Baseball Hosts Georgia Southern Thursday To Begin Three-Game Series

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DAVIDSON, N.C. – Georgia Southern visits Wilson Field Thursday evening at 6 p.m. to take on Davidson and begin a three-game Southern Conference baseball series.

Davidson (11-15, 3-9 SoCon) freshman LHP Henry Sisson (5.60, 1-1) will face the reigning SoCon Pitcher of the Week, RHP Chris Beck (3.59, 3-2) in the series opener Thursday. Senior RHP Ryan Overcash will take on Georgia Southern's RHP Justin Hess (6.91, 1-1) Friday at 6 p.m., while Davidson's Saturday (2 p.m.) starter remains to be announced. Georgia Southern (15-15, 5-7 SoCon) will throw RHP Wil Middour, the younger brother of former Davidson pitcher Thomas Middour '10.

Leading Off

Davidson has won three of its last five games and will look to earn its second SoCon series win of the season.
The Wildcats have played in four SoCon series, and the four teams they have played presently sit atop the SoCon standings. Davidson enters the weekend with a 3-9 SoCon record, one game out of eighth place.
Davidson will face the reigning pitcher of the week in RHP Chris Beck, who Beck struck out 18 batters last week and finished with a save against No. 21 Georgia Tech and a win over College of Charleston (16 K's).
CF Drew Gadaire (.303) and 3B Andrew Barna (.306) lead the team in hitting and RBIs (both have 19.)

The Series
Davidson trails in the all-time series, 18-77, which dates back to 1954. The Wildcats have not beaten Georgia Southern since 2008, when they earned a 7-6 win at Wilson Field, and have lost the last 10 meetings. Davidson has not claimed a three-game series from Georgia Southern since 1999.

Last Time Out
Freshman RHP Ryan Lowe struck out the final two batters to preserve an 8-7 victory for Davidson over USC Upstate in non-conference baseball action Tuesday night at Harley Park. Trailing 8-5 entering the bottom of the ninth inning, USC Upstate (21-8) scored two runs to pull within one. With the tying run on third base and the winning run on first base with just one out, Lowe took the mound for Davidson (11-15) and struck out both batters he faced to earn his first career save. Senior centerfielder Drew Gadaire led Davidson at the plate, going 2-for-4 with a walk and two RBI and two runs scored. Six other Wildcats had an RBI each as all nine batters reached base at least once.

Davidson broke a 5-5 tie in the top of the seventh inning on an RBI-single by Gadaire and padded their lead with a pair of unearned runs in the eighth inning. USC Upstate had erased a four-run deficit by scoring four unearned runs with two outs in the bottom of the fifth inning. With runners on second and third, a fielding error allowed both runners to score. Guers followed with a two-run home run over the right field wall to even the score at 5-5.

The Wildcats chased Spartan starter RHP David Palladino in the first inning, scoring four runs on two hits, four walks and a hit batsmen.

Over the weekend, Davidson split a Saturday doubleheader with Western Carolina after the Friday night contest was rained out, but dropped the rubber match Sunday.

About Georgia Southern
The Eagles reached .500 with an 8-6 win over Bethune-Cookman Wednesday night. Georgia Southern was picked by the SoCon baseball media to win the Southern Conference championship and OF Victor Roache and RHP Chris Beck were voted the SoCon's preseason player and pitcher of the year, respectively, but Roache was lost to injury early in the season. Both Roach and Beck were named preseason All-Americans by Baseball America. Georgia Southern was swept by Elon in early March, took two of three from UNCG, went 1-2 against Furman and most recently claimed two against College of Charleston for a 5-7 record so far in conference play.

Home Sweet Home
Davidson is 8-5 at Wilson Field, winning its last three games. On the road, Davidson is 3-2 against teams that have not been nationally ranked this season, and 0-8 against teams that have been ranked at some point in the season.

Streaks End
OF Drew Gadaire saw his 27-game reached base streak, which dated back to last season come to an end vs. Duke (3/27) with an 0-for-4 night. It also ended an eight-game hitting streak. 1B Calvin Sigelbaum reached base in 15-straight games after moving into the starting lineup, but failed to reach base in the series finale at Coll. of Charleston (3/25). Sigelbaum and Gadaire are tied for the longest hiting streaks of the season, as Sigelbaum had a hit in each of his first eight starts.

