UNCG (22-17, 11-7) vs. Georgia Southern (25-16, 13-5)
UNCG Baseball Stadium • Greensboro, N.C.
April 29-May 1 • Game 40-42 • 6 p.m., 1 p.m., 1 p.m.
LiveStats: UNCGSpartans.com
Video: Spartan All Access (Friday and Saturday only)
Storylines:
• Riding a three-game winning streak, UNCG will set its sights on first-place Georgia Southern this weekend for a three-game series. The Spartans and Eagles will kick off the series on Friday at 6 p.m. at the UNCG Baseball Stadium and will meet for game two on Saturday at 1 p.m. The two teams will wrap up the series on Sunday at 1 p.m.
• On Wednesday, UNCG hosted nearby High Point for a midweek contest and came away with a 10-3 victory. The Panthers took the early 2-0 lead in the top of the first, but UNCG answered with four runs in the home half of the first and took a 9-2 lead after six innings of play. Each team scored a run in the eighth to make the final score 10-3. Cody Walker went 3-4 with a walk, two RBI and two runs scored to lead the Spartans.
• UNCG trails the all-time series against Georgia Southern, 25-19, dating back to 1992. Last season, UNCG traveled down to Statesboro, Ga. and was swept by the Eagles. The Spartans dropped game one, 6-4, before falling on Saturday in the second game, 8-3. The Eagles made it a clean sweep with their 12-0 win on Sunday.
• Georgia Southern comes into the game with a 25-16 record overall and a 13-5 mark in the SoCon. The Eagles have won five of their last six games and have claimed the last four SoCon series. Last weekend, the Eagles traveled to then first-place Elon and came away with the series victory, 2-1.
• This past weekend, UNCG made the trip down Birmingham, Ala. to face Samford and came away with the series victory, 2-1. After the first game of the series was postponed, the two teams met for a doubleheader on Friday. In the first game, UNCG took a 5-1 lead, but Samford answered with six unanswered runs to win 7-5. In the second game, the two teams were tied at one after nine innings before the Spartans put three runs up in the top of the 10th to win 4-1. In the rubber game on Saturday, UNCG rallied for three runs in the top of the seventh to come away with a 5-3 victory.
• The Spartans have received a boost from the back of their rotation in Colby Hyatt. Hyatt currently has a staff-best 3.88 ERA and is 6-2 so far this season. Hyatt has also pitched a team-best 58 innings this season, which ranks 11th in the SoCon. Also, he has only walked six batters all year, which leads the conference.
• Teammates Trevor Edwards and Chris Barker have been in the line of fire this season as both are in the top-10 in the SoCon in hit by pitches. Edwards currently is fourth in the conference after being hit 12 times already, while Barker has been hit on nine different occasions. Last season, Barker finished fourth in the nation after being hit by a pitch 26 times.
• UNCG's sweep of Western Carolina on March 11-13 was the first weekend sweep for the Spartans in Southern Conference play since May of 2008 when UNCG swept College of Charleston. It was also the first time UNCG had swept Western Carolina in a series since 2004 when the Spartans completed the feat on the road.
• On Jan. 19, the UNCG baseball team reached a milestone in the 21st season of the program. The 10-9 walk-off win on Saturday gave head coach Mike Gaski his 600th career win. The win was also the 600th in program history as Gaski has been the lone skipper for the Spartans over the past 21 seasons.
• Following the 2010 season, junior Blake Hassebrock was drafted in the 8th round of the MLB First-Year Player Draft by the Oakland Athletics. It marked the second-straight season that UNCG has had a player drafted in the 8th round by the Athletics as Rob Gilliam was selected in that slot in 2009. Hassebrock signed with the Athletics a few weeks after being drafted and ended his season with the Vancouver Canadians. UNCG has now had at least one pitcher drafted in 12 of the past 14 seasons.
• The Spartans return two of their three weekend starters this season in Warren Slack and Colby Hyatt. Hyatt finished in fifth in the Southern Conference last season with a 4.29 ERA to go along with his 7-4 record, while Slack was 10th in the SoCon with his 4.75 ERA. Slack was also ninth in the league last year with 75 strikeouts.
• UNCG has made admission free for all home games this season at the UNCG Baseball Stadium. Fans are encouraged to come out and support the Spartans all season long on campus.
- UNCG -
