Adam Mills will start Sunday against Radford. |
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Baseball Game Notes versus Radford
Feb. 17, 2007
Charlotte, N.C. -
Road Warriors
Charlotte will play its first 25 games away from home in some form or fashion. With construction ongoing at Robert and Mariam Hayes Stadium, the Niners will play the first 14 "home games" off campus. Charlotte is scheduled to play on campus March 30 in the conference home opening series against Massachusetts. Today's game takes place at one of the Niners' four "home" fields this season, Joseph S. Ferebee Field at Pfeiffer University, home of the Falcons since 1974.
The Teams
Charlotte finished 35-20-1 last year (tied for third-most wins in program history), leading the Atlantic 10 in 10 of 13 offensive categories. The pitching staff was tops in four categories, while second only in two others. Charlotte's pitching staff finished the season 19th in the NCAA in ERA, and the offense was 22nd in runs scored. Charlotte returns one weekend starter, and eight of the nine batters from the starting lineup. Radford is coming off a 7-41 campaign in 2006, preceded by a 15-40 mark in 2005.
The Series
Charlotte has a 0-2 record against Radford all-time, going back to just a pair of games played in 1995.
Starters
Adam Mills hets the start for Charlotte. The senior right-hander is 1-0 with a 2.08 ERA in two starts. Radford will start Eric Evans. The junior took the loss in his only start (0-1) and has an ERA of 14.54 after giving up seven earned runs in 4.1 innings of work against Savannah State.
Enough Bagels for a Sandwich Shop
Charlotte has thrown 23 straight shutout innings, going back to the sixth inning of game three of the season. Five pitchers currently have an active inning or more of scoreless work in the books, including 10.2 by Spencer Steedley. The Niners have not shut out consecutive opponents since a four-game streak in 1990. The Niners also had a three-game scoreless games streak in 1988. This marks the first time in Loren Hibbs' head coaching career that his team has not allowed a run in consecutive contests. On the flip side, Charlotte has not been shutout since April 8, 2005 versus Tulane, an 85-game streak.
National Player of the Week
The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) released the first Pro-Line Cap National Player of the Week awards of the season Charlotte senior lefthander Spencer Steedley was named National Pitcher of the Week for his complete-game shutout at Campbell last Saturday. Steedley allowed seven singles but no walks, and struck out a career-high 13 batters.
The Trouble with Triples
Charlotte was aggressive on the basepaths Thursday, pounding out three triples in the game. Charlotte has 21 extra-base hits this season, including 12 doubles, four triples and five home runs. Niners pitching has only allowed a pair of extra base hits, both doubles. Charlotte has a slugging percentage of .503 as a team (five players over .600 sa far), while allowing .239 to opponents this season.
Rally With Two
With the score 5-0 Charlotte in the second Campbell contest, the Niners plated all of their runs with two outs in each inning in which they scored. This season, Charlotte is batting .318 (21-for-66) as a team with two outs, and Charlotte is outscoring opponents 17-2 in two-out at-bats.
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