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GEORGIA SOUTHERN EAGLES (26-13, 8-7 SoCon) 
SAMFORD BULLDOGS (22-15, 7-5 SoCon) 
GAME INFORMATION
Date: Friday-Sunday, April 18-20
Time: 6 p.m., 2:30 p.m., 1:30 p.m.
Site: Statesboro, Ga./J.I. Clements Stadium
Rankings: None
Coach: GSU - Rodney Hennon (608-393-1/17th), SAM - Casey Dunn (294-263/10th)
TV/Video Stream: http://gseagles.com/coverage.aspx?
Radio: Georgia Southern Radio Network/GS All-Access
Twitter: @GSAthletics, @GSAthletics_BSB
Facebook: facebook.com/GSAthletics
Live Stats:  http://gseagles.com/coverage.aspx?
Last 10: Ga. Southern 6-4; Samford 6-4
Series Record: Ga. Southern leads 46-14

STORYLINES

• Georgia Southern is looking to get on a roll in Southern Conference play and will start the final stretch of four series by hosting the Samford Bulldogs this weekend. 
• The weekend series features the top two home run hitting teams in the SoCon. Both GSU and Samford are tied for first place in the league with 40 long balls.
• Two-time conference mates in the TAAC and now the SoCon will meet for the final time in a conference series before the Eagles head to the Sun Belt next season.
• The series is the first of four series which will finish out the 27-game conference schedule. The Eagles went 8-7 over the first five series, winning against Appalachian State and The Citadel.
• GSU holds a 46-14 edge in the all-time series and is 10-2 at home in J.I. Clements Stadium.
• GSU held the College of Charleston to just five hits, the fewest hits allowed since March 15, and won for just the 10th time without the aid of a home run in Wednesday's 7-3 victory over the College of Charleston.
• Samford jumped out to a 6-0 lead but had to hold on to complete the season sweep of the Auburn Tigers in a 7-6 win on Tuesday.

SERIES HISTORY

• Georgia Southern leads the 60 game all-time series against Samford by a record of 46-14.
• The Eagles are 10-2 at home in J.I. Clements Stadium but dropped the last meeting in Statesboro in 2012.
• GSU won a year ago in Birmingham with a 18-14 victory in game two and a 6-3 win in game three.
• The two teams met in the Southern Conference Tournament Championship game in both the 2011 and 2012 seasons. The Eagles took the Tournament Title with a 1-0 complete game from Chris Beck in 2011 and the Bulldogs got their first NCAA Regional Appearance with a 9-6 10-inning win in 2012. 
• The two teams squared off regularly from 1983 to 1990 as members of the TAAC conference and again from 2009 on as members of the SoCon. The two teams will part ways for the third time following this season as the Eagles are headed to the Sun Belt Conference.

ON THE BUMP    
Friday, April 17
LHP Sam Howard (4-4, 1.99) vs. RHP Alex Ledford (5-2, 5.46)

Saturday, April 18
RHP Josh Wirsu (7-2, 3.14) vs. RHP Jared Brasher (2-2, 6.08)

Sunday, April 19
RHP Matt McCall (1-1, 4.39) vs. RHP Alex Milazzo (3-2, 6.92)

TEAM NOTES

• The Georgia Southern Eagles lead the Southern Conference in overall wins with 26.
• GSU ranks in the top three in the conference in batting average (.303), slugging pct. (.450) and on-base percentage (.383).
• The Eagles lead the league in runs scored (291), hits (416), RBI (259), doubles (76), home runs (40) and total bases (618).
• The GSU pitching staff ranks second in the SoCon with a 3.35 ERA and leads the league in innings pitched (344.0), strikeouts (323), pick offs (10), fewest runs allowed (164) and fewest walks allowed (120).
• GSU has had an extra-base hit in each of their last seven games.
• The Eagles struck out 11 times in Wednesday's 7-3 win over the College of Charleston. The game was just the seventh this season, compared to 27 times in 2013, in which they have punched out 10 or more times.
• GSU's 14 hits in the mid-week victory was the most in nine games.
• The Eagles tallied four doubles and won for just the 10th time without hitting a home run this season on Wednesday.
• Seven Eagle pitchers combined to strikeout 13 batters in Wednesday's win. The total tied for the third most this season.
• GSU held the College of Charleston to just five hits, the fewest hits allowed since March 15, on Wednesday.
• J.I. Clements Stadium crowds rank among the best in the nation this season. A total of 30,394 fans have attended games at GSU this season, which ranks 41st in the NCAA. The average attendance of 1,321 fans ranks 48th in the nation.

INDIVIDUAL NOTES

• Garrett Chapman leads the team with 16 multi-hit games after recording his first four-hit game of his career in Wednesday's mid-week victory.
• Chapman leads the team in batting average (.387), runs (33) and hits (53). The freshman infielder is vying to be the first freshman Eagle since 1984 to lead the team in batting average.
• Chapman has reached base in 19-straight games and has a hit in his last four games.
• Dalton Busby, who leads the team in multi-RBI games and is tied for second with 13 multi-hit games, returned to the lineup for the first time since missing five games with an injury. Busby went two for five with a double in Wednesday's win over the College of Charleston.
• Kody Adams has hit safely in his last seven games and is hitting .341 in his last 10 games. Adams has also reached base in eight-straight games.
• Matt McCall ranks seventh in career saves and has a career-high seven saves this season.
• Ben Morgan needs just five more stolen bases to crack the career top-10 list.
• Jason Richman's 1.20 ERA currently ranks 4th all-time in Eagle history. Richman also needs just four more appearances to crack the season top-10 list.

CONNECTION JUNCTION

• Middle Georgia Teammates Eric Alonzo and Caleb Bryson will reconnect this weekend.
• The Eagles have no players from the state of Alabama while the Bulldogs have six players from the state of Georgia.

SAMFORD SERIES AT A GLANCE
Overall: 46-14
Home: 10-2
Away: 11-4
Neutral: 1-1
Unknown: 24-7
Hennon vs Opponent: 11-6
Streak: W2
First Meeting: 1983, Unknown, W 10-0
Last Meeting: 3/17/13, Birmingham, W 6-3
Last 10 Meetings: 5-5

Georgia Southern Athletics provides up-to-date information on all its sports through its official website, GSEagles.com, through social media channels facebook.com/GSAthletics and twitter.com/GSAthletics.