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GEORGIA SOUTHERN EAGLES (34-20, 15-12 SoCon) 
SOUTHERN CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT
GAME INFORMATION
Date: Wednesday, May 21
Time: 10:00 a.m.
Site: Charleston, S.C./Joe Riley, Jr. Park
Rankings: None
Coaches: GSU - Rodney Hennon (615-400-1/17th), APP - Billy Jones (92-90/4th)
TV/Video Stream: www.soconsports.com
Radio: Georgia Southern Radio Network/GS All-Access
Twitter: @GSAthletics, @GSAthletics_BSB
Facebook: facebook.com/GSAthletics
Live Stats: www.soconsports.com
Last 10: Ga. Southern 7-3; Appalachian State 4-6
Series Record: Ga. Southern leads 57-20

STORYLINES
The Georgia Southern Eagles open the 2014 Southern Conference Tournament at 10 a.m. on Wednesday against the Appalachian State Mountaineers.
SoCon Pitcher of the Year Josh Wirsu will get the start for the Eagles. Wirsu was selected as the league's top pitcher by both the leagues' head coaches and media members.
The SoCon Tournament returns to Joe Riley, Jr. Park in Charleston, S.C. for the first time since 2011, when the Eagles won the Tournament as the #4 seed.
GSU has won the SoCon Tournament five times and has done so twice as the #4 seed. The Eagles finished tied for third in the league but are once again the #4 seed entering the 2014 tournament due to losing the head-to-head series with Samford.
GSU is 54-35 all-time in the SoCon Tournament and has faced Appalachian State only three times. The Eagles hold a 2-1 record in those meetings. 
The Tournament will be the last for both Georgia Southern and Appalachian State, who will both be joining the Sun Belt Conference next season.
The Eagles won the regular season series in Statesboro by winning the opener 7-4 and the finale 10-7. The Mountaineers had a lead late in both contests, but GSU was able to rally for four runs in the seventh inning in game one and seven runs in the eighth inning in game three. APP won game two of the series 3-2.
Georgia Southern won two games in one day in the 2013 SoCon Tournament in Greenville and set primed for their third-straight SoCon Tournament Championship game appearance, but Elon won both games on Saturday to eliminate the Eagles. 

SERIES HISTORY
Georgia Southern holds a 57-20 record in the all-time series with Appalachian State after winning the series in Statesboro.
The two teams have met only three times in the SoCon Tournament, and the Eagles hold a 2-1 edge in those contests. 
The last SoCon Tournament meeting came in 2010 when the Mountaineers eliminated the Eagles in a 6-2 contest on the second day of the tournament.
The Eagles rallied late in both wins in the 2014 season series in Statesboro, taking game one 7-4 and the finale 10-7. 
GSU is 6-4 in the last 10 games in the all-time series and has split the last four season series winning in 2012 and 2014 in Statesboro.

ON THE BUMP
Wednesday, May 21
RHP Josh Wirsu (9-3, 2.25) vs RHP Tyler Moore (9-5, 4.45)

TEAM NOTES
The Georgia Southern Eagles rank in the top four in the SoCon offensively with a .290 batting average, a .432 slugging percentage and a .373 on base percentage in the regular season.
The Georgia Southern pitching staff finished a full run better than any other league team and posted a 3.13 ERA. 
The Eagles also lead the league in opposing batting average (.249), runs allowed (228), walks allowed (163)and triples allowed (5).
GSU has won six of their last seven contests and finished SoCon play by winning series over Furman and top-seeded Western Carolina. 
After tallying six hits in each of the three games of the Western Carolina series, the Eagles posted 14 hits and scored 10 runs in the regular season finale at Jacksonville on May 13.
GSU improved to 6-7 in one-run games after the 10-9 win over the Dolphins and is now 20-8 when hitting a home run.
The Eagles have homered in three of their last four games.
GSU has tallied 10 or more hits in 28 of their 54 games this season.
The Eagle pitching staff posted four shutouts during the regular season with three coming in league play against Furman and Western Carolina.
GSU pitching has allowed two earned runs or less in their last eight games against Southern Conference foes.
J.I. Clements Stadium crowds ranked among the best in the nation this season. A total of 36,714 fans have attended games at GSU this season, which ranks 47th in the NCAA. The average attendance of 1,223 fans ranks 52nd in the nation.

INDIVIDUAL NOTES
Six Eagles earned All-Southern Conference honors led by Josh Wirsu, who was named the league's Pitcher of the Year. Wirsu was also a First Team selection by both the media and coaches.
Jason Richman was a Second Team All-SoCon pick by the coaches, while Stryker Brown and Aaron Mizell were All-SoCon Second Team by the media.
Garrett Chapman and Ryan Cleveland were both named to the league's All-Freshman team.
Chapman is seeking to become the first freshman since 1984 to lead the team in batting average. Chapman currently is hitting a team-best .356.
Chapman leads the team with 22 multi-hit games, while Stryker Brown is the team leader with 11 multi-RBI games.
Aaron Mizell leads the team with 11 home runs and is fifth on the squad with a .304 batting average.
Stryker Brown has never hit better than .257 in a full season but is second on the team with a .328 average in 2014.
Brown has reached base in 19-straight games and has a hit in four-straight games.
Aaron Mizell has a hit in each of his last five games. 
Ben Morgan is now tied for 10th all-time in GSU history for stolen bases.
Jason Richman's season ERA of 1.14 ranks second in Eagle history.
Richman sits just three appearances away from tying the school single season record.
Chase Griffin has a career-high 12 doubles this season.
Matt McCall needs one more save to tie for 5th in career saves and for 10th in single season saves.

CONNECTION JUNCTION
Georgia Southern hitting coach Chris Moore spent two seasons on Chris Pollard's staff at Appalachian State in 2011 and 2012. 
Jason Richman (GSU), Will Jackson (GSU) and Payton Smith (APP) were teammates at Milton High School in Alpharetta, Ga. 
Ben Morgan (GSU) and Chad Farmer (APP) were teammates at Greenbrier High School in Evans, Ga.

APPALACHIAN STATE SERIES AT A GLANCE
Overall: 57-20
Home: 24-8
Away: 23-10
Neutral: 2-1
Unknown: 8-1
Hennon vs Opponent: 38-17
Streak: W1
First Meeting: 1967, Statesboro, W 7-1
Last Meeting: 3/23/14, Statesboro, W 10-7
Last 10 Meetings: 6-4

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. To purchase tickets call 1-800-GSU-WINS.