Baseball Closes Out Regular Season with Seven Games in Nine Days
5/10/2011 10:16:00 PM | Baseball
STATESBORO, Ga. - The Georgia Southern Baseball team (27-21, 14-10) closes out the regular season with seven games in nine days, including three at J.I. Clements Stadium on Friday, May 13th and Monday, May 16th. The Eagles honor their three seniors, Steve Cochrane (Mooresville, N.C.), Andy Moye (Alpharetta, Ga.) and Shawn Payne (Stone Mountain, Ga.), during the Friday doubleheader with the Wildcats.
Georgia Southern closes out a seven-game homestand with an oddly scheduled three-game series to account for graduation for both Davidson and Georgia Southern. The Eagles play host to Davidson with a doubleheader on Friday at 3 p.m. and a single game on Monday at 4 p.m. GSU plays the next day at Charleston Southern at 2 p.m. before traveling to Appalachian State. The three-game series with the Mountaineers starts a day earlier than usual on Thursday at 6 p.m. and continues with single games on Friday at 6 p.m. and Saturday at 1 p.m.
Georgia Southern leads the Southern Conference in batting average with a .302 mark. Eric Phillips (Carrollton, Ga.) leads the team and is second in the SoCon with a .423 batting average, and paces the conference with a .491 on-base percentage. Victor Roache (Ypsilanti, Mich.) powers Georgia Southern with a .787 slugging percentage and continues to add to his NCAA Division I lead after hitting his 24th home run of the season on Sunday.
The GSU pitching staff has amassed a 4.58 ERA and is holding opposing batters to a .272 average at the plate. Chris Beck (Jefferson, Ga.) will look to snap a streak of two-straight losing decisions when he takes the mound on Friday. The sophomore pitcher opened the year with a 5-0 mark, but has been on the wrong side of some close games recently. He has turned in a fine performance this season and is 6-3 with a 3.27 ERA in 14 starts on the mound.
The Wildcats travel to Statesboro seeking their first Southern Conference victory in their last nine games. After a series victory over UNC Greensboro back in early April, Davidson has been swept in its last three series by Wofford, Appalachian State and Elon.
Charleston Southern has won three-straight games since the 11th inning loss to the Eagles on May 4th. Arthur Owens (Fayetteville, Ga.) hit a walk-off single for the Eagles to drive in the winning run after a two-out home run by Michael Burruss (Marietta, Ga.) tied the game in the bottom of the ninth.
Appalachian State is coming off a series victory over Western Carolina on Monday. The Mountaineers won the final two meetings against GSU last season, including a 6-2 victory in the Southern Conference Tournament at Riley Park in Charleston, S.C. The Eagles won the 2010 series by taking games one and two, but dropped the third to ASU 16-12.
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.
