STATESBORO, Ga. - Georgia Southern head softball coach Kim Dean is ready for the upcoming season, with the Eagles playing in four tournaments, including the 2018 Eagle Round Robin this weekend, and hosting 17 games at Eagle Field.
 
"To say that there won't be some goosebumps and butterflies when I get to be called the head coach at Georgia Southern as I'm walking out for the first time, would be lying," said Dean on her upcoming first spring season. "I just got goosebumps thinking about it."
 
Losing five starters from last season's squad, including all-time RBI leader Morgan Robinson and 30+ home run hitter Emily Snider, 13 players on the roster will be returning from 2017 with experience.
 
The 2018 season will commence on Feb. 9-11 with the Eagle Round Robin weekend tournament. Austin Peay, ETSU, Murray State and Radford will join Georgia Southern for three days of action at Eagle Field. The Eagles open on Friday with a 4:30 p.m. game against Murray State.
 
"Any time we are going to be at home, we are going to take advantage of it," Dean said on the upcoming tournament. "We are bringing in some quality opponents that will test us early."
 
Three freshman will join the Eagles on the field for 2018 as utility player Sydney Fisher (Augusta, Ga.) could see time in the outfield early on, as could Hannah Scarbrough (Newnan, Ga.). Catcher Allyssah Mullis (Juliette, Ga.) will split time with Harrell and give the Eagles a good 1-2 punch behind the plate.
 
"We have some stud freshman that we are excited to get into the lineup early and often," said Dean on the new freshmen. "We really feel that the majority of this young group will be a core for this program."
 
Among the six newcomers to Georgia Southern softball in 2018 is a pair of additions from Armstrong State University. Junior shortstop Macy Coleman (Hazlehurst, Ga.) was an NCAA All-Tournament team honoree for the Pirates a year ago and hit .333 with five doubles, 15 home runs and 41 RBI, leading the Peach Belt Conference in home runs. Junior catcher Logan Harrell (Pembroke, Ga.) hit .327 with 11 doubles, 13 home runs and 44 RBI in 2017, earning All-Peach Belt and NFCA All-Region honors.
 
Sophomore Mekhia Freeman, who will patrol the outfield for a second straight season, leads the returnees as she was named a preseason All-Sun Belt Conference selection in a vote of the league's coaches, announced last week. Freeman hit .323 with 11 doubles, four home runs and 25 RBI in her debut season, earning second-team All-SBC accolades.
 
The right side of the infield features returners as senior second baseman India Davis (.281, 7 RBI) and sophomore first baseman Shelby Wilson (.246, 3 HR, 14 RBI, team-leading 28 walks) are back for the Eagles. The other two returning starters are senior outfielder/shortstop Alesha Mann (.250, 1 HR, 14 RBI) and junior corner infielder Hannah Farrell (.132, 1 HR, 6 RBI).
 
Redshirt juniors Haley Carter (.200) and Macy Weeks (.162, 2 HR, 8 RBI) return in the outfield for 2018 as the pair played in a combined 79 games for the Eagles. Sophomore Meredith McLendon (.292, 2 RBI) returns at first base after seeing action in 19 games as a freshman.
 
"Just making sure we are staying true to the fundamentals and not putting too much pressure on anything," Dean said on their approaching season. "You can win close ball games and you can lose close ball games, we wont over hype a win and we won't over hype a loss."
 
The Eagles have been picked to finish seventh in a preseason poll of the league's coaches, released last week. Georgia Southern finished sixth in 2017 with a 12-15 Sun Belt record and a 24-29 overall record.

THIS WEEKEND
The Georgia Southern softball returns home to host the Eagle Classic in Statesboro. Five teams will join the Eagles at Eagle Field this weekend for 14 games over a three-day span. Action kicks off each day at 9:30 a.m. Georgia Southern will open with Eastern Kentucky at 5:30 p.m. on Friday and will then play Marshall (3:30 p.m.) and South Carolina State (5:30 p.m.) on Saturday. On Sunday, HS will take on Delaware State at 1:30 p.m., followed by Presbyterian at 3:30 p.m..

FACILITY AND TICKET INFO
All games will be played at Eagle Field on the campus of Georgia Southern. The address is 615 Fair Rd, Statesboro, GA 30458.

Here's the tournament site, which has the schedule and live stat links.

Georgia Southern Softball is now a ticketed sport. For this weekend, fans may purchase an tournament pass for $15 which includes entrance to all 13 scheduled games. Fans may purchase a single-day pass for $10, which includes entrance to the scheduled games for that day (5 on Friday, 5 on Saturday, 3 on Sunday). Georgia Southern season ticket packages are good only for the six scheduled GS games this weekend. All seats are general admission.

For more information, or to purchase tickets, click here.

Tickets may be purchased in advance or at the gate.

CLEAR BAG POLICY
Consistent with other Sun Belt, NCAA and NFL policies, Georgia Southern Athletics will began using a Clear Bag Policy at all ticketed athletic events on Aug. 1, 2017.

You may find out more about what can and can't be brought into Eagle Field at http://gseagles.com/sports/2017/6/19/clear-bag-policy.aspx

LIVE STATS AND BROADCAST
Live stats will be run through GSEagles.com's StatBroadcast site.

All six of Georgia Southern's games will be streamed live and for free on TrueBlue Live!

PROMOTIONS
All of the 2018 GS Softball promotions can be found here.

THE WEEKEND FORECAST
Here's the forecast for Statesboro. Be sure to follow Georgia Southern softball on Twitter (@GSAthletics_SB) for any potential schedule changes this weekend due to the weather or other factors.