Softball Welcomes Kennesaw State

STATESBORO, Ga. - Georgia Southern Softball entertains in-state rival Kennesaw State on Tuesday (April 5th) at 3 p.m. for a non-conference doubleheader. The Owls are Georgia Southern's third-consecutive Atlantic Sun Conference opponent in as many weeks.

Southern Conference Pitcher of the Week Allie Miles (Dacula, Ga.) picked up her ninth win of the season in game one of the series, allowing just one Samford run to score. Miles leads the league in opponent batting average, holding batters to a .217 mark, while recording 105 strikeouts, which ranks second in the SoCon. In league games, she has a perfect 5-0 record with a league-leading 34 strikeouts and a 2.22 ERA.

Georgia Southern (19-21, 9-3 SoCon) sophomore Tabby Douberley (Clyo, Ga.) had an impressive weekend at the plate against Samford. The Eagle first baseman drove in five runs including a walk-off home run in game one of the series on Saturday (April 2nd). Junior Hanna Ennis (Snellville, Ga.) was 5-for-12 (.455) in the series to lead the Eagle offense.

Georgia Southern's Marie Fogle (Rincon, Ga.) has sits atop of not only the Eagle batting statistics, but also the SoCon charts. Her 12 home runs lead the league and rank among the national leaders. With five first-inning leadoff home runs, Fogle leads the nation and is slugging .725 to lead the conference. Overall at the plate, the junior outfielder has compiled a .382 batting average to lead the Eagles and ranks fourth in the SoCon. In Sunday's (April 3rd) series finale, Fogle's sixth-inning grand slam, her second of the year, forced extra innings for the second time in 2011.

Georgia Southern trails 15-4 in the all-time series against Kennesaw State. The Eagles won the opener last year, 8-6, but fell 2-1 to close out the road doubleheader. The meeting in 2010 renewed the rivalry which had lain dormant for three seasons from 2007 through 2009.

Kennesaw State (20-14, 4-4 A-Sun) travels to Statesboro after splitting a pair of weekend doubleheaders against Stetson and Florida Gulf Coast. Sharon Swanson leads the Owls at the plate with a .393 average and nine home runs. In the circle, four pitchers have tossed more than 14 games for Kennesaw State this season. Jessica Cross has an 8-5 record and a 2.41 ERA, while Amanda Henderson is 4-4 with a 2.05 ERA in 58.0 innings. The Owls' strikeout threat is Abbey Meixel with 84 Ks in 64.2 innings.

This weekend, Georgia Southern Softball heads north for a three-game SoCon series against Elon. The action starts from Elon's East Field on Saturday at 1 p.m.

Fans may follow all the action of the 2011 Georgia Southern Softball season by visiting GeorgiaSouthernEagles.com/softball or check in for scores at twitter.com/GSScores or facebook.com/GSAthletics for updates.

Category: Softball

Published on Monday, 04 April 2011 18:04