Full Game Notes

Georgia Southern Eagles (0-0, 0-0) Head Coach: Rodney Hennon
at Georgia Bulldogs (0-0, 0-0) Head Coach: Scott Stricklin

GAME INFORMATION
Dates: Fri.-Sun., Feb. 14-16
Times: 5 p.m., 1 p.m., 1 p.m.
Site: Athens, Ga./Foley Field
Rankings: None
TV/Video Stream: georgiadogs.com
Radio: Georgia Southern Radio Network/GS All-Access
Twitter: @GSAthletics, @GSAthletics_BSB
Facebook: facebook.com/GSAthletics
Live Stats: georgiadogs.com
Series Record: Georgia leads 49-41-1
Last 10: Ga. Southern 2-8; Georgia 5-5

Storylines: Georgia Southern and Georgia meet for the season-opening series for a second-straight season. This time the Bulldogs play host to the Eagles in Athens. GSU took two of three games from UGA a year ago. The Bulldogs have a new coach this season in former Kent State skipper Scott Stricklin. Friday and Sunday's games can be heard on the Georgia Southern Radio Network. Saturday's contest will be streamed online at gseagles.com.

Team Scope
Ga. Southern: The Georgia Southern Eagles open the 2014 season on the road for the first time since 2007 when they left the mainland to play a three-game series at Hawaii. The Eagles open the year at Georgia on Feb. 14 and will continue the three-game series on Feb. 15 and Feb. 16. GSU features a new look squad that has 22 newcomers. The Eagles were picked to finish third in the SoCon by the league's media and fifth by the coaches, and Chase Griffin and Ben Morgan were selected to the Preseason All-SoCon Second Team.

Georgia: The Georgia Bulldogs are set to open the Scott Stricklin era on Valentine's Day against Georgia Southern. Stricklin, who led his alma mater Kent State to five NCAA Regionals and a College World Series berth in 2012, takes over a program that has missed the NCAA Regionals the past two seasons and went 21-32 a year ago. Georgia returns 17 lettermen from a year ago and added 12 newcomers including former Eagle Jared Cheek. Cheek went 0-1 with a 5.23 ERA in 20.2 innings in 2011 before transferring to Florence-Darlington Technical College.

Who's Hot: Ben Morgan, who led Georgia Southern with a .307 batting average last year, finished the season on a five-game hitting streak. ... Junior outfielder Hunter Cole is one of Georgia's top returning hitters after posting a .303 batting average with four home runs and 33 RBIs.

On The Bump
Friday, Feb. 14
LHP Sam Howard (0-0, 0.00) vs. RHP Sean McLaughlin (0-0, 0.00)
Howard assumes the Friday night role left vacant by Justin Hess, who signed as an undrafted free agent with the Houston Astros after graduating. Howard made 11 starts last season and posted a 6-7 record with a 5.55 ERA in 23 games. Last year against Georgia, he started game two of the series and earned the win after holding the Bulldogs to one unearned run over seven innings.

One of Georgia's top returning pitchers, McLaughlin went 5-6 with a 3.28 ERA in 13 starts a year ago and was named to the SEC's All-Freshman squad. He started last season's opener against the Eagles and earned the win after allowing three runs on five hits.

Saturday, Feb. 15
RHP Josh Wirsu (0-0, 0.00) vs. LHP Ryan Lawlor (0-0, 0.00)
Junior college transfer Wirsu is slated to make his Eagle debut on Saturday. He comes to Georgia Southern from Gordon State College, where he played two season and posted a 3.03 ERA as a sophomore. Wirsu struck out 74 batters in 63 innings a year ago.

Freshman Lawlor is also set to make his debut for Georgia on Saturday. He joined the Bulldogs in the fall after spending one season at Middle Georgia College, where he went 7-1 with a 1.29 ERA and 58 strikeouts. Lawlor attended Calvary Day School in Savannah before attending Middle Georgia.

Sunday, Feb. 16
RHP Ryan Frederick (0-0, 0.00) vs. LHP Patrick Boling (0-0, 0.00)
Newcomer Frederick will make his Eagle debut on Sunday. He last played baseball for Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) as a freshman but the baseball program was cut by the school following the season. Frederick set out the 2013 season and worked at a local grocery store before trying out for the team in the fall.

Senior Boling holds a career mark of 4-9 with a 4.72 ERA in 46 appearances and 14 starts. He has logged over 110.2 innings and tallied 116 strikeouts and 63 walks in his three-year career with the Bulldogs. Started against the Eagles a year ago in game two and lost to Sam Howard in a 3-2 decision. He struck out nine batters and walked only one in four innings. Drafted in the summer by the Washington Nationals in the 32nd round.

Georgia Southern Review
Georgia Southern went 27-32 in 2013 and finished seventh in the Southern Conference after posting a 13-17 league mark. The Eagles got off to a hot start taking two of three games in the season-opening series against Georgia and defeating Florida just three days later. GSU won 12 of 13 games from March 8 to March 28 including a 5-4 road win over Georgia Tech on March 19. Their success was noticed nationally and the Eagles were ranked 22nd by Baseball America on March 27. However, GSU was unable to hold onto their early momentum and found themselves winners of just 8 of their final 31 regular season contests. The Eagles went on to win their first two games of the Southern Conference Tournament before falling twice to Elon.

GEORGIA SERIES AT A GLANCE
Overall: 41-49-1
Home: 17-15-1
Away: 10-18
Neutral: 1-2
Unknown: 13-14
Under Hennon: 8-13
Streak: W2
First Meeting: 1957, Unknown, W
Last Meeting: 2/17/13, Statesboro, W 11-2