Marty Gordon
NRVsports@mainstreetnewspapers.com
ESPNU will televise the Sunday, April 12 Radford at High Point baseball game at 3 p.m. from Coy O. Williard Stadium in High Point, N.C., the conference has announced.
The broadcast will be the final game of the three-game conference series between the squads, as well as mark the Big South’s 21st all-time baseball appearance on the network. Head coach Alex Guerra, who played two seasons at Radford from 2010-11, begins his fourth year leading the program, and received the NCAA’s Award of Valor in January.
RU 4X40 top finish
The Radford University women’s indoor track and field stood out at the Doc Hale Invitational in the Rector Field House at Virginia Tech.
For the second straight week, the Radford women’s 4×400 meter relay squad of Hamrick, Jackson, Mattie Flores, and Raichelle Cornelius broke the school record. The time of 3:40.20 was four seconds faster than the previous record set two weeks ago in Blacksburg and was the second fastest in Big South history. The relay team ran away from the competition, taking first place.
RU hurler Baseball.com top prospect
Radford University sophomore pitcher Raymond Ladd was recently selected as the top Big South MLB Prospect for the 2026 draft.
At 6-foot-6 and 240 pounds, Ladd is an imposing figure on the mound and has the repertoire to match, featuring a fastball up to 95 mph and a devastating slider in the low 80s that brings a lot of air from opposing bats.
Ladd was limited to three appearances last season before going down with an injury but will be 100 percent heading into the spring. He posted an 0-1 record to go along with a 4.85 ERA and struck out 17 in 13 innings thrown last season.
His freshman year saw Ladd make 14 appearances, including seven starts, and post a 3-4 record to go along with an 8.40 ERA and 46 strikeouts in 45 innings thrown.
Ladd spent the 2024 summer in Danville as a member of the Otterbots where he posted a 1-0 record and 3.00 ERA and struck out 42 batters in 30 innings pitched.
Hokie signs soccer contract
Virginia Tech’s Sam Joseph has signed with Portland Timbers2, as announced by the team last week.
Joseph, who went undrafted in the MLS SuperDraft 2026, earned his first MLS NEXT Pro contract after being invited by the Timbers as a trialist for their 2026 preseason.
During his time in Blacksburg, Joseph made 16 appearances for a 7-4-5 and recorded seven shutouts in goal, one shy of matching the school record for shutouts in a season. The senior finished the 2025 slate with 46 saves and tallied a career-high 10 blocks at Clemson (Oct. 31).
Roberston preseason honors
Turning down professional baseball last summer to rise the collegiate ranks into the ACC, Virginia Tech junior pitcher Aiden Robertson has been named to the 2026 National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Division I Preseason All-America Fourth Team, as announced by the organization on Friday.
Despite having yet to make his NCAA Division I debut, Robertson demonstrated coveted potential during his sophomore season (2025) at Walters State Community College, where he went 13-1 with a 4.12 ERA, recording 130 strikeouts through 89 and two-thirds innings pitched. During the 2025 MLB Draft, Robertson was selected during the 13th round by the Texas Rangers at No. 385 overall – above Virginia Tech’s entire 2025 draft class – though declined to sign in favor of continuing his collegiate career with the Hokies in the ever-competitive ACC.
A native of Manchester, Tennessee, by way of Coffee County High School, Robertson cultivated a winning mentality during his two seasons at Walters State, where the Senators sported a 103-22-1 record spanning the 2024 and 2025 campaigns.
Gray joins Glasgow City
Virginia Tech alum Emily Gray signed a deal with Glasgow City FC on Saturday, Jan. 31, running until the summer of 2027.
Gray, one of the most prolific players in Hokie history, joins the Scottish club from Utah Royals FC in the NWSL after being on loan for two seasons.
Gray spent time in Denmark with Odense Boldklub Q and in Sweden with Piteå IF while on loan from Utah. During her time in Sweden, she made 24 appearances, scoring six goals and recording five assists.
She made her first appearance for Glasgow City on Sunday, Feb. 8, against Celtic Football Club in a 1-1 draw.
Gray joins fellow Hokie alum, Nicole Kozlova, at Glasgow City, who has been with the club since July 2024 on a two-year contract. Kozlova has appeared in 16 league games this season. She has scored eight goals in league play and 15 goals in all competitions, along with eight assists. She is the team’s top scorer in both seasons with the club thus far.
Gray sits second in the Virginia Tech record book for points (78) and tied for fourth in goals (27). During her senior season, she led the team in points with 32, scoring 12 goals and 8 assists, upping her goal mark from her junior year by three.
Wingate golfer to Tech
Virginia Tech women’s golf head coach Carol Robertson has announced the signing of Olivia Meinecke. She will join the Hokies for the 2026-27 season.
The Bielefeld, Germany sophomore had a great a Freshman season (2024-2025) at Wingate where she was All-South Atlantic Conference second team choice and played 35 rounds with a 74.2 average, scoring average was third on Wingate team charts. She tied for seventh in SAC championship with a three-over-par 147.
In her sophomore season (2025-26), she had three top-five finish, four top-10s and four top-20 finishes and played 12 rounds with a 72.2 average in four tournaments this season.
