Eagle Softball Takes On Ospreys
3/22/2011 8:37:00 PM | Softball
STATESBORO, Ga. - Georgia Southern Softball takes to the road for the second-half of a 10-game road swing on Wednesday (March 23rd) against North Florida in Jacksonville, Fla. The Eagles are fresh off a three-game sweep of Western Carolina to move into second place in the Southern Conference. Junior Marie Fogle (Rincon, Ga.) earned her second SoCon Player of the Week with an outstanding performance against the Catamounts.
Georgia Southern (13-17, 5-1 SoCon) will look to stem the tide in the series against North Florida (15-12, 0-0 A-Sun) and snap an eight-game skid against the Ospreys. UNF leads the all-time series, 11-4, and Fogle leads the Eagles with a .667 career batting average against North Florida.
Fogle had an outstanding weekend against Western Carolina with four home runs to cement her second SoCon Player of the Week plaudit. Her two long-balls on Saturday came in the first at bat of the game to give Georgia Southern an early 1-0 lead. She leads the nation with five first-inning leadoff home runs. She hit .636 in the series with nine RBI and ripped Georgia Southern's first grand slam of the season in Sunday's series finale to take the Eagles to a 12-3 win.
Junior Hanna Ennis (Snellville, Ga.) is on a tear for the Eagles hitting 6-for-10 in the last three games with two doubles and a home run. Ennis, hitting .348, has raised her batting average by over 100 points over last season's total. SoCon Preseason Player of the Year Megen Smith (Springfield, Ga.) has six home runs and seven doubles while hitting .247 on the season.
The Eagles' pitching staff is anchored by senior Brianna Streetmon (Winder, Ga.) who posted two wins and a save in the series against Western Carolina. The two-time defending SoCon Pitcher of the Year has a 6-3 record and a 2.33 ERA against schools from the Football Championship Subconference. Against all opponents, she has 59 total strikeouts and is holding opponents to a .241 batting average.
Freshman Allie Miles (Dacula, Ga.) ranks second in the SoCon with 66 strikeouts in 58.2 innings of work. She has recorded five wins and tossed a one-hitter earlier this year.
The Ospreys play just their fourth home date of the year on Wednesday and are 2-0 against the SoCon with victories over Samford (3-2) and Chattanooga (4-0). The victory over the Mocs capped a 3-2 outing last weekend at the USF Tournament last weekend. North Florida relies on the pitching of Cortney Radke who sports a 1.71 ERA and a 13-8 record. She has struck out 163 batters this season in 147.2 innings of work. She has allowed just two home runs and 48 total runs.
Georgia Southern closes its 10-game road swing this weekend with a three-game SoCon set at College of Charleston. The Eagles took two-of-three last year and lead the all-time series, 34-23. Saturday's doubleheader starts at 1 p.m.
Fans may follow all the action of the 2011 Georgia Southern Softball season by visiting GeorgiaSouthernEagles.com/softball or check in for scores at twitter.com/GSScores or facebook.com/GSAthletics for updates.
