The Georgia Southern softball team will play their last regular season series starting Thursday, against rival Georgia State.

These last three games will be vital as GS needs at least two more wins to be eligible to play in the Sun Belt Tournament.  

Georgia Southern (20-27, 6-17)

The Eagles started off strong on the season in non-conference play, but seemed to fall short once conference play began. While collecting six conference wins, the Eagles have only claimed one series win.

While seemingly struggling, the Eagles still show for impressive statistics. As a team they’re batting an average of .260 while notching 45 total home runs on the season. Senior infielder Hannah Farrell leads the Eagles with her .369 batting average while logging 21 runs and 57 hits off her 144 at-bats.

Pitching-wise we should expect to see sophomore Rylee Waldrep on the mound. Despite her 5-12 wins-losses record, Waldrep has still seen a decent amount of success this season. She’s logged an ERA of 4.00 in her 105 total innings pitched while throwing for 41 strikeouts.

Georgia State (8-43, 5-19)

While GS has seemed to struggle this season, the Panthers have seemed to struggle more. While collecting 43 losses, GSU has only managed to nab eight overall wins. They’ve also only won one single game on the road- something the Eagles could use to their advantage. Conference-wise the Panthers have only collected five wins while being on a two game losing streak.

As a team, the Panthers show for a .222 batting average while tallying 136 rus, 289 hits and 18 home runs on the season. Leading GSU on the bats is redshirt-sophomore infielder Caitlin Ray, who has logged a .307 batting average off her 153 at-bats. Ray has also seen two home runs on the season.

The Eagles should prepare to see Emily Soles on the mound during the weekend series as the redshirt sophomore has pitched for 112 total innings for the Panthers. Soles has thrown 54 strikeouts on the season while logging an ERA of 5.31.

The series is set to take place in Statesboro, starting Thursday at 7 p.m. The series will continue play with game two on Friday at 5 p.m. and will conclude with game three on Saturday at 1 p.m.

Kaitlin Sells, The George-Anne Sports Editor, gasports@georgiasouthern.edu