Georgia Southern Continues Homestand Against #16 Georgia Tech

Game Notes

GAME INFORMATION
Dates: Tues.-Wed., Feb. 26-27
Times: 7 p.m., 6 p.m.
Site: Statesboro, Ga./J.I. Clements Stadium (3,000)
TV/Video Stream: gseagles.com/watch-listen
Play-by-Play: Ryan Chambers; Analyst: Kris Draper
Baseball Radio Network: gseagles.com/watch-listen
103.7 FM - WBMX - Metter/Statesboro
900 AM - WJLG - Savannah
1370 AM - WLOP - Jesup
Play-by-Play: Ryan Chambers; Analyst: Kris Draper
Live Stats: gseagles.com
Twitter Updates: @GSAthletics / @GSScores
Series: Georgia Tech leads, 29-91 (120 games)
Statesboro: Georgia Tech leads, 35-10
Atlanta: Georgia Tech leads, 42-13
Neutral Site: N/A
Unknown: Georgia Tech leads, 14-6  
First Meeting: 5/6/47 - L, 7-8
Last Meeting: 3/28/12 - L, 5-10
Last Ga. Southern Series Win: 2/10-11/07, 2 Wins
Last Georgia Tech Series Win: 3/15-16/11, 2 Wins
Streak: Georgia Tech, 1 Win

STORY LINES
Georgia Southern (4-2, 0-0 SoCon) continues a seven-game homestand with two mid-week games against Georgia Tech (6-1, 0-0 ACC). The Eagles will face Georgia Tech Tuesday and Wednesday with the first game set to start at 7 p.m. and the second at 6 p.m.

Tuesday night will be Nerd Night and Wednesday will be Greek Night. Both games will be streamed for free at gseagles.com/watch-listen and can be heard on the Georgia Southern Radio Network.

Georgia Southern will send RHP Justin Hess (0-1, 8.53) to the mound Tuesday and LHP Evan Challenger (0-0, 3.00) Wednesday. The Yellow Jackets will counter with RHP Josh Heddinger (1-0, 6.00) on Tuesday and TBA Wednesday.

Student tickets must be picked up by 3 p.m. on Tuesday at the Georgia Southern Athletic Ticket Office.

Georgia Tech maintains a 91-29 lead in the all-time series.

T.D. Davis has reached base in 18 contests after going six for 12 with seven RBI and two home runs last week.

Davis capped off three consecutive home runs, the first time the Eagles have done so since 2008, in the sixth inning of the game one win over Indiana.

Davis has hit three home runs in the six games the Eagles have played. It took him 19 games to reach three dingers a year ago.

Davis and former Evans high school teammate Ben Morgan have combined for 21 of the team’s 60 hits and five of the team’s six home runs.

Reliever Chris Myers has appeared in every game this season and leads the conference in pitching appearances.

Georgia Southern has tallied 22 extra-base hits, seven more than this time a year ago, through six games. The Eagles have 15 doubles, a triple and six home runs. Ben Morgan has four of those extra-base hits. A year ago after six games, he had none.

After starting off the year two-for-17, Chase Griffin recorded five hits in nine at-bats (.556) in the two-game Indiana series.

Georgia Southern has 23 players from the state of Georgia, which accounts for over 70 percent of the team’s roster.

WATCH & LISTEN  
All Georgia Southern home games will be video streamed on gseagles.com/watch-listen for free. The stream will carry the Georgia Southern Radio Network’s feed with long-time play-by-play voice Ryan Chambers and color commentator Kris Draper on the call.
The Radio Network will also air the entire baseball schedule on 103.7 FM in Metter/Statesboro, 900 AM in Savannah and 1370 AM in Jesup.

WEEKEND RECAP  
Georgia Southern split a two-game weather shortened series with Indiana on Sunday. The series opener against the Hoosiers was delayed two days due to fog and then rain.

Chase Griffin led the offense in the series with five hits in nine at-bats (.556) and drove in four runs.

Ben Morgan, Griffin and T.D. Davis all homered on consecutive at-bats, the first time three Eagles  have accomplished that feat since 2008.

Sam Howard picked up his second win of the season in relief of Justin Hess in game one. Howard allowed three runs on six hits over 4.1 innings.

QUICK HITS  
The Eagles went 19-10 in home games and won six weekend series a year ago.

GSU’s six doubles against #29 Georgia on Feb. 17 was the most in a game since the Eagles recorded seven doubles against Jacksonville on April 12, 2011.

Georgia Southern has not posted a shutout since Chris Beck tossed a complete game in a 1-0 win over Samford on May 29, 2011, a streak of 68 games.

The Eagles have not been shut out since a 4-0 loss to Western Carolina on May 11, 2012, a streak of 16 games.

In his 14th season at the helm of Georgia Southern’s program, head coach Rodney Hennon is the second winningest active coach in the SoCon.

Hennon needs another 42 victories to reach 600 career wins.

Hennon is also set to coach his 800th career game as the Eagles’ skipper at Mercer on March 5.

Hennon ranks 42nd in winning percentage among active Division I head coaches.

GEORGIA TECH SERIES HISTORY  
Georgia Tech leads the 120 game all-time series 91-29.

The Yellow Jackets hold a 35-10 advantage in Statesboro.

Georgia Tech took two of the three games from Georgia Southern a year ago.

Head Coach Rodney Hennon is 9-42 all-time against Georgia Tech but has led the Eagles to a win in the series in each of the last two seasons.

Georgia Southern last swept a two-game series from the Yellow Jackets in 2007. 

A YEAR AGO  
A year ago Georgia Tech took two of the three mid-week games from Georgia Southern, including an 11-9 win in Statesboro.

The Eagles recorded a win for the second-straight year in the first game in Atlanta. Eric Phillips drove in three runs and Jarret Leverett threw 2.2 scoreless innings in a 5-3 GSU win. Chris Beck also struck out two in the victory for his first career save.
Phillips led the team with four hits (.400), two doubles and seven RBI.

GEORGIA TECH CONNECTION  
Ben Morgan’s cousin, Jeffery Rowland, played for Georgia Tech from 2008-10 and was a First Team All-ACC selection in 2009. Rowland was drafted twice and signed with the Detroit Tigers in the 19th round.

Will Middour’s father, David, pitched for the Yellow Jackets from 1976-78. David recorded six wins in 1978 and led the team in innings pitched and ERA that season.

OFF TO A HOT START  
Senior infielder T.D. Davis is off to a hot start to 2013 and has three home runs in just six games. It took Davis 19 games a year ago to reach the three home run mark.

Davis leads the team with 11 hits, a .500 batting average, three doubles and three long balls. He is also slugging 1.045 on the young season.

Davis has reached base in 18-straight games and has tallied four multi-hit games.

Georgia Southern Athletics provides up-to-date information on all its sports through its official website, GSEagles.com, through social media channels facebook.com/GSAthletics and twitter.com/GSAthletics, and its new "Eagles GATA" mobile app for Android and iOS.

Category: Baseball

Published on Monday, 25 February 2013 13:56