Final Series of Regular Season Has Big Implications
5/8/2010 12:05:00 AM | Softball
STATESBORO, Ga. - The Georgia Southern Softball team travels to Greenville, S.C., to take on Furman for a three-game series with a lot more at stake than just playing in the final Southern Conference series of the regular season. The Eagles and Paladins square off with a doubleheader Sunday, May 9th, scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. The teams will play game three Monday, May 10th at 1 p.m.
Georgia Southern (27-23, 12-8) is a game ahead of the Paladins (23-21, 11-9) in the SoCon standings. The winner of the series is guaranteed a spot in the SoCon Tournament May 13-14 at Frost Stadium in Chattanooga, Tenn., while the loser would need help from Samford against UNC Greensboro. The Spartans are tied with Furman for fourth in the league as the teams vie for one of only four spots in the SoCon Tournament. Due to a change in the championship instituted for the 2010 season as a cost containment measure, only the top four teams, based on winning percentage, advance to the championship.
The Eagles are 47-36 all-time against Furman, taking the regular season series two games to one last year in Statesboro, but the Paladins sent the Eagles to the losers' bracket in the SoCon Tournament with a 9-3 win in the first round.
Senior Nina Iduate (Norcross, Ga.) belted six hits in 14 at-bats against Furman last season, scoring three runs in the four games to lead the Eagles offensively, while junior Megen Smith (Springfield, Ga.) led the Eagles in the circle. As a sophomore, Smith earned a win and a save, holding the Paladins to two runs on three hits in 5.2 innings of relief spread over two games.
In the past five seasons, Georgia Southern is 16-4 against Furman, going 13-1 during the regular season. The Paladins last won a series over the Eagles in 2004 at Furman.
Eagle Softball fans can follow the action for all three games on Twitter.com/GSScores.
