Baseball | 4/9/2015 2:43:00 PM

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STATESBORO, Ga. – The Georgia Southern baseball team returns home after a seven-game road trip to host UT Arlington in a three-game Sun Belt Conference series at J.I. Clements Stadium.

The first 500 fans through the gates Friday will receive a free pair of Verizon sunglasses, and Saturday the Eagles (19-15) will shave their heads in support of the fight against cancer. The team is participating in the Vs. Cancer Fundraiser and fans can make donations at http://team.vs-cancer.org/georgiasouthern.

Georgia Southern will face the Mavericks (14-17) for the first time in program history. First pitch in the series is slated for 6 p.m. on Friday, game two will get underway at 2 p.m. on Saturday; and the series concludes with a noon start on Sunday.

The Eagles won their third conference series on the road at Louisiana last weekend before dropping a mid-week contest to the College of Charleston on Tuesday. They will look to get back on track this weekend and currently sit in third place in the Sun Belt Conference.

GS is hitting .265 as a squad. Aaron Mizell leads the team with a .311 batting average and is riding a 14-game reached base streak. Mizell is looking to become the first player since A.J. Wirnsberger (2009-10) to have back-to-back seasons of 10 or more home runs. Mizell currently sits with 9 long balls on the year.

The pitching staff holds a 4.03 ERA and has been impressive in conference play with a 2.77 ERA over 15 games. The Eagles will send the same rotation to the mound from a week ago. 

Lefthander Evan Challenger is 3-0 with a 1.06 ERA in seven starts and will take the ball in the series opener. Tripp Sheppard (3-2, 3.03 ERA) will start on Saturday, and freshman lefthander Connor Simmons (1-2, 2.38 ERA) will get the nod on Sunday.

UT Arlington is just the fourth team the GS program has ever faced from the state of Texas and enters the weekend tied for eighth place in the conference. UTA brings a solid team that boasts four hitters with a .300 or better batting average. 

The Mavericks are hitting .265 and are led by Travis Sibley, who ranks fourth in the league with 43 hits. Matt McLean leads the squad with a .351 batting average and has 22 walks in 97 at-bats.

The UT Arlington pitching staff holds a 4.18 ERA. Head Coach Darin Thomas will send righthander Chad Nack (2-2, 4.84 ERA) to the mound on Friday, lefthander Brad Vassar (2-2, 2.19 ERA) will start Saturday and righthander Joel Kuhnel (1-1, 3.16) will get the call on Sunday.

Links to live video, live audio and live stats are also available on GSEagles.com.
 
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, twitter.com/GSAthletics, iOS app Georgia Southern Eagles and Android app Eagles GATA. For tickets to Georgia Southern athletics events, call 1-800-GSU-WINS or visit GSEagles.com.