STATESBORO, Ga. ? As Georgia Southern University prepares for the 2008 baseball season, head coach Rodney Hennon will make unprecedented adjustments. This season marks the first following the NCAA rules on the practice and games start date.
The 2007 trip to Hawaii kicked off the season, exactly one year ago. Now Georgia Southern officially began practice Friday (Feb. 1) in anticipation for the season-opener against Boston College on the 22nd. Hennon realizes his team will have to take full advantage of that short time frame in preparation for the season-opener.
“The biggest change this season is not only do we have the start date for games changed, the start date as far as team practice goes is now February 1st. That gives us three weeks of team practice prior to the opener with Boston College,” said Hennon. “It was very important for our players, particularly our pitchers, to get in shape (during individual workouts in January) so we could hit the ground running today. We need to be prepared to go out and scrimmage.”
One aspect has never changed for Hennon, beginning his ninth year in charge of the program, and that is playing a tough non-conference schedule. This year the Eagles open the campaign with five games against Atlantic Coast Conference competition.
“I've always believed that you need to be challenged and play good people, and this year is no different. You've got (three games versus) Boston College and (two at) Georgia Tech, that's five ACC games right out of the gate,” said Hennon.
Of the four available non-conference weekends, Georgia Southern will be at home for three (BC, Towson and Columbia).
The Eagles also enter the 2008 campaign ranked 90th on the Perfect Game Crosschecker's ?Top 100' teams. In fact, Georgia Southern (one of three Southern Conference teams ranked) will face seven teams listed among the 100.
Georgia Southern returns eight starters on offense and seven pitchers in all. It has been six years since the Eagles have qualified for the NCAA Regionals, 19 returning letterwinners are looking to end that drought. The five seniors on the team include: second baseman Jeremy Beckham (Griffin/Griffin), outfielder David Richardson (Dahlonega/Lumpkin County), pitcher Burt Barto (Columbus/Columbus), catcher/infielder Jeremiah Parker (Carrollton/Carrollton) and pitcher Aaron Eubanks (Moultrie/Colquitt County).
Junior Chris Shehan (Strasburg, PA/Lampeter-Strasburg) led the team with his .341 batting average, 21 doubles and 59 runs scored ? in addition to 10 home runs, 50 RBI and 12 stolen bases. Parker was right behind batting at a .324 clip with 46 RBI and team-leading 13 home runs. Beckham finished the year 28-of-30 in stolen bases, scoring 44 runs and driving in 32.
Junior Matt Miller (Canton/Woodstock) tied Shehan for the team lead hitting 21 doubles. Miller scored 55 runs and drove in 41. Sophomore A.J. Wirnsberger (Tuscaloosa, AL/Paul Bear Bryant) batted .287 last year, while junior Brian Pierce (Roswell/Roswell) has started 111 consecutive games at shortstop. Pierce posted a .947 fielding percentage to go along with his personal-high .286 batting average.
Junior Griffin Benedict (Dunwoody/St. Pius) hit .280 with 33 runs and 30 RBI. He will share the catching duties with Parker. Sophomore Kyle Blackburn (Marietta/Walton) finished his rookie season with six doubles, seven homers, 25 RBI in 44 games and a .288 batting average. Junior Will Southwell (Moultrie/Colquitt County) saw extensive action at the end of the season, posting a .338 batting average.
Juniors Drew Murray (LaGrange/LaGrange) and Kyle Kamppi (Savannah/Benedictine) joined sophomore Brian Wilkerson (Bonaire/Houston County) as three of the six pitchers last year to record a team-leading four wins. Eubanks and sophomore Charlie Strohecker (Alpharetta/Milton) were right behind with three victories.
Eubanks posted a 4.32 ERA while holding opponents to a .269 batting average. Murray and Wilkerson finished first and second, respectively, with 64 and 63 strikeouts. Those three each saw time as a weekend starter. Kamppi, projected to take over the closer role, not only posted a 4-3 record with three saves, he also led the Southern Conference making 37 relief appearances.
