Last year when they left Athens, I said that I would be stunned if Georgia Southern finished above .500. I just didn’t see it with that group. They were young offensively and didn’t seem to have very good approaches at the plate. Like all Georgia Southern teams, they relied heavily on a few arms on the mound and I figured those guys would get tired. Boy did they prove me wrong. Georgia Southern went 35-22 the rest of the way after leaving Athens to finish 36-24 overall. They reached the championship game of the Sun Belt tourney before they were beaten by Louisiana Lafayette.
Georgia Southern is off to a 2-2 start. They split a pair of one run games with Middle Tennessee State last weekend, losing in extras on Opening Day. They won the rubber game 8-5. On Tuesday, they lost to tech 10-3, but they spotted the jackets 5 runs in the top of the first inning…
I was skimming through my write up of Georgia Southern last season and laughed at the same number of familiar names on this team. We’ll see the same three pitchers this weekend.
Evan Challenger is now in his fifth year, although I was pretty sure he pitched against us down there in 2005. Challenger is a smallish lefty from Mount Dora, Florida. He didn’t throw last weekend. In 2016, he was 7-5 in 16 appearances, all starts, and posted a solid 3.14 ERA. He threw 103 1/3 innings last year to lead their squad and held opponents to a .219 average against. He was good, but not great, against us last year. He went 5 innings and allowed 4 runs, all earned, with a walk and a strikeout. Friday night will mark his 36th start in a Georgia Southern uniform.
On Saturday, we’ll see Brian Eichhorn, a stocky right hander from Richmond Hill. Eichhorn pitched in 16 games a year ago, starting 13. He posted a 6-2 record and a 3.74 ERA. He also threw a CG against Georgia State (who has beaten Georgia Southern two years in a row in football, but I digress). Eichhorn got the start on Friday night last week in place of Challenger and was ok, going 4 innings and allowing 2 runs (1 earned) with 1 walk and 3 K’s. He threw 70 pitches and most of his outs came and ground balls. In his college debut against us last season on Sunday we got 1 earned run off of him in 4 innings on 3 hits. We had 1 walk and 1 strikeout and he got a number of ground ball outs. I remember thinking they probably got him too fast last year as he was pitching well against us.
Sunday we’ll see Chase Cohen… In 2013, the Saturday game was a matchup of former Cartersville Purple Hurricanes. I guess Sunday this year is a battle of Chases. Cohen is a sophomore righty from Alpharetta by way of Alpharetta High School. He pitched in 17 games last year, starting 15. He had a strong ERA of 2.66 over 74 1/3 innings. He started on Sunday last week and threw 4 innings, allowing 6 hits, 3 earned runs, and no walks with 6 strikeouts. He threw 78 pitches. In his college debut against us last year on Saturday, He was very good, going 5 innings walking 1 with 7 strikeouts and only 1 hit. I remember being surprised when they got him last year, also.
For a rotation that features two sophomores, these guys are pretty experienced on the mound. I don’t know why Challenger didn’t pitch last weekend, but Eichhorn and Cohen should be plenty fresh.
Georgia Southern has had some of their own issues pitching on the young season, allowing a .310 average against and a 4.50 staff ERA. I imagine Challenger will stabilize things for them a bit this weekend. These guys have pitched us really well over the last four seasons. The games that we’ve won, we really haven’t run away with… without question the easiest win we’ve had against these guys was Stricklin’s first win here in 2014. Overall, they’ve really handled our hitters well… that’s across two different coaching staffs and several different lineups.
Offensively for the Eagles, it’s a lot of the same faces. Ryan Cleveland, older brother of Ben Cleveland, is off to a hot start. The senior 1B from Toccoa is hitting .462/.600/.692 on the young year with 3 doubles and 7 RBI. CJ Brazil, the senior catcher from Marietta is hitting .333/.429/.333… and strange for a catcher, is really good at getting a bunt down. The top of Georgia Southern’s order struggled a bit last weekend and they switched some things around for the tech game. We should see Jordan Wren, Frank’s son, in CF (he played LF a season ago). Wren is off to a slow start hitting wise at .143/.400/.143, but I saw that he hit cleanup on Tuesday night against tech. You hate to see guys like him and Evan McDonald getting off to slow starts, as these are good hitters who are bound to raise their numbers…
I thought last weekend was a good test for us. We got to see a very good starting pitcher right out of the gate and our pitchers got to see a very good lineup. Georgia Southern is a little bit of a different deal, though. They’re going to be deeper on the mound than College of Charleston, and they have a lot of experience at the plate. Although we did (finally) beat them on the weekend last year, I’m sure that they aren’t scared of us. This series was a really, really big deal to them in 2013. I don’t know if it’s still the same for them emotionally, but I’m sure they’ll approach it with a chip on their shoulder and with something to prove. This is probably the best Georgia Southern team we’ve seen since 2014… We are going to have to play really well, and pitch really well, if we’re going to win this thing this weekend.
