Eagles Visit No. 9 Georgia on Wednesday Night
3/27/2012 7:37:00 PM | Softball
STATESBORO, Ga. - After a weekend sweep over Kennesaw State, Georgia Southern Softball has one test remaining before returning to conference play this weekend. On Wednesday evening at 6:30 p.m., Georgia Southern travels to face No. 9 Georgia in Athens. The Eagles enter Wednesday's contest with a 20-10 overall record and a first place 6-0 record in the Southern Conference.
Marie Fogle (Rincon, Ga.) has been on a tear in the month of March, hitting .564 in the month, going 27-for-47 in the 15 games this month. She earned SoCon Player of the Week honors on March 19th. Overall, Fogle is .469 on the season at the plate, ranking second in the Southern Conference and eighth nationally in batting average.
Georgia Southern's pitching staff has been one of the best in the nation with the 25th ranked ERA overall and stellar pitching from top to bottom. Sophomore Sarah Purvis (Warner Robins, Ga.) leads the Eagle attack with 10 victories in the circle and a 1.84 ERA. She has struck out 118 batters this season and is holding batters to a .180 average at the plate.
Freshman Brooke Red (Warner Robins, Ga.) has been a great addition to the Eagles, posting a team-best 1.07 ERA and an unbeaten 8-0 record. She has allowed just a .184 opponent batting average with a hand in three Eagle shutouts.
The Eagle bats were at full song last weekend with leadoff batter Alexa Lewis (Lawrenceville, Ga.) going deep twice for the Eagles, while junior Andrea Tarashuk (Flemington, N.J.) logged her first career home run against the Owls. Tarashuk is hitting .303 on the year with a team-best 22 RBI. Mackenzie Williams (Baxley, Ga.) has been solid in her final season in Statesboro, hitting .318 with four home runs and 20 RBIs.
Georgia has won its last six games after dropping the series opener to Auburn on March 16th, 2-0. The Bulldogs are 27-5 this season, led offensively by Kristyn Sandberg's .380 average and nine home runs. In the circle, Eric Arevato is 12-2 with a 1.15 ERA and 114 strikeouts while Tess Sito is 7-0 with a 0.63 ERA in nine appearances. Morgan Montemayor rounds out the UGA pitching staff with an 8-3 record in 73.0 innings and a 2.21 ERA with 83 strikeouts.
After Wednesday's midweek contest, Georgia Southern returns home to host second place Chattanooga for a three-game series. The Mocs are 4-0 in league play entering this weekend's play.
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