Baseball Plays Host to Columbia This Weekend

STATESBORO, Ga. – Looking to build on a six-game win streak at J.I. Clements Stadium, Georgia Southern University baseball continues their homestand this weekend. The Eagles play host to Columbia Friday-Monday to cap six straight games at home.

A 7 p.m. start is scheduled for Friday night (March 14), 1:30 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday then 4 p.m. on Monday. Fans can listen to every Georgia Southern game on Eagle 102.9 FM or via the internet at www.GeorgiaSouthernEagles.com.

The Eagles (8-6 overall) have won seven of their last nine overall, most recently a two-game home sweep of USC Upstate in which they outscored the Spartans 28-16.

Brian Pierce (Roswell/Roswell) went 8-for-8 against USC Upstate and drove in a career-high six runs in the finale. The junior shortstop’s average has jumped from .200 to .404 over the past week. Overall he has scored eight runs and driven in seven.

Phillip Porter (Marietta/Sprayberry) leads the squad with a .476 batting average. He hit his first home run of the season during Wednesday’s win, and just missed by inches his first career grand slam in game one settling instead for a 3-RBI double. He owns a .532 on-base percentage and swiped 6-of-7 bases, already matching his season total from last year.

Fellow junior Chris Shehan (Strasburg, PA/Lampeter-Strasburg) brings a .396 batting average into the weekend. He shares the team lead with 18 runs scored, in addition to his team-high 17 RBI and five home runs. Shehan is a perfect 6-of-6 in stolen bases.

Aaron Eubanks (Moultrie/Colquitt County), Drew Murray (LaGrange/LaGrange) and Andy Moye (Alpharetta/Alpharetta) are scheduled to start the first three games of the series.

Eubanks pitched into the sixth inning during last weekend’s 12-3 win over #15 Michigan. He owns a 2-1 record and 7.71 ERA in 14 innings. Murray pitched seven strong innings against Pittsburgh. The junior right-hander has not recorded a decision in three starts, posting a 7.56 ERA. Moye brings a 2-1 record and 4.20 ERA into the series.

Overall the Eagles own a .339 team batting average, .972 fielding percentage and 7.07 ERA into the weekend. On the base paths, they swiped 34-of-38 bases during the first 14 games.

Columbia (0-8) is looking for its first win of the season after dropping four-game series at Duke and Pepperdine to start the campaign. The Lions are batting .184 overall with a .951 fielding percentage and 7.51 ERA.

Ron Williams leads the Lions hitting at a .310 clip with two doubles and three RBI. Jason Banos scored a team-high five times and hit three doubles. Joe Scarlata (0-2, 4.63), Bill Purdy (0-1, 5.25) and Geoff Whitaker (0-2, 12.54) have each started two games on the mound.

For ticket information contact the ticket office at 800-GSU-WINS.

Category: Baseball

Published on Thursday, 13 March 2008 00:07