Georgia Southern is off to a 2-2 start. They split a pair of one run games with Middle Tennessee State last weekend, losing in extras on Opening Day. They won the rubber game 8-5. On Tuesday, they lost to tech 10-3, but they spotted the jackets 5 runs in the top of the first inning…
I was skimming through my write up of Georgia Southern last season and laughed at the same number of familiar names on this team. We’ll see the same three pitchers this weekend.
Evan Challenger is now in his fifth year, although I was pretty sure he pitched against us down there in 2005. Challenger is a smallish lefty from Mount Dora, Florida. He didn’t throw last weekend. In 2016, he was 7-5 in 16 appearances, all starts, and posted a solid 3.14 ERA. He threw 103 1/3 innings last year to lead their squad and held opponents to a .219 average against. He was good, but not great, against us last year. He went 5 innings and allowed 4 runs, all earned, with a walk and a strikeout. Friday night will mark his 36th start in a Georgia Southern uniform.
On Saturday, we’ll see Brian Eichhorn, a stocky right hander from Richmond Hill. Eichhorn pitched in 16 games a year ago, starting 13. He posted a 6-2 record and a 3.74 ERA. He also threw a CG against Georgia State (who has beaten Georgia Southern two years in a row in football, but I digress). Eichhorn got the start on Friday night last week in place of Challenger and was ok, going 4 innings and allowing 2 runs (1 earned) with 1 walk and 3 K’s. He threw 70 pitches and most of his outs came and ground balls. In his college debut against us last season on Sunday we got 1 earned run off of him in 4 innings on 3 hits. We had 1 walk and 1 strikeout and he got a number of ground ball outs. I remember thinking they probably got him too fast last year as he was pitching well against us.
Sunday we’ll see Chase Cohen… In 2013, the Saturday game was a matchup of former Cartersville Purple Hurricanes. I guess Sunday this year is a battle of Chases. Cohen is a sophomore righty from Alpharetta by way of Alpharetta High School. He pitched in 17 games last year, starting 15. He had a strong ERA of 2.66 over 74 1/3 innings. He started on Sunday last week and threw 4 innings, allowing 6 hits, 3 earned runs, and no walks with 6 strikeouts. He threw 78 pitches. In his college debut against us last year on Saturday, He was very good, going 5 innings walking 1 with 7 strikeouts and only 1 hit. I remember being surprised when they got him last year, also.
For a rotation that features two sophomores, these guys are pretty experienced on the mound. I don’t know why Challenger didn’t pitch last weekend, but Eichhorn and Cohen should be plenty fresh.
Georgia Southern has had some of their own issues pitching on the young season, allowing a .310 average against and a 4.50 staff ERA. I imagine Challenger will stabilize things for them a bit this weekend. These guys have pitched us really well over the last four seasons. The games that we’ve won, we really haven’t run away with… without question the easiest win we’ve had against these guys was Stricklin’s first win here in 2014. Overall, they’ve really handled our hitters well… that’s across two different coaching staffs and several different lineups.
Offensively for the Eagles, it’s a lot of the same faces. Ryan Cleveland, older brother of Ben Cleveland, is off to a hot start. The senior 1B from Toccoa is hitting .462/.600/.692 on the young year with 3 doubles and 7 RBI. CJ Brazil, the senior catcher from Marietta is hitting .333/.429/.333… and strange for a catcher, is really good at getting a bunt down. The top of Georgia Southern’s order struggled a bit last weekend and they switched some things around for the tech game. We should see Jordan Wren, Frank’s son, in CF (he played LF a season ago). Wren is off to a slow start hitting wise at .143/.400/.143, but I saw that he hit cleanup on Tuesday night against tech. You hate to see guys like him and Evan McDonald getting off to slow starts, as these are good hitters who are bound to raise their numbers…
I thought last weekend was a good test for us. We got to see a very good starting pitcher right out of the gate and our pitchers got to see a very good lineup. Georgia Southern is a little bit of a different deal, though. They’re going to be deeper on the mound than College of Charleston, and they have a lot of experience at the plate. Although we did (finally) beat them on the weekend last year, I’m sure that they aren’t scared of us. This series was a really, really big deal to them in 2013. I don’t know if it’s still the same for them emotionally, but I’m sure they’ll approach it with a chip on their shoulder and with something to prove. This is probably the best Georgia Southern team we’ve seen since 2014… We are going to have to play really well, and pitch really well, if we’re going to win this thing this weekend.
