Baseball | 5/25/2017 2:47:00 PM

CHAMPIONSHIP CENTRAL

STATESBORO, GA. - Heavy rains in the region have wreaked havoc on the Sun Belt Baseball Championship Schedule, forcing a 48-hour delay in the schedule and a new single elimination format. The Eagles open postseason play against Louisiana on Friday night at 7:30 p.m. at the friendly confines of Jack Stallings Field at J.I. Clements Stadium.

A win on Friday would advance the Eagles to Saturday's second semifinal at 7:30 p.m. against either Coastal Carolina or the lowest seeded survivor of Thursday's preliminary round. All games in the tournament can be seen live on ESPN3. Fans can pick up their tickets at GSEagles.com/Tickets or at the J.I. Clements Stadium Box Office.

The Georgia National Guard Fan Fair will be open on Friday from Noon to 9 p.m. with carnival games, a 47-foot Ferris Wheel, food stands and a stage with the Chris Mitchell band playing sets between games. The fan fair is located in the lower parking lot on the first base side of the ballpark.

GAME NOTES
Georgia Southern
Louisiana

FRIDAY (5.26.17)
7:30 p.m. - J.I. Clements Stadium (Statesboro, Ga.)
RADIO - Ga. Southern Sports Network
VIDEO - ESPN3
LIVE STATS
GS - LHP - Evan Challenger
UL - LHP - Gunner Leger

QUICK HITS
- Georgia Southern kicks off the 2017 Sun Belt Baseball Championship on Wednesday against Louisiana. The Eagles won the regular season series against the Cajuns just three weeks ago. The game is a rematch of the 2016 Sun Belt Baseball Championship Game.
- Georgia Southern closed the regular season on a winning note, posting a 13-3 win over Georgia State on Saturday afternoon. Seth Shuman improved to 7-0 on the season. The Eagle offense tallied 14 hits including three each from Ryan Cleveland and Logan Baldwin.
- Georgia Southern leads 60-18 in the all-time series against Georgia State, but is just 4-3 since entering the Sun Belt Conference before the 2015 baseball season. Two years ago the Eagles dropped the opener before taking games two and three. Last year the Eagles split a doubleheader to open the series and took the series.
- Georgia Southern makes its third appearance in the Sun Belt Championship this season and own a 3-3 all-time record in the Sun Belt Championship. The Eagles went 0-2 in 2015, dropping games to Georgia State and Arkansas State. The Eagles went 3-1 in the 2016 tournament, defeating Little Rock (13-4), UT Arlington (6-0) and South Alabama (4-0) before falling to Louisiana in the Championship Game, 5-0.
- In the Division I era, Georgia Southern Baseball has claimed 10 Conference Tournament Championships, winning the TAAC four times and the Southern Conference six times.
- The winner of the 2017 Sun Belt Championship earns a spot in the NCAA Baseball Tournament. The Eagles have reached the NCAAs 14 times. The Eagles have gone to the College World Series in Omaha twice, reaching the "Big Show" in 1973 and 1990.
- Georgia Southern Head Coach Rodney Hennon has consistently reached the 30 win mark in his career, crossing the threshold 19 times in his 20 total seasons and 17 of 18 years at Georgia Southern. The Eagles have twice reached 42 overall wins in 2001 (42-20) and 2009 (42-17). The last time the Eagles reached 40 wins was the 2009 season when GS went 42-19 with the SoCon's automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament and a trip to the Fullerton Regional.
- The Georgia Southern offense in 2017 has been buoyed by the bats of three freshman who have announced their presence with authority. Steven Curry is hitting .318 from the leadoff spot in the order to make a run at Sun Belt Freshman of the Year. Curry has a team-best .430 on base percentage and a .995 fielding mark with just one error this season. Mason McWhorter is hitting .305 with four home runs.   Mitchell Golden is hitting .292 between shortstop and third base.
- Steven Curry's performance as the leadoff hitter for the Eagles has rivaled the work of an athlete in a different sport with a similar name. Curry is 18-for-41 (.439 AVG) in the first inning as the Eagle leadoff batter. He has reached base 31 times in 51 plate appearances (18 H / 6 BB / 4 HBP / 3 ROE) at a 61% rate. From those appearances, he has scored 15 runs in the first inning.
- In 2017 Georgia Southern has done well to hold on to their leads. The Eagles are 27-1 when leading after six innings, 27-1 when leading after seven and 30-0 when leading after eight. The Eagle bullpen has blown just two saves this year.
- Six has been the magic number over the last four years for Georgia Southern Baseball with a 97-12 record when scoring six or more runs. The Eagles are 29-5 this season with six or more.
- After a late night return from Louisiana, Georgia Southern rose early on May 8th to celebrate the graduation of four Eagles. Adam Kelly, Colt Ramsey, Evan Challenger and Anthony Paesano were awarded their degrees in a special commencement ceremony at Bishop Fieldhouse, officiated by University Provost Dr. Jean Bartels.

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.