by Mark Simpson
Big South Conference
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – ESPNU, the 24-hour college sports network, will televise the Sunday, April 19 Winthrop at Radford softball game live from the Radford University Softball Field at 2:00pm ET, it was announced today. ESPNU is televising a regular-season Big South softball game for the third consecutive year, as the network aired ballgames in 2007 and 2008.
The Winthrop-Radford contest will feature the Big South’s preseason No. 1 and No. 2 squads. The Lady Eagles feature preseason Big South Player of the Year and 2008 All-American Lisa Kingsmore, and preseason Pitcher of the Year Megan Evans. The Highlanders are led by All-Conference catcher Sarah Himan and hurler Rebecca Whalley. Winthrop has won the last two Big South Softball Championships, while Radford – making its third appearance on ESPNU, is coming off a school-record 46 wins in 2008 – its third consecutive 40-win season.
The two teams met in the first-ever televised Big South softball game, May 6, 2007 on ESPNU from Winthrop’s Terry Field.
ABOUT ESPNU
ESPNU launched on March 4, 2005. The 24-hour college sports television network features more than 550 live events annually, including college football, college basketball and Olympic sports from more than 25 Division I conferences, as well as premier high school content. The network also has a wide-ranging, long-term agreement with the NCAA for enhanced coverage of 22 NCAA Championships.
ESPNU also offers comprehensive studio programming, including live simulcasts of ESPN Radio’s The Herd with Colin Cowherd, and replays the best games of the week from ABC, ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPN Regional Television. The brand is also available in high definition on ESPNU HD and online at ESPNU.com. In addition, ESPNU Campus Connection, a multi-platform student-generated content initiative, was introduced in August 2007.
ESPNU is available nationwide in more than 23 million households and has long-term carriage agreements with several top 10 providers, including Charter, Cox, DIRECTV (Channel 614), DISH Network (Channel 148), Insight Communications, Mediacom, Suddenlink, and Time Warner. ESPNU is also available on Verizon FIOS TV and AT&T U-verse.
ABOUT THE BIG SOUTH CONFERENCE
The Big South Conference is celebrating its 25th Anniversary in 2008-09, and since its founding in 1983, the Conference has matured into a competitive leader in college athletics, actively pursuing excellence on the field of play and in the classroom. Comprised of 10 member institutions throughout the Southeast, the Big South continues to be a national leader both on the field through its 18 championship sports while intentionally fostering the academic, personal, social, athletic and leadership development of each student-athlete. Charleston Southern University, Coastal Carolina University, Gardner-Webb University, High Point University, Liberty University, Presbyterian College, Radford University, UNC Asheville, Virginia Military Institute and Winthrop University comprise the membership of the Conference, which is based in Charlotte, N.C. The Big South is online at www.BigSouthSports.com.
