Softball | 3/28/2017 2:41:00 PM
STATESBORO, GA. - The Georgia Southern softball team hits the road again to play a midweek game against Georgia on Wednesday night. The Eagles and Bulldogs are scheduled to play a single game in Jack Turner Stadium at 6 p.m. ET. The matchup will be streamed live on the SEC Network/WatchESPN while live stats will also be available through the website. Be sure to follow
@GSAthletics_SB on twitter for updates throughout the night.
No. 18 University of Georgia enters Wednesday's game with an overall record of 26-7 this season. The Bulldogs are back home in Athens after a tough road series against No. 7 LSU this past weekend where they went 0-3. Georgia is the fourth ranked team the Eagles will face this season, previous teams including No. 15 Tennessee, No. 7 LSU, and No. 11 Alabama. Georgia Southern lost in all of these games and has fallen short to Georgia over the years, with the Bulldogs owning a 27-1 all-time record against the Eagles.
Senior outfielder Sydni Emanuel is batting .464 this season for the Bulldogs and has maintained a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage. Her on-base percentage is .487 and she leads the team with 51 hits on the year. Not far behind is her sister, junior outfielder Cortni Emanuel batting .462 this season, with an SEC-best 31 stolen bases and 27 runs scored as of March 21. In a three-game series against Kentucky, both Emanuels had a pair of hits and they combined to score all of Georgia's runs in a 3-1 series-clinching win. Sophomore infielder Alyssa DiCarlo leads the team in home runs with eight on the year and is batting .394 with a .909 fielding percentage.
In the circle is junior Brittany Gray (16-4) who is throwing an impressive 1.59 ERA on 21 starts and 25 appearances. Gray has pitched nine complete games; one of them against the Michigan State Spartans, where she allowed only two hits and shut out the Spartans. Also leading the pitching staff is freshman Mary Wilson Avant (5-3), with a 2.02 ERA on eight starts and 20 appearances. This past weekend against LSU Avant kept the first game close despite the loss and pitched her second complete game, only allowing four hits and three walks.
The Eagles are coming off of a series win over UTA. GS sits at 15-15 overall, 5-4 in conference play. Senior
Emily Snider is leading the offense with a .372 batting average, 21 RBIs and seven home runs.
Lydia Witkowski is second on the team with a .314 average, and right behind her is freshman
Mekhia Freeman with a .303 average.
Dixie Raley is 9-10 in the circle throughout 102.2 innings of work with a 2.80 ERA and 85 strikeouts.
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.
