Softball | 3/14/2017 11:23:00 AM

????STATESBORO, Ga. - With an eight-game homestand in the rearview mirror, the Georgia Southern softball team will hit the road this week for four games. The Eagles will travel to Tuscaloosa, Alabama, for a non-conference game against No. 11 Alabama and then head to Monroe, Louisiana, for a three-game Sun Belt Conference set at ULM. GS will open the week against the Crimson Tide (24-2) on Wednesday at 3:45 p.m. Central (4:45 p.m. ET) and then will play ULM (14-9, 1-2 SBC) in a single game Friday at 6 p.m. Central (7 p.m. ET), followed by the doubleheader on Saturday starting at 1 p.m Central (2 p.m. ET).

NOTE: The Alabama game was moved up from 6 p.m. to 3:45 local time due to anticipated cold weather in Tuscaloosa.

Georgia Southern is 0-6 all-time against the Crimson Tide. GS nearly pulled a huge upset in 2013, giving up two runs late to the top-ranked Crimson Tide to fall 2-1 in nine innings at a tournament in Fort Myers, Florida. In the tiebreaker, GS scored in the top of the ninth, but Danae Hays doubled to left field to drive in Kaila Hunt and Haylie McCleney for the win. In 2014, Alabama again won in walk-off style when Jadyn Spencer hit a home run to down the Eagles 6-4 in a neutral site game played in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The Eagles led early and tied the game twice before Spencer's home run gave the sixth-ranked Crimson Tide the win. The game's attendance, 1,863 set a new record at the UNC Softball Stadium. Current seniors Emily Snider and Morgan Robinson both played in that game as freshmen with Robinson hitting a home run off Jackie Traina and Snider scoring the game's first run.

GS is 2-6 all-time against ULM. The Eagles took the in-season series last season on the road against ULM, but dropped a 2-1 decision to the Warhawks in the first round of the Sun Belt Tournament in Mobile, Alabama.

Alabama will play a pair of games on Wednesday, first taking on Winthrop before hosting GS. The Crimson Tide is led at the plate by Merris Schroder, who is batting .475, and Bailey Hemphill, who is hitting .433 with five home runs. Four other players in the lineup are hitting .300 or higher for an offense that is hitting .331 with 22 home runs and 52 stolen bases.. Alabama is hitting .271 as a team with eight home runs and 44 stolen bases. The Tide's strength has been its pitching staff, which has a staff ERA of just 1.27 and is allowing opponents to hit .141. Sydney Littlejohn is 8-0 with a 0.53 ERA and 89 strikeouts in 65 2/3 innings while Alexis Osorio is 13-1 with a 0.72 ERA and 161 strikeouts in 78.0 innings pitched. 

The Warhawks, who dropped two of three to UTA last weekend, are led at the plate by Sydney McKay, who is batting .432 with 18 stolen bases and Jayden Mount, who is hitting .412. ULM is hitting .271 as a team with eight home runs and 44 stolen bases. Melanie Coyne has thrown 99 2/3 of 156 1/3 innings thus far. She is 9-5 with a 1.81 ERA and 68 strikeouts. Four other pitchers have combined to start the other nine games for the Warhawks. 

Georgia Southern is 12-10, 2-1 in the Sun Belt Conference after taking a weekend series over Troy.

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