Friday’s doubleheader with Radford to start at noon

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (March 16, 2017) – After being on the road four of the first five weekends of the season, the ETSU softball team returns to Betty Basler Field to host Radford and Tennessee Tech in a pair of weekend doubleheaders. 

The Bucs take on Radford in a pair of games Friday afternoon at 12 p.m., while playing two with Tennessee State starting at 1 p.m. on Saturday. Please note, due to rain expected to hit the area on Friday evening, the start time for the Radford doubleheader has been moved up to a noon start.  

ABOUT THE BUCS

ETSU dropped four games at last weekend’s Owl Challenge and enter the weekend at 8-14 overall. 

Tiffany Laughren (Erwin, Tenn.) and Cassi Pickett (Chattanooga, Tenn.) have both it safely in their last five games, while Mykeah Johnson (Cohutta, Ga.) has reached base in her last six contests. Pickett is hitting .667 (8-for-12) with two doubles, four walks and seven RBI during this streak, while Laugren is 8-for-18 with two doubles, one home run, five runs and four RBI in her last five games. Johnson – who has belted two home runs in her last four games – is hitting .450 (9-for-20) with two home runs, four walks, three RBI and eight runs in her last six games. 

Laughren leads the team in average (.426), hits (29), doubles (9), and on-base percentage (.481), while the Buccaneer sophomore outfielder ranks 22^nd nationally in doubles … Laughren leads the Southern Conference in doubles, ranks second in batting average and on-base percentage, and third in hits. 

Senior Taylor Carter (Brazil, Ind.) ranks 50^th nationally with six home runs, while she’s one RBI shy of 100 for her career. Carter is tied for the SoCon lead in home runs, while she ranks second in slugging percentage (.708) and RBI (21). Fellow senior Danielle Knoetze (San Diego, Calif.) registered her 100^th career hit in her 100^th career start last Friday against Tennessee Tech. 

Junior pitcher Madison Ogle (Maryville, Tenn.) – who is eight strikeouts away from career No. 100 – ranks 17^th nationally with two saves. Senior right-hander Sharlene Godoy (La Puente, Calif.) is tied for the SoCon lead in games in relief (8), ranks second in fewest walks allowed (8), third in fewest earned runs allowed (12), and seventh in ERA (3.11). 

Twelve of the Bucs’ 22 games have been decided by two runs or less; however, ETSU is 3-9 in those contests. Five of ETSU’s last six games have been decided by two runs or less. 

ABOUT RADFORD

Radford (9-8) had its three-game win streak snapped as the Highlanders last back-to-back games at Morehead State last weekend. 

The Highlanders are led by Kayla Bishton, Brittany Wratchford and Marissa Gagliano … Bishton, a senior first baseman, leads the team in batting average (.340) and is tied for the team lead in hits (16), while Wratchford, a senior infielder, its hitting .333 (13-for-39) with four doubles, thee home runs and 11 RBI … Gagliano, a red-shirt sophomore shortstop, is 16-for-51 (.314) with one double, one triple and 13 runs scored, while also being 14-of-17 in stolen bases. 

Senior right-hander Abby Morrow leads Radford in the circle with an 8-4 record and 2.83 ERA (29 ER/71.2 IP). 

Sixteen of the Highlanders’ first 17 games have been on the road. 

A year ago, Radford won 35 games and advanced to the Big South semifinals … The Highlanders return seven starters from that squad and were picked to finish fifth in the preseason conference coaches poll. 

ETSU and Radford split a doubleheader last year in Radford, while the Highlanders lead the all-time series, 17-9. 

ABOUT TENNESSEE TECH

Tennessee Tech won three straight last weekend at the Owl Challenge en route to improving to 7-15 on the season. 

The Golden Eagles defeated the Bucs twice, while rallying past Michigan State, 10-8, on a walk-off grand slam by Callen Griffin. 

Senior infielder Gabby Perez leads Tennessee Tech at the plate as she’s hitting .316 (12-for-38), while sophomore infielder Hallie Davis paces the Golden Eagles in hits (18), runs (15), home runs (6) and RBI (14). 

In the circle, sophomore Leigh Ellen Thomas holds the team lead in wins (3), while senior Danielle Liberatore has 70 strikeouts in 59 innings of work. 

Following the two wins over ETSU last weekend, Tennessee Tech leads the all-time series, 18-6. 

COVERAGE

Live Stats will be provided for all four games this weekend via StatBroadcast. To access live stats, please visit BucsStats.com. 

Twitter updates will also be available by following @ETSUSoftball. 

For more information on Buccaneer softball, visit ETSUBucs.com and click on the softball page.