Hot Sticks: Eagle Baseball Leads Nation in Hitting

STATESBORO, Ga. - The first NCAA national rankings were made public Wednesday and Georgia Southern Baseball found itself ranked at or near the top in several offensive categories. The Eagles will bring a 14-8 overall record and 3-0 mark in Southern Conference play to the College of Charleston this weekend.

First pitch on Friday (March 28) is scheduled for 6 p.m. with a 1 p.m. start on Saturday and Sunday at Patriots Point. Fans can listen to every Georgia Southern game on Eagle 102.9 FM or via the internet at www.GeorgiaSouthernEagles.com.

Georgia Southern leads the nation in batting average (.359) and home runs (2.32 p/g) while also entering this week second in scoring (11.1 runs) and slugging percentage (.633).

Georgia Southern is proving there is no easy out in its line-up. The projected starting line-up for this weekend has nine starters batting .289 or better. As impressive as the early season numbers have been, head coach Rodney Hennon is encouraged to see how many different players have contributed.

"The thing on offense that has been most pleasing is that we have a lot of guys contribute at different times and that's meant a lot to our team. We can't get caught up in the numbers right now. We just have to stay focused and bring a good approach to the ballpark everyday and try to find ways to win ball games, regardless if it's 3-2 or 10-9. Finding ways to win, that's our main focus."

Junior outfielder Chris Shehan (Strasburg, PA/Lampeter-Strasburg), the two-time reigning SoCon 'Player of the Week', stands fifth nationally in runs scored (1.5 p/g) and RBI (1.68) while his team-leading .898 slugging percentage and .466 batting average rank seventh and 16th, respectively. Last weekend he extended his hitting streak to a season-high 10 games. Shehan's nine home runs is the seventh-highest total in the nation.

Fellow junior Phillip Porter (Marietta/Sprayberry), who had his team season-high 15-game hitting streak snapped in the Western Carolina finale, stands 89th nationally hitting at a .413 clip.