Softball Battles Western Carolina this Weekend
4/18/2008 4:25:00 AM | Softball
STATESBORO, Ga. --- The Eagles put their four-game conference winning streak up against Western Carolina who come to Statesboro winners of four straight overall.
The series commences Saturday at 1 p.m. with the first of two games. It concludes Sunday with a single game.
Georgia Southern (28-24, 8-4) currently stands in second place in the Southern Conference behind 9-1 Chattanooga. The Eagles have won six of their past seven league outings and swept UNC Greensboro last weekend.
The top hitting team in the conference, GSU will face the league's worst pitching staff. The Eagles top the league's rankings in batting average (.296) and are second in slugging (.401) and on base percentage (.358). The team's collective average is higher than any WCU individual player.
Western Carolina ranks last in ERA (4.28) and has allowed its opponents to bat .322 on the season.
“If a team is allowing a run an inning we feel like we can put some pressure on them and put the ball in play,” said head coach Natalie Poole. “We've faced some decent pitching and done OK and so we should be able to do well this weekend.”
In the Catamounts' four-game win streak, their longest of the season, they are averaging 7.3 runs per contest.
“They have struggled a little bit this season,” said Poole. “Most of their wins have come recently and I think that they're trying to fight through struggling with their pitching so they're trying to put up the runs to compensate for that.”
Since the start of league play on March 21, sophomore NIna Iduate is hitting a team-best .453 and has collected a hit in 15 of 18 games with seven multi-hit performances. She currently ranks second on the team in average (.360) and on base percentage (.415), and is sixth in the nation in sacrifice hits.
“She's a kid that's committed to doing the right things,” said Poole. “She told me that she's seeing the ball really well so anytime someone is seeing the ball well and they're making good quality adjustments, they're going to be successful. She walks to the plate with a lot of confidence and she's going to continue to do well.”
The top four hitters in the lineup are all hitting .323 or better over that stretch, led by Iduate and junior Robyne Siliga (.439), and the top three in the order have an on base percentage of .410 or higher.
“We always talk about getting our quick runners on which allows us to be in a position to score more runs,” said Poole. “They do a great job of not only starting some momentum but keeping innings going and helping with RBIs. They've definitely played a huge part in our success.”
The series commences Saturday at 1 p.m. with the first of two games. It concludes Sunday with a single game.
Georgia Southern (28-24, 8-4) currently stands in second place in the Southern Conference behind 9-1 Chattanooga. The Eagles have won six of their past seven league outings and swept UNC Greensboro last weekend.
The top hitting team in the conference, GSU will face the league's worst pitching staff. The Eagles top the league's rankings in batting average (.296) and are second in slugging (.401) and on base percentage (.358). The team's collective average is higher than any WCU individual player.
Western Carolina ranks last in ERA (4.28) and has allowed its opponents to bat .322 on the season.
“If a team is allowing a run an inning we feel like we can put some pressure on them and put the ball in play,” said head coach Natalie Poole. “We've faced some decent pitching and done OK and so we should be able to do well this weekend.”
In the Catamounts' four-game win streak, their longest of the season, they are averaging 7.3 runs per contest.
“They have struggled a little bit this season,” said Poole. “Most of their wins have come recently and I think that they're trying to fight through struggling with their pitching so they're trying to put up the runs to compensate for that.”
Since the start of league play on March 21, sophomore NIna Iduate is hitting a team-best .453 and has collected a hit in 15 of 18 games with seven multi-hit performances. She currently ranks second on the team in average (.360) and on base percentage (.415), and is sixth in the nation in sacrifice hits.
“She's a kid that's committed to doing the right things,” said Poole. “She told me that she's seeing the ball really well so anytime someone is seeing the ball well and they're making good quality adjustments, they're going to be successful. She walks to the plate with a lot of confidence and she's going to continue to do well.”
The top four hitters in the lineup are all hitting .323 or better over that stretch, led by Iduate and junior Robyne Siliga (.439), and the top three in the order have an on base percentage of .410 or higher.
“We always talk about getting our quick runners on which allows us to be in a position to score more runs,” said Poole. “They do a great job of not only starting some momentum but keeping innings going and helping with RBIs. They've definitely played a huge part in our success.”
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