The beginning of a new year means a new season as the 2017 Big South Champions will look to build off its second championship in the last three years as Radford University was selected to finish fourth in the 2018 Big South Conference Coaches’ Preseason Poll, announced by the league on Thursday.
Radford received 76 points in the voting by the league’s head coaches, including one first-place vote. The Highlanders finished one point behind third place High Point and five points behind second place Liberty.
The Highlanders’ ballot results were as follows: two second-place, two third-place, three fourth-place, one fifth-place and one sixth-place.
“Preseason polls are what they are. We have been fortunate to go to two NCAA tournaments in the past three seasons and we will continue to work to reach another championship,” said head coach Joe Raccuia.
Winthrop is the favorite to win the league after receiving six first-place votes and 95 points overall. The Eagles claimed the regular season title a season ago. Rounding out the top five, Campbell came in at fifth with 55 points, 21 points by the Highlanders in fourth.
Liberty’s D.J. Artis was named the Big South’s Preseason Player of the Year after earning the player of the year award in 2017. The junior was named to three All-American teams a season ago, claimed eight first-place votes for 25 points. Right-handed Winthrop pitcher Nate Pawelczyk was selected as the league’s Preseason Pitcher of the Year as Radford’s Zack Ridgely, the 2017 award winner, will miss the 2018 season after undergoing Tommy John in the offseason. Pawelczyk picked up seven first-place votes for 26 points.
Radford’s 2018 squad is highlighted by All-Big South honorees Spencer Horwitz and Kyle Butler as the Highlanders return seven starters from a season ago, including 26 letterwinners from the 2017 NCAA Regional squad. Horwitz led the Highlanders with a .317 average; finishing with 63 hits, 34 RBIs and eight home runs to earn Collegiate Baseball Freshman All-American honors. Butler followed with a .314 average with a team best 69 hits, 47 runs and 12 doubles.
On the mound, Ryan Sande will step into the Friday night role in place of Ridgely as the junior compiled a 3.97 ERA in 11 starts during the 2017 season. Austin Gerber and Evan Threehouse look to build off stellar freshman campaigns as the duo combined for a 6-4 record and two saves. Threehouse recorded a 3.44 ERA, holding opposing bats to a .230 clip. Gerber yielded only nine walks in 50.2 innings, finishing with a 3.55 ERA and a .238 opposing batting average.
Radford opens the 2018 season on Feb. 16 with a three-game series at North Florida for the second consecutive season. The Highlanders will play their first 13 games away from Carter Memorial, returning home on March 9 for an eight-game homestand against Youngstown State, Manhattan and UNC Asheville.
–RU Athletics