Softball Plays Host To UNCG
4/21/2011 5:53:00 PM | Softball
STATESBORO, Ga. - Following Wednesday's tough loss to third-ranked Georgia, the Georgia Southern Softball team returns home for a holiday weekend series against UNCG. The three-game Southern Conference series begins on Friday, April 22nd, at 3 p.m. with a twilight doubleheader. Play concludes on Saturday, April 23rd, at 1 p.m. Prior to the series finale, Georgia Southern honors seniors Kelly Burnett (Boynton Beach, Fla.), Bethany Crenshaw (Warner Robins, Ga.), Megen Smith (Springfield, Ga.) and Brianna Streetmon (Winder, Ga.).
The Eagles (25-23, 13-5 SoCon) led early against one of the nations's toughest teams, but surrendered runs in the third and sixth innings to fall, 4-1. Kayla Brooks (Jonesboro, Ga.) was 2-for-3 in the game and had the RBI which brought Marie Fogle (Rincon, Ga.) home in the first inning.
Georgia Southern swept the SoCon weekly awards following last weekend's three-game sweep over Furman. Mackenzie Williams (Baxley, Ga.) was named SoCon Player of the Week following a 6-for-10 weekend which included her eighth home run of the season. Freshman Allie Miles (Dacula, Ga.) picked up league Pitcher of the Week honors after winning two games over the Paladins and posting 14 strikeouts to take the league lead with 130. The Eagle hurler has not allowed an earned run in her last 15.0 innings of work.
Throwing a 1.23 team ERA, the Eagle pitching staff has been lights-out in the month of April. They struck out 74 batters in 12 games including six against Georgia on Wednesday (April 20th) night and allowed just 15 earned runs in more than 85 combined innings. In April, Smith scored a victory over Elon with a 0.72 ERA. Pitching more than 32 innings, Miles has posted a 0.72 ERA.
Against Georgia, Streetmon held the Bulldogs to just three hits, their second lowest lowest total this season and the lowest against an unranked opponent. The Eagles held Georgia, who ranks ninth in the nation in scoring with 7.09 runs per game, to just four runs in the game.
With a 37-22 record against the Spartans, Georgia Southern leads the all-time series, which includes a 7-3 mark under Head Coach Maggie Johnson and three-straight regular-season series wins. Smith tallied four of her 30 career home runs against the Spartans, while Streetmon has allowed only three earned runs to go along with three game victories.
The Spartans (19-24, 7-8 SoCon) lost five of their last six SoCon games including three against Chattanooga and two to Appalachian State last weekend. Alex Emeterio is hitting .344 and is one of four Spartans over the .300 threshold. Kaitlin Merkt is batting .339 with nine home runs. Cory Matson anchors the UNC pitching staff with an 10-11 record and a 3.78 ERA.
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.
