Baseball Returns to SoCon Play at Furman
3/22/2012 11:47:00 PM | Baseball
STATESBORO, Ga. - After picking up their second-straight win and their third in the last four games, the Georgia Southern Baseball team returns to Southern Conference play at Furman this weekend. The three-game series opens Friday at 6 p.m. at Latham Stadium.
The Eagles will send the same rotation from the UNCG series victory to the mound against the Paladins. Chris Beck (Jefferson, Ga.) goes for a team-best third win on Friday night. The junior is 2-2 on the year with a 3.89 ERA after striking out a season-best 9 batters in his last start. Furman (11-11, 1-5) will counter with Bobby Lyne (3-2, 3.49), who started opposite Beck a year ago. Lyne picked up the Paladins lone SoCon win in his last start at Samford with seven scoreless innings.
Georgia Southern (10-11, 2-4) is coming off a 17-11 win against Jacksonville. The Eagles jumped ahead 15-2 after the fourth inning but let the Dolphins back into the contest with a five-run fifth inning. Chase Griffin (Leesburg, Ga.) capped off a great weekend with two home runs, four hits and five RBIs in the win. The freshman hit .583 with seven hits, five runs, three home runs and 9 RBIs in his last three games.
Furman opened the Samford series with a 3-2 win but was unable to pick up a series victory after dropping the final two games 11-1 and 4-1. The Paladins put up a good effort against #6 South Carolina but dropped their third-straight contest 8-5 on Tuesday. Furman struck early with single runs in the third and fourth innings behind Lyne's quality start on the mound, but was unable to tally more than one run in the final two games.
Eric Phillips (Carrollton, Ga.) leads the Southern Conference with a .452 batting average and ranks third in the NCAA with 38 hits. The senior captain cracked the top-10 for career stolen bases with his 15th stolen base of the year. Scooter Williams (Detroit, Mich.) has cut down his strikeouts and has punched out just once in his last five games. Williams has reached base in every game since returning to the leadoff spot against #24 Wake Forest.
The Eagles hold a 50-32 series advantage after a sweep of the Paladins last year. Georgia Southern has won seven-straight contests dating back to a series loss in 2009. The series is a much closer one at Latham Stadium, where GSU holds a 17-13 advantage.
All games can be heard on Boomer 103.7 FM and inside the stadium on 88.1 FM. Audio for all games is also available on the web and subscription video is available for all home games at GeorgiaSouthernEagles.com/Eaglevision.
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