Softball Faces Chattanooga in Pivotal Series
3/30/2012 5:48:00 PM | Softball
STATESBORO, Ga. - Off to the best start to league play in program history, Georgia Southern Softball returns home this weekend for a big three-game series against Chattanooga. The series matches the league's top-ranked pitching staff (Georgia Southern) against the top hitting team (Chattanooga), according to the statistics. Play begins on Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. with a doubleheader at Eagle field and continues on Sunday with the series finale, also at 1 p.m.
This weekend is Alumni Weekend with stars of the past returning to Statesboro for the series against Chattanooga. Alumni will be introduced to the crowd between games of Saturday's doubleheader. On Saturday afternoon, Eagle Sports Marketing will hold a free tailgate party between games of the doubleheader with hot dogs and hamburgers available in the outfield.
Marie Fogle (Rincon, Ga.) has been on a tear in the month of March, hitting .551 in the month, going 27-for-49 in the 16 games this month. She earned SoCon Player of the Week honors on March 19th. Overall, Fogle is .455 on the season at the plate, ranking second in the Southern Conference and eighth nationally in batting average. Georgia Southern as a team enters the contests at 20-11 overall and 6-0 in league play.
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 1.80 ERA. She has struck out 123 batters this season and is holding batters to a .176 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.
Against Georgia, Alexa Lewis (Lawrenceville, Ga.) celebrated her 21st birthday with a leadoff single, but it was Purvis' two-hitter that stole the show. A run in the first was all that Purvis would allow the No. 9 ranked Georgia squad to score as she retired the final 16 batters in order with five strikeouts. GSU would post two hits in the brisk evening affair which lasted just an hour and 17 minutes.
Chattanooga enters the weekend's games at 18-11 overall and 4-0 in the Southern Conference. Last weekend, Chattanooga's trip to Appalachian State was cut short by rain with the teams playing just once, a 16-4 win for the Mocs. Sara Poteat is hitting .480 on the year to lead the SoCon and ranks fourth nationally. As a team, the Mocs are hitting .348 to rank sixth in the nation. Michelle Fuzzard is hitting .447 with six home runs and a .803 slugging percentage.
WVGS 91.9 FM "The Buzz" will be broadcasting all home softball games this season. Gabriel Quintero will call the games live on the station which can be heard as far away as Claxton and Metter. Georgia Southern Softball can be seen for free on Eagle Vision at GeorgiaSouthernEagles.com. In order to access games, fans must register for an account on Eagle Vision and log in to view each game which will be provided at no charge.
Next weekend, Georgia Southern travels to UNCG for a three-game series against the Spartans beginning on Friday, April 6th.
Fans can follow their Eagles at GeorgiaSouthernEagles.com or receive short updates at facebook.com/GSAthletics, twitter.com/GSAthletics or on Google+ at gplus.to/GSAthletics.
