Baseball Hosts SoCon Leader Charleston
3/29/2012 10:35:00 PM | Baseball
STATESBORO, Ga. - The Georgia Southern Baseball team returns from a five-game road trip to host the Southern Conference leader in a three-game weekend series. The Eagles look to get back on track in conference play against College of Charleston. Game times are set for 6 p.m. on Friday, 2:30 p.m. on Saturday and 1:30 p.m. on Sunday.
Georgia Southern (12-14, 3-6) returns from a two-game series against #21 Georgia Tech. The Eagles picked up a 5-3 win over #21 Georgia Tech on a three-run double from Eric Phillips (Carrollton, Ga.) in the two-game series opener at Russ Chandler Stadium. GSU dropped the second game of the series 10-5 and were unable to hold onto an early 2-0 lead. Chase Griffin (Leesburg, Ga.) led the team in the trip to Midtown with a .375 batting average and a home run.
Phillips continues to lead the team with a .402 batting average, 10 doubles and 33 RBIs. The Eagles are hitting .287 as a squad and are among the top teams in the league with 115 walks. Griffin took over the team lead in home runs with his sixth long ball in game two against the Yellow Jackets.
After his first career save at Georgia Tech on Tuesday, Chris Beck (Jefferson, Ga.) (2-2, 3.67) takes the mound on Friday night for his seventh start of the year and will be opposed by Josh Renfro (4-1, 2.80). Justin Hess (Panama City, Fla.) (1-0, 7.59) started Tuesday's game but will return to the weekend rotation after two innings against the Yellow Jackets. Will Middour (Atlanta, Ga.) (0-2, 4.42) is slated to make his third Sunday start after a season-high five innings and four strikeouts at Furman.
College of Charleston (20-6, 10-2) has swept their last three SoCon series to take over the lead in the conference standings. The Cougars opened the conference schedule with a series loss to Elon before sweeping Furman, Wofford and Davidson.
Known for their offense, the Cougars have excelled at pitching this season with a SoCon-best team ERA of 2.21. Charleston has three pitchers with 19 or more innings pitched, who have an ERA below two runs this season. Christian Powell, who is slated to pitch Saturday, holds a 4-1 record with a team-best 1.34 ERA in 33.2 innings this season.
The Cougars' offense is hitting .262 with a .433 slugging percentage this year. Marty Gantt leads the team with a .398 batting average, 10 doubles and five home runs. Brandon Murray has hit a team best seven home runs this season but has plated only 15 runs. All-American Daniel Aldrich has struggled at times this year and is hitting .247 with two home runs and 18 RBIs.
The game can also be heard on the 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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