Georgia Southern and Georgia State will square off for the fourth-straight time as a Southern vs. State rematch is slated to open the 2015 Sun Belt Conference Baseball Tournament at 10 a.m. today in Troy, Alabama.
The Eagles (30-25), the reigning Southern Conference Tournament champions, finished fourth in the Sun Belt standings and is the tourney’s No. 4 seed.
Georgia Southern took the regular-season series from Georgia State 3-2 in 11 innings on Saturday in Atlanta. Ryan Cleveland delivered the go-ahead run with a RBI single. Georgia Southern dropped the series opener to the Panthers (29-25) 6-2 Thursday before winning game two 4-3 on Friday.
South Alabama won the regular season title and will face eight seed Arkansas State in game two of the day at 1:30 p.m. The winners of game one and two will meet in the winners bracket at 5 p.m. Thursday, while the losers will play at 10 a.m.
The Eagles enter the conference tournament hitting .259 as a team. Kody Adams leads the team with a .327 batting average, a .408 on-base percentage and 14 doubles. Aaron Mizell ranks third in the conference with 12 home runs and ranks second on the team with a .289 batting average.
The pitching staff holds a 4.21 ERA.
Evan Challenger leads the pitching rotation and ranks second in the Sun Belt with a 1.95 ERA. Challenger is 5-3 in 13 starts and will get the call today. Challenger allowed three runs on six hits and a walk on Thursday in a 6-2 loss to the Panthers.
Georgia State enters the tourney with a .273 batting average. Matt Rose leads the SBC with a 15 home runs and is hitting .289 in 50 starts.
Catcher Joey Roach leads the squad with a .314 batting average.
The Panthers’ pitching staff holds a 4.02 ERA. Nathan Bates will likely get the call today and is 5-3 with a 4.25 ERA.
Links to live stats, audio and video are available on gseagles.com.
Wolfes ties for 11th
at golf regional
NOBLESVILLE, Ind. — Scott Wolfes shot a 71 to tie for 11th, and the Georgia Southern men’s golf team posted a 304 to finish 10th at the NCAA Regional at The Sagamore Club Saturday.
The top five teams and the low individual not on those teams from each regional advanced to the NCAA Finals at The Concession Golf Club in Bradenton, Florida. The Eagles saw their season come to a close.
Illinois (4-under par) and SMU shared first place, and UNLV (1-under) took third. UCLA (5-over) and Oregon (7-over) rounded out the top-5.
Colorado’s David Oraee (-7) earned the individual advancing spot, and Brian Campbell (-10) of Illinois took medalist honors.
Kim Koivu shot 77 and tied for 43rd, while Archer Price shot 77 and tied for 51st. Matt Mierzejewski carded a 79, and Andrew Klasing posted an 86.