Baseball Travels North of Atlanta Seeking First Wednesday Victory
4/26/2011 3:25:00 PM | Baseball
STATESBORO, Ga. - The Georgia Southern Baseball team (24-16, 13-5), winners of four out of its last five outings, travels north of Atlanta in search of its first Wednesday victory of the season. The Eagles will face Kennesaw State (24-19, 11-9) at Stillwell Stadium at 4 p.m. before returning to Southern Conference play at UNC Greensboro this weekend.
After having last midweek off, GSU is looking for midweek success, the Eagles are 4-7 combined on Tuesday and Wednesday. They have had highs and lows in midweek contests with victories over #1 Florida and #21 Georgia Tech but have also fallen to #21 Georgia Tech twice, North Florida twice and Mercer. Georgia Southern previously defeated Kennesaw State 8-2 in its trip to Statesboro on Tuesday, March 22nd and holds a 6-4 edge in the all-time series. Victor Roache (Ypsilanti, Mich.) leads the team in midweek hitting with a .317 batting average. Roache, who was selected by ESPN as having one of the Capital One Cup's Impact Performance of the Week, has hit five of his 19 homers and driven in 12 RBIs in midweek contests.
As a team Georgia Southern continues to lead the SoCon with a .305 batting average and is fifth in the league with a 4.35 ERA. The Eagles also are tops in the conference with 434 hits this season and have allowed the second fewest walks as a staff, 133 to 273 strikeouts. Eric Phillips (Carrollton, Ga.) leads the conference in on-base percentage (.500) and hits (66). Roache leads the conference in home runs and is tied for first in the NCAA with 19 and is second in the league in slugging percentage (.734).
In the game earlier this season against the Owls, Georgia Southern battled back from a 2-1 deficit in the sixth inning to tie the game at 2-2 after Steve Cochrane (Mooresville, N.C.) scored on a rundown play. The Eagles batted around in the eighth inning, scoring six runs to complete the comeback victory.
GSU got relief pitching from Justin Hess (Panama City, Fla.) and Matt Murray (Spring City, Pa.), who combined for seven scoreless innings. Hess scattered six hits over five innings and struck out five batters, while Murray threw two innings of no-hit ball and punched out two Owls. At the plate Andy Moye (Alpharetta, Ga.) knocked out three hits, including two in the eighth inning, and reached in all but one plate appearance. The senior captain was also crucial in scoring the tying run. Moye, caught in a rundown, forced an error to allow Cochrane to score.
Kennesaw State is coming off a 3-1 week including a series victory over former SoCon member East Tennessee State. The Owls were scheduled to play Mercer on Monday and reached the third inning before rain postponed the contest. The Bears led 2-1 on the back of a solo home run from Billy Burns and a RBI single from Evan Boyd, both coming in the second inning.
Georgia Southern will be on the road all week and faces UNC Greensboro in a Southern Conference three-game series. Play starts on Friday at 6 p.m. and will conclude with single games on Saturday and Sunday, both set for 1 p.m.
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.