Young Arms
Of the 13 relief pitchers Davidson has called upon this season, seven are freshmen (Ben Arkin, Rob Bain, Clark Beeker, Ryan Lowe, Nick Neitzel, Matt Saeta and Henry Sisson), two were originally exclusive position players (Bryan DaCanal and Michael Zeblo) and two (Justin Charles and Michael Loeb) did not appear in a game last season. Just one, sophomore Jip Richards, was regularly called into action last season. Brian Russell made his first releif appearance vs. Duke (3/27) after making six starts. One of the biggest adjustments Davidson is making in 2012 is adapting to the absence of bullpen stalwart Mike Frongello. The reliable, righty-reliever concluded his stellar four-year career by breaking the SoCon's all-time appearance record in the 2011 season finale, taking the ball for the 136th time. He appeared in 39 of 48 games last season, throwing 67.1 innings (second on the team) and posted a team low 2.54 ERA. Also missing from the bullpen is flamethrower Andy Bass, who graduated and was drafted by the Tampa Bay Rays in the 18th round. Starter Chris Lamb elected to forego his senior season after the Oakland A's selected him in the 11th round last year, so combined with the departure of graduating seniors, Davidson lost nearly 68 percent of last year's innings pitched.

Closer By Committee
Four different pitchers have earned Davidson's six saves this season. Freshmen Clark Beeker and Matt Saeta lead the team with two each. Freshman Ryan Lowe earned his first save at USC Upstate (4/3) after Saeta ran into trouble in the ninth inning. Junior Michael Zeblo, who primarily plays shortstop, earned Davidson's first save of the season.

Home Run Drought
Davidson went seven games without hitting a home run, but hit three during the Western Carolina series (3/31-4/1). Prior to the WCU?series, the 'Cats last home run came vs. Elon (3/17, G1), a solo shot by 2B James Cerbie. Cerbie hit another solo home run against WCU (3/31, G1), and RF Jake Berman had two in the WCU series finale (4/1). Davidson is just 3-4 in games in which a Wildcat hits a home run, and in fact has lost the last four games it has hit a home run in.

Ironmen
3B Andrew Barna, LF Forrest Brandt, INF James Cerbie and CF Drew Gadaire have started each game this season.

Bonus Baseball
Four of Davidson's games this year have gone into extra innings, including three SoCon games. Davidson fell to Ohio and Appalachian State earlier in the year in games that went 10 innings and defeated Elon in back-to-back 11 inning contests. The Wildcats had just four extra inning games all of last season.

Team of the Week Honorable Mention
Davidson earned a “Team of the Week” honorable mention (Mar. 12-18) from CollegeBaseballInsider.com, after going 3-1 with a pair of dramatic wins over Elon. The Wildcats led off a list of 10 honorable mentions recognized by CollegeBaseballInsider.com, which also selects one “Team of the Week,” four regional teams of the week.

Cardiac 'Cats Take Series From Elon
Jake Berman's two-out, walk-off hit in the 11th inning gave Davidson its second consecutive come-from-behind, extra inning victory over Elon, 9-8 (3/18). Drew Gadaire had a two-out, walk-off base hit in the 11th inning in the second game of a doubleheader the previous day to give Davidson a 12-11 victory (3/17). In the 3/17 game, trailing 11-9 in the bottom of the 11th, the 'Cats were able to score three runs on a two-RBI double by Daniel Gerow and Gadaire's walk-off single. Gadaire completed the comeback by slapping a pitch into shallow right field to score Gerow and end the game. The following day, Davidson tied the game in the ninth inning and forced extras, but trailed 8-7 entering the bottom of the 11th inning after surrendering an RBI-single in the top half. Michael Zeblo drove in the tying run with a single to left field, and Berman, who went 3-for-6 on the day, stepped up to the plate with two outs and lifted a pitch just over the left fielder's glove to end the game. The Wildcats had lost seven-straight to Elon, the defending SoCon regular season champions, before the back-to-back wins. The three-game series victory over Elon wass Davidson's first since the Phoenix joined the Southern Conference beginning with the 2004 season. Davidson won the lone meeting between the two teams in 2009 as the final two games of the series were canceled due to rain.

They Fought Like Wildcats
No. 6 UNC needed a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the eighth inning and NCBWA Stopper of the Year Watch List selection RHP?Michael Morin to defeat Davidson on Mar. 6. Trailing 4-2 in the sixth inning, the Wildcats tied the game at 4-4 with a pair of runs, putting them in position to pull off the upset.

Thrown In the Fire
RHP Clark Beeker, LHP?Henry Sisson and LHP?Rob Bain all made their first career starts against ACC opponents. Beeker faced 10 batters in 3.0 innings against Duke (3/27), with just one reaching base due to a throwing error. Sisson and Bain started against No. 6 North Carolina (3/6) and NC?State (3/7), respectively. Sisson lasted 5.0 innings, surrendering four runs on four hits and two walks while striking out five and took a no decision as the Wildcats threatened to win late. Bain lasted 2.2 innings allowing eight runs, but just one earned run, as his defenders made four errors behind him and the offense failed to generate a run, giving him the loss.

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