Softball Opens SoCon Play at Furman Friday
The league lid-lifter begins with a doubleheader on Friday and concludes with a single-game on Saturday. The action Friday begins at 1 p.m.
Georgia Southern (18-16) will be matched up against the team it has met in the SoCon Tournament championship each of the past two seasons. In 2006 the Eagles completed a dramatic run with two wins over the Paladins to reach the NCAA Tournament and nearly pulled it off again last season but fell 3-2 in extra innings.
The Eagles have lost three straight and six of their last eight entering league play. This recent stretch comes on the heels of a seven-game winning streak that included a school-record six straight shutouts.
The pitching staff, led by two-time all-SoCon selection Melissa Laliberte (Cobourg, Ontario, Canada), leads the conference in earned run average (1.99) and shutouts (10). Laliberte also paces the league in ERA (1.65), wins (8) and batting average against (.185).
Georgia Southern’s offense is the second-highest scoring team per game (4.9 rpg) and ranks second in batting average (.292) and home runs (23).
Fifteen of the team’s long-balls have come from junior Robyne Siliga (Oceanside, Calif.) and sophomore Jenny Side (Loganville, Ga.). Siliga, who became the school’s all-time leader March 15 against George Mason has seven, while Side is only one shy of her total of nine last season. Siliga’s 32 runs batted in leads the league.
- Category: Softball
- Published on Thursday, 20 March 2008 00:10
