Eagles Prepare for Series Against SoCon Leader Charleston
4/2/2009 4:22:00 AM | Baseball
STATESBORO, Ga. ? Georgia Southern Baseball continues their now six-game homestand this weekend against College of Charleston. Friday's (April 3) first pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m.
On Saturday (April 4) the Eagle Sports Marketing staff and Georgia Southern Athletic Foundation will be hosting a tailgate from 3-6 p.m. at the Hanner Fieldhouse lower parking lot prior to the game's scheduled 6 p.m. start. Sunday is a scheduled 1:30 p.m. first pitch.
Every baseball game can be heard on www.GeorgiaSouthernEagles.com and via the Georgia Southern Radio Network, flagship station Eagle 102.9 FM in Statesboro. Ryan Chambers will call the game and the broadcast will begin 30 minutes before first pitch.
The Eagles (18-7 overall, 4-3 Southern Conference) were leading North Florida 3-2 last Tuesday night before the game was canceled due to rain and lightning. The game could be rescheduled at a later date.
Junior Chris Mederos (Valdosta/Gordon College) is scheduled to start Friday night. He is 6-0 with a 3.75 ERA, striking out 44 in 36 innings. The junior right-hander enters this week tied for third nationally in victories and 35th in strikeouts.
Sophomore Andy Moye (Alpharetta/Alpharetta) is scheduled to go on Saturday. He is 3-0 with a 6.10 ERA in 31 innings, striking out 26 to 14 walks as opponents are batting .293 against him. The starting pitcher for Sunday (TBA).
Senior catcher Griffin Benedict (Dunwoody/St. Pius) not only leads the team with his .407 batting average, but also leads the SoCon with 13 hit by pitches. He entered the week ranked third nationally in hit by pitches. Phillip Porter (Marietta/Sprayberry) is next batting at a .340 clip with a team-leading 27 runs scored and is tied with Benedict for the lead hitting six doubles.
A.J. Wirnsberger (Tuscaloosa, AL/Paul Bryant) leads the team with 26 RBI while Ty Wright (Montrose/ABAC), who had a 3-run homer against North Florida wiped out, is second (along with Benedict) driving in 19 runs.
Jonathan King (Athens, TN/Young Harris) leads the team with 19 walks ranking him tied for fifth in the SoCon.
Georgia Southern enters the weekend with a .298 team batting average, Southern Conference-leading .975 fielding percentage (16th nationally) and 4.78 ERA (third SoCon/83rd nationally).
College of Charleston is coming off a 15-8 win against Charleston Southern Tuesday night, improving to 20-5 overall (10-2 in the SoCon). Overall the Cougars bring a SoCon-leading .350 team batting average, .967 fielding percentage and 4.08 ERA (31st nationally) into the series. The College of Charleston is ranked first nationally in home runs per game (2.42) and second in slugging percentage (.642).
Joey Bergman leads the hitting attack posting a .453 batting average with 11 doubles and team-leading 35 runs scored. Ryan Daniels is next with a .394 batting average. Matt Mansilla owns a .374 average, hitting a team-leading 12 home runs with a .846 slugging percentage. Six starters are batting .330 or higher.
Jesse Simpson (5-1, 3.29 ERA) and David Peterson (5-0, 4.62) are probable starting pitchers for Friday and Saturday, respectively while Sunday's game is TBA.
