Petit (73.1, 2nd)
• Batters Struck Out – R.J. Petit (68, 4th)
• Wins – R.J. Petit (5, T-3rd)
• Appearances – Bradyn Kail (18, T-3rd), Jordan Bridges (17, T-7th)

Among the NCAA Leaders
Charleston Southern has multiple players ranked among the top-100 in the NCAA this season in individual categories.

• ERA – R.J. Petit (2.33, 57th)
• Hit by Pitch Per Game – Houston Parker (0.34, 46th)
• Hit by Pitch – Houston Parker (13, 37th)
• Sacrifice Bunts – Reid Hardwick (6, 61st)
• Sacrifice Bunts Per Game – Reid Hardwick (0.16, 88th)
• Triples – Dylan Stewart (4, 16th), Johnny Oliveira (3, 62nd)
• Triples Per Game – Dylan Stewart (0.12, 19th), Johnny Oliveira (0.09, 75th)

Record Book Watch
The Buccaneers have several players climbing the all-time record books at CSU heading into the final two weeks of the season. All records are according to current CSU records with archives still being added.

Career

• Triples – Alex Andronica (5, T-8th), Dylan Stewart (4, T-11th), Johnny Oliveira (3, T-16th), Kyle Sandstrom (3, T-16th)
• Stolen Bases – Kyle Sandstrom (21, 20th), Alex Andronica (17, T-24th)
• Hit By Pitch – Reid Hardwick (17, 12th), Houston Parker (13, T-17th)
• Games Played – Alex Andronica (169, 18th)
• Wins – R.J. Petit (9, T-19th)
• ERA – R.J. Petit (2.35, 2nd)
• Strikeouts – R.J. Petit (119, 25th)
• Saves – R.J. Petit (5, 11th)
• Putouts – Christian Maggio (626, 10th), Brooks Bryan (351, 24th)
• Assists – Reid Hardwick (224, 14th)

Single Season

• Triples – Dylan Stewart (4, T-3rd), Johnny Oliveira (3, T-16th)
• Hit By Pitch – Houston Parker (13, T-8th)
• On-Base Percentage – Tyrell Brewer (.430, T-11th)
• ERA – R.J. Petit (2.33, 4th)
• Shutouts – R.J. Petit (1, T-4th)
• Opposing Batting Average – R.J. Petit (.219, 5th)

Coming Up on the Schedule
Charleston Southern dives into Big South play as CSU is scheduled to remain in conference competition throughout the remainder of the 2021 spring season.

Final Series

• May 20-21 at Longwood
• May 27-29 at Big South Championships

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