Baseball Welcomes Samford for Key SoCon Series
4/16/2010 1:21:00 PM | Baseball
STATESBORO, Ga. – Georgia Southern welcomes top-ranked Samford to J.I. Clements Stadium this weekend for a key Southern Conference series. Action between the conference foes begins Friday night at 7 p.m., followed by Saturday at 6 p.m. and concludes on Sunday at 1:30 p.m.
Currently tied for first place in the SoCon standings, Samford enters the series with a record of 21-11 overall and 11-1 in league play. Georgia Southern, coming off a come-from-behind victory over Jacksonville in midweek play, stands at 18-15 overall and 9-6 against league opponents.
PROBABLE STARTING PITCHERS
Friday
GSU – Jake Brown, LHP, Sr. (4-4, 3.75 ERA)
SAM -- Jonathan Stephens, RHP, RSr. (5-0, 5.36 ERA)
Saturday
GSU – Matt Murray, RHP, So. (3-1, 5.79 ERA)
SAM – Kyle Putkonen, RHP, So. (3-1, 7.38 ERA)
Sunday
GSU – Andy Moye, RHP, Jr. (4-3, 4.85 ERA)
SAM – Josh Martin, RHP, So. (2-3, 5.73 ERA)
Broadcast Information
Every Georgia Southern baseball game will be carried live on the Georgia Southern Radio Network. In his fourth year, Ryan Chambers will call the play-by-play throughout the season. The broadcast begins 30 minutes prior to the scheduled first pitch on WPMX 102.9 FM. All of the Eagles' baseball action (audio and video streaming) can be heard and seen live and later archived on the internet through www.GeorgiaSouthernEagles.com.
The Series
Georgia Southern and Samford will meet for the 47th time in program history Friday night. GS leads the all-time series 37-9 having swept the Bulldogs in 2009 at Joe Lee Griffin Stadium. The series was won by decisions of 8-2, 10-4 and 16-3. Before Samford joined the Southern Conference last season, the two teams met when both were members of the TAAC. The last meeting occurred in 1990.
Scouting the Opponent
Samford is coming off a strong, 7-5, victory over Alabama on Tuesday. The Bulldogs are led at the plate by Mason Meredeth who is batting .374 with eight home runs and 36 RBI. David Schulze leads the team in home runs with 10.
Last Time Out
Eric Phillips (Carrollton, Ga.) went 3-for-5 against Jacksonville including a solo home run that tied the contest in the sixth inning and the RBI single in the bottom of the ninth for the game-winning hit. Phillips tacked on two RBI and a run scored to finish the contest. Chris Beck (Jefferson, Ga.) picked up the win for his first of the season, working the ninth inning, holding the Dolphins scoreless, giving up only one hit, while walking none and striking out one.
Jacksonville jumped out to a 4-0 lead within the first two innings as the Eagles got off to a slow start. GS started to come alive in the fourth inning, cutting its deficit in half, 4-2. After adding a run in the fifth, Phillips launched his third home run of the season in the sixth to knot the game, 4-all.
The Dolphins took the run back in the seventh as both teams were held scoreless in the eighth. Trailing by one entering the ninth, Georgia Southern scored twice to seal the non-conference win.
Promotions
In conjunction with the annual Blue-White Football game, several promotions will occur at baseball beginning with the Clements Crazies Tailgate on Saturday. The tailgate, sponsored by the Student Eagle Club, will take place from 4:30-6 p.m. in the parking lot adjacent to J.I. Clements Stadium. A ticket to Saturday night's contest or a Georgia Southern student ID must be shown to participate in the tailgate. In addition, the entire Georgia Southern football coaching staff will be introduced prior to the contest with quarterback's coach, Mitch Ware, throwing out the first pitch.
Also, at each of the three games, donations will be taken for Strike-Out Leukemia Foundation.
Currently tied for first place in the SoCon standings, Samford enters the series with a record of 21-11 overall and 11-1 in league play. Georgia Southern, coming off a come-from-behind victory over Jacksonville in midweek play, stands at 18-15 overall and 9-6 against league opponents.
PROBABLE STARTING PITCHERS
Friday
GSU – Jake Brown, LHP, Sr. (4-4, 3.75 ERA)
SAM -- Jonathan Stephens, RHP, RSr. (5-0, 5.36 ERA)
Saturday
GSU – Matt Murray, RHP, So. (3-1, 5.79 ERA)
SAM – Kyle Putkonen, RHP, So. (3-1, 7.38 ERA)
Sunday
GSU – Andy Moye, RHP, Jr. (4-3, 4.85 ERA)
SAM – Josh Martin, RHP, So. (2-3, 5.73 ERA)
Broadcast Information
Every Georgia Southern baseball game will be carried live on the Georgia Southern Radio Network. In his fourth year, Ryan Chambers will call the play-by-play throughout the season. The broadcast begins 30 minutes prior to the scheduled first pitch on WPMX 102.9 FM. All of the Eagles' baseball action (audio and video streaming) can be heard and seen live and later archived on the internet through www.GeorgiaSouthernEagles.com.
The Series
Georgia Southern and Samford will meet for the 47th time in program history Friday night. GS leads the all-time series 37-9 having swept the Bulldogs in 2009 at Joe Lee Griffin Stadium. The series was won by decisions of 8-2, 10-4 and 16-3. Before Samford joined the Southern Conference last season, the two teams met when both were members of the TAAC. The last meeting occurred in 1990.
Scouting the Opponent
Samford is coming off a strong, 7-5, victory over Alabama on Tuesday. The Bulldogs are led at the plate by Mason Meredeth who is batting .374 with eight home runs and 36 RBI. David Schulze leads the team in home runs with 10.
Last Time Out
Eric Phillips (Carrollton, Ga.) went 3-for-5 against Jacksonville including a solo home run that tied the contest in the sixth inning and the RBI single in the bottom of the ninth for the game-winning hit. Phillips tacked on two RBI and a run scored to finish the contest. Chris Beck (Jefferson, Ga.) picked up the win for his first of the season, working the ninth inning, holding the Dolphins scoreless, giving up only one hit, while walking none and striking out one.
Jacksonville jumped out to a 4-0 lead within the first two innings as the Eagles got off to a slow start. GS started to come alive in the fourth inning, cutting its deficit in half, 4-2. After adding a run in the fifth, Phillips launched his third home run of the season in the sixth to knot the game, 4-all.
The Dolphins took the run back in the seventh as both teams were held scoreless in the eighth. Trailing by one entering the ninth, Georgia Southern scored twice to seal the non-conference win.
Promotions
In conjunction with the annual Blue-White Football game, several promotions will occur at baseball beginning with the Clements Crazies Tailgate on Saturday. The tailgate, sponsored by the Student Eagle Club, will take place from 4:30-6 p.m. in the parking lot adjacent to J.I. Clements Stadium. A ticket to Saturday night's contest or a Georgia Southern student ID must be shown to participate in the tailgate. In addition, the entire Georgia Southern football coaching staff will be introduced prior to the contest with quarterback's coach, Mitch Ware, throwing out the first pitch.
Also, at each of the three games, donations will be taken for Strike-Out Leukemia Foundation.
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