Holiday Inn Eagle Invitational Set for This Weekend
3/5/2009 5:15:00 AM | Baseball
STATESBORO, Ga. ? Georgia Southern Baseball will play host to the Holiday Inn Eagle Invitational this weekend at J.I. Clements Stadium. The Eagles will face Indiana, LeMoyne and 20th-ranked East Carolina this weekend in the round-robin format.
Ryan Chambers will call all the Georgia Southern action on Eagle 102.9 FM. The broadcast will being 30 minutes before first pitch.
Coming off a 5-4 come-from-behind win over Winthrop Tuesday, the Eagles improved to 8-1 overall. That is the best start to a season since the 1981 team went 10-1. The Eagles received votes in the NCBWA ?Top 25' poll this week.
Kevin Bowles (Statesboro/Statesboro) leads the hitting attack batting 7-for-11 to start the year. He has scored seven runs and walked seven times for an .800 on-base percentage.
Brian Pierce (Roswell/Roswell) is batting .391 and shares the team-lead with nine RBI. He brings a streak of 178 consecutive starts into the weekend. Griffin Benedict (Dunwoody/St. Pius), who hit a ninth inning double against Winthrop and scored the game-winning run, owns a .379 batting average.
Junior Chris Mederos (Valdosta/Gordon College), sophomore Andy Moye (Alpharetta/Alpharetta) and freshman Matt Murray (Spring City, PA/Owen Roberts) are scheduled to start this weekend. Mederos owns a 2-0 record and 1.42 ERA in 12.2 innings. He has struck out 16 batters to two walks issued. Moye is 1-0 with a 5.19 ERA in 8.2 innings. The right-hander struck out 12 to four walks. Murray does not have a decision in two starts, but posted a 4.09 ERA in 11 innings. Against Winthrop Murray allowed two runs (one earned) in five innings of work.
As a team Georgia Southern owns a .314 batting average, .988 fielding percentage and 3.96 ERA.
Indiana (3-4) is led by Jerrud Sabourin's .452 batting average. Preseason All-America pick Josh Phegley owns a .417 batting average and .559 on-base percentage. Left-hander Matt Bashore (0-1, 7.00 ERA) is scheduled to throw Friday.
The Hoosiers lost to Eastern Michigan 10-6 and Indiana State 11-2 in midweek action. As a team they are batting .324 with a .940 fielding percentage and 5.87 ERA. This will be the first meeting between the Eagles and Hoosiers since 2007 when IU won a 5-0 game at Dothan, Alabama.
LeMoyne (2-3) lost 3-of-4 at Tulane during the opening weekend then won at Longwood 7-3 last weekend. The Dolphins own a .241 batting average and 5.71 ERA. This will be LeMoyne's second trip to Statesboro for a tournament in the past four years. The Dolphins defeated GS 6-4 in the opening game of the 2006 GSU Invitational.
Sean Paino leads the hitting attack at a .438 clip. Left-hander Cory Nelson (0-1, 1.93 ERA) is scheduled to get the start.
East Carolina enters the weekend 6-1 overall and ranked as high as 20th in the national polls. The Pirates handed Old Dominion an 8-3 defeat earlier this week. As a team, they own a .380 batting average, .985 fielding percentage and 3.86 ERA. Last year Georgia Southern traveled to ECU for the Keith LeClair Classic, winning its first two against #15 Michigan and Pittsburgh before losing to the host Pirates.
Trent Whitehead leads the impressive hitting attack at a .520 clip with Stephen Batts close behind at .500. In fact, eight different starters are batting .350 or higher. Right-hander Sthil Sowers (1-0, 14.54 ERA) is scheduled to get the start Sunday.
Holiday Inn Eagle Invitational
Friday, March 6
LeMoyne vs. East Carolina, 3 p.m.
Indiana vs. Georgia Southern, 7 p.m.
Saturday, March 7
LeMoyne vs. Georgia Southern, 2 p.m.
East Carolina vs. Indiana, 6 p.m.
Sunday, March 8
Indiana vs. LeMoyne, 11 a.m.
East Carolina vs. Georgia Southern, 3 p.m.
