Softball Travels to Appalachian State
4/20/2012 3:27:00 PM | Softball
* Saturday's doubleheader changed to an 11 a.m. start *
STATESBORO, Ga. - After five-straight games at home, Georgia Southern softball is back on the road for a three-game series at Appalachian State. The Eagles and Mountaineers square off on Saturday beginning at 11 a.m. Last season GSU won the regular season series at Eagle Field, but the Mountaineers ended the Eagles' season with a 4-2 victory in nine innings.
Georgia Southern enters the weekend series with a 29-15 overall record. The Eagles are first place in the Southern Conference with a 14-1 record in league play. Appalachian State is 17-19 overall with a 7-9 SoCon record.
Against Charleston last weekend Sarah Purvis (Warner Robins, Ga.) won the first and last games of the series. In the opener she went 10 innings with 16 strikeouts. She came on in relief on Sunday to pick up the victory which improved her to 15-8 this year. She has 179 total strikeouts this season and hasn't allowed more than three hits in her last six appearances, four of which were complete games.
Marie Fogle (Rincon, Ga.) is the top batter for the Eagles with a .416 batting average and a .672 slugging percentage. She hit her sixth home run of the season on Wednesday afternoon against North Florida. Fogle has been moving up the career charts at Georgia Southern and ranks third in career batting average (.345) and first in career slugging percentage (.550). Mackenzie Williams (Baxley, Ga.) leads the Eagles with seven home runs and 30 RBI to go with a .285 average to go with a team-high 31 walks.
The Eagle pitching staff owns a 1.81 team ERA with Brooke Red (Warner Robins, Ga.) posting a 1.57 ERA to go with a 10-0 record in her freshman season with the Eagles. Allie Miles (Dacula, Ga.), the SoCon Preseason Pitcher of the Year has come on strong of late, earning complete game victories in her last two league outings.
The Mountaineer pitching staff is led by Caroline Wainwright's 8-7 record. She has a 3.32 ERA in 25 appearances while holding opponents to a .268 batting average. Six Mountaineers are hitting over the .300 mark with Allie Cashion posting a .400 mark. She also has 12 home runs for a .810 slugging percentage.
The weekend series begins on Saturday morning with a 11 a.m. doubleheader. The weekend concludes with a 1 p.m. series finale on Sunday afternoon.
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