Baseball Faces A-Sun Leader Kennesaw State Tuesday
3/21/2011 6:35:00 PM | Baseball
STATESBORO, Ga. - The Georgia Southern Eagle Baseball team (12-9, 4-2) returns home for its only game at J.I. Clements Stadium this week to face the Atlantic Sun's top team, Kennesaw State (14-8), Tuesday at 6 p.m. The Eagles are coming off a five-game road trip last week and head back on the road following the game with the Owls.
Georgia Southern is 5-4 against Kennesaw State all-time after winning both meetings last season. The Eagles won a close game in the first meeting at Stillwell Stadium 8-7 on a two-RBI double by Kyle Blackburn. GSU knocked out 17 hits in game one and tallied 16 more in a 16-2 win in game two. The two programs have meet every year since the 2007 season.
GSU snapped a four-game losing streak with a 9-2 victory over Samford on Sunday, March 20th. Andy Moye (Alpharetta, Ga.) recorded his best start of the season to earn his second win of the year. The senior captain threw seven innings, allowing one earned run on seven hits while punching out five Bulldogs.
Kennesaw State heads to Statesboro with a weekend sweep of Lipscomb under its belt. The Bison tallied 10 or more hits in two of the three games, but were held to two or less runs in all but one game this weekend. Bryan Blough and Zac Griffith threw eight innings or more for the Owls and both posted quality starts on the weekend.
Ronnie Freeman, who leads KSU in hitting with a .383 batting average, went hitless in the first two games, but rebounded on Sunday with three hits in Sunday's 6-2 win over Lipscomb. Andy Chriscaden leads the team in RBIs with 25 and is tied with Drew Fowlkes with three home runs. The Owls are hitting .289 as a team and are third in the A-Sun with a .394 on-base percentage. The pitching staff has amassed a 4.87 ERA in 22 games this season and is allowing a .284 batting average.
Georgia Southern had one streak come to an end on Sunday, but have a pair streaks that have passed the 15-game mark. Eric Phillips (Carrollton, Ga.), who leads the Southern Conference in hitting with a .474 average and 37 hits, has hit in 16-straight games, dating back to February 27th against North Carolina Central. Steve Cochrane (Mooresville, N.C.) has reached base in every game this season and is second on the team with a .377 batting average.
The Eagles are hitting a SoCon best .309 batting average and are second in the league in both slugging percentage (.441) and on-base percentage (.391). Georgia Southern also leads Southern Conference in hits with 232 and is second in runs scored with 159. The GSU pitching staff has racked up a 3.99 ERA and continue to lead the conference in runners picked off with seven.
To order baseball tickets for upcoming games, call the Georgia Southern Athletic Ticket Office at 800-GSU-WINS. Single games tickets are available at the gate for $8 for adults and $4 for youth (3-12).
All games can be heard on Eagle 102.9 FM in Statesboro and are also available online at GeorgiaSouthernEagles.com/Eaglevision beginning 30 minutes prior to first pitch. Ryan Chambers of the Georgia Southern Radio Network will call all the action.
Fans may follow Georgia Southern Baseball by visiting GeorgiaSouthernEagles.com/baseball or check in at twitter.com/GSAthletics or facebook.com/GSAthletics for short updates.
