Baseball | 3/16/2017 4:26:00 PM
STATESBORO, GA. - Georgia Southern Baseball's drive for the 2017 Sun Belt Conference crown starts in earnest this weekend with a three game series against South Alabama. The Jaguars were picked second in the Sun Belt East Division Preseason Coaches' Poll, just ahead of the Eagles in third. The Eagles defeated the Jaguars twice in the regular season and once again in the Sun Belt Tournament back in 2016. The series on Jack Stallings Field at J.I. Clements Stadium starts on Friday night at 6:30 p.m.
Single game tickets are available at GSEagles.com/Tickets. Tickets can also be purchased at the J.I. Clements Stadium Box Office, located directly behind home plate at the stadium's main entrance.
2017 TEAM RECORDS
Georgia Southern - 9-7 (0-0 Sun Belt)
South Alabama - 9-7 (0-0 Sun Belt)
GAME NOTES
Georgia Southern
South Alabama
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
FRIDAY (3.17.17)
6:30 p.m. - J.I. Clements Stadium (Statesboro, Ga.)
ST. PATRICK'S DAY – Free Leprechaun Hats
One hat will have a four leaf clover in it…that person will win an Adidas Prize Package
RADIO -
Ga. Southern Sports Network
VIDEO -
ESPN3
LIVE STATS
GS - LHP -
Evan Challenger (0-3, 7.04 ERA)
USA - RHP - Randy Bell (0-1, 3.20 ERA)
SATURDAY (3.18.17)
6:30 p.m. - J.I. Clements Stadium (Statesboro, Ga.)
SCHENKEL DAY - Take a photo of yourself in front of the scoreboard at the Men's Golf Schenkel Invitational (Forest Heights Country Club, Statesboro, GA), show that photo at the ticket window at baseball and receive a discounted $5 ticket.
RADIO -
Ga. Southern Sports Network
VIDEO -
ESPN3
LIVE STATS
GS - RHP -
Brian Eichhorn (1-1, 2.78 ERA)
USA - LHP - Thomas Huston (0-1, 0.96 ERA)
SUNDAY (3.19.17)
1 p.m. - J.I. Clements Stadium (Statesboro, Ga.)
JUNIOR EAGLE CLUB SUNDAY FUNDAY
RADIO -
Ga. Southern Sports Network
VIDEO -
ESPN3
LIVE STATS
GS - RHP -
Chase Cohen (1-1, 4.24 ERA)
USA - RHP - Tyler Carr (0-0, 5.74 ERA)
QUICK HITS
- The Eagles enter the South Alabama series at a 5-8 disadvantage in all games, but took three of four over the Jaguars in 2016. The Eagles won the series with wins on Friday and Saturday nights at Stanky Field. In the Sun Belt Tournament, the Eagles downed South Alabama 4-0 to book a spot in the Championship Game behind 7.1 innings of shutout ball from
Brian Eichhorn.
- The Georgia Southern offense in 2017 has been buoyed by the bats of three freshman who have announced their presence with authority.
Mason McWhorter is hitting .392 in 12 starts with six doubles.
Mitchell Golden is hitting .373 between shortstop and third base while
Steven Curry is hitting .358 at second base.
- Sophomore
Brian Eichhorn tossed his best career outing in game two against Elon, dealing for seven innings in arctic conditions to close out the doubleheader. The righty worked around two hits and fanned 12 batters to pick up his first win of the season from his second quality start. He was the first pitcher since Sam Howard in 2014 to strike out 12 batters in a game.
- Freshman
Seth Shuman picked up his first pitching victory with five innings of two-hit shutout ball against College of Charleston. He backed that up with five innings of three hit ball against Campbell to improve to 2-0 on the year. The righty is the most experienced returning quarterback for the Eagles football team and was a 39th round pick by Baltimore in the 2016 draft. Eagle football opened spring practice on March 9th.
- After the first three series of the season, taking a redshirt was still an option for freshman catcher
Jacob Greene. Injuries over the season's first three weeks meant that Greene's services would be needed, and Coach Hennon brought Greene on for both games of the Campbell series. The second generation Eagle went 2-for-3 in his first start with a double and an RBI. He backed that up with his first collegiate home run on March 11th in finale vs. Elon.
- In the win over College of Charleston, the Eagles "broke" the new manual scoreboard by tallying 19 hits (two more than the scoreboard had numbers for).
- Three Eagles enter the South Alabama series with hit streaks of six games or more.
Jordan Wren owns a six game hit streak where he is hitting .357 (10-for-28).
Mason McWhorter has a seven game streak where he is .448 (13-for-29).
Ryan Cleveland tops the list with a nine game streak where he is hitting .363 (12-for-33).
- The 2017 Sun Belt Tournament is coming to Statesboro starting on May 23, 2017. The new format features two play in games that pit the No. 7 and No. 10 seeds and the No. 8 and No. 9 seeds for the final spots in the field of eight.
COMING UP NEXT
Georgia Southern faces The Citadel in a midweek doubleheader. Tuesday night's game is in Charleston and Wednesday's game is in Statesboro. Both contests are set for 6 p.m. before the Eagles travel to UT Arlington next weekend for a three game set.
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. Fans can purchase tickets to Georgia Southern Athletics events by visiting GSEagles.com/Tickets.
