Softball Hosts Eagle Classic This Weekend
2/28/2013 11:10:33 PM | Softball
VIDEO: Interview with Head Coach Annie Smith
STATESBORO, GA. – Georgia Southern Softball returns to the friendly confines this weekend for the 2013 Eagle Classic. The Eagles will play five games this weekend with the opener on Friday afternoon at 3:30 p.m. versus Alabama State. Chick-fil-A will provide free sandwiches for the Eagles' second game at 5:30 p.m. against Florida International. Following Sunday's game there will be a poster signing for fans outside the team's locker room.
Georgia Southern’s games this weekend can be seen live online at GSEagles.com. To access the video stream, click on the Watch & Listen button on the homepage and watch on “Channel 2.”
Through the season’s first 100 innings, the Georgia Southern (7-7) pitching staff has been dominant behind the efforts of Sarah Purvis, Brooke Red and Allie Miles. Purvis is 5-3 with a 1.67 ERA and 56 strikeouts. She earned the program’s first perfect game on February 15th with a 1-0 blanking of Southern Illinois. Red has a 1.87 ERA this season while Miles had recorded a 2.50 ERA in 33.2 innings of work.
The Eagles batters posted their first run-rule win of the season last weekend with a 9-1 thrashing of Boston University. Shelby Morrill owns the teams’ top batting average at .368 while Kourtny Thomas has four home runs and a .636 slugging percentage. Morrill, the Eagles’ designated player has reached base at a .520 clip, taking 11 walks.
The field for this weekend’s tournament includes some big name teams. South Carolina enters the weekend with an 8-3 record out of the SEC. Florida International is 10-6 this season, their final season in the Sun Belt before making the move to Conference USA. Kennesaw State is 10-2, but the Eagles took three games from their in-state rival last season in the Owls’ first-ever three-game weekend series. A member of the SWAC, the Alabama State Hornets are 1-9 on the 2013 season.
The Eagles stay home this week for the first midweek game of the 2013 campaign on Wednesday afternoon against Jacksonville starting from 5 p.m.
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.
FULL TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
Friday – March 1st, 2013
Alabama St. vs. Kennesaw St. – 11:30 a.m. - GAMETRACKER
Florida International vs. Kennesaw St. – 1:30 p.m. – GAMETRACKER
Georgia Southern vs. Alabama St. – 3:30 p.m. - GAMETRACKER
Georgia Southern vs. Florida International – 5:30 p.m. - GAMETRACKER
Saturday – March 2nd, 2013
Alabama St. vs. South Carolina – 9:30 a.m. - GAMETRACKER
South Carolina vs. Kennesaw St. – 11:30 a.m. - GAMETRACKER
Alabama St. vs. Florida International – 1:30 p.m. - GAMETRACKER
Kennesaw St. vs. Georgia Southern – 3:30 p.m. - GAMETRACKER
Florida International vs. Georgia Southern – 5:30 p.m. - GAMETRACKER
Sunday – March 3rd, 2013
Kennesaw St. vs. Alabama St. – 10 a.m. - GAMETRACKER
Florida International vs. South Carolina – Noon - GAMETRACKER
South Carolina vs. Georgia Southern – 2 p.m. - GAMETRACKER
