After an impressive weekend in Gainesville, the Eagles look to improve their best early season record of 10-4 in Nashville, Tennessee at the Lipscomb Purple and Gold Challenge.

Lipscomb (9-2)- March 2 4:30 p.m. and March 3 4 p.m.

The hosting LU have had an impressive season so far, being 9-2 overall and being on a win streak of four games.

The bison seem to be hot on the bats, logging 90 hits for their 11 games played this season. Caitlin Turner and Sarah Higgins both lead LU due to their 14 hits, and Turner has docked six hits for LU while Higgins has locked down four.

Along with their impressive hit and run numbers, Higgins and Turner both have impressive batting averages-Higgins batting an average .350 and Turner following close being with a .341 batting average.

LU has also taken some wins from some big-name schools on their schedule- such as Georgia Tech (1-0) and Ole Miss (3-0), showing they don’t falter and buckle under pressure. The Bison seem to be the Eagles’ biggest competition during this Purple and Gold Challenge.

Indiana State (7-4)- March 3 11:00 a.m.

On a loss streak of three, the Sycamores seem to be a less impressive threat to the Eagles than Lipscomb, but they are going to be hungry for a win to break that losing streak.

While ISU has standout players like Bella Peterson who bats an average .370 and has gathered a total of five runs and 10 hits for the Sycamores, their total and team averages and statistics are not as impressive as the Eagle’s other opponents will be.

ISU has only totaled 71 runs in their 11 games, and a team batting average of .247. Sycamore pitcher Arielle Blankenship has hurled 20 hits, and seven runs, but has also thrown 12 strikeouts, while pitcher Abbey Kruzel has thrown less hits- 17 total- and seven runs, she has only thrown six strikeouts.

ETSU (4-7)- March 4 1:00 p.m.

While their record doesn’t seem the most impressive, ETSU and GS have matched up before in showcase match at the Eagle Round Robin in early February. The Bucs took the win over the Eagles 7-5 and gave GS their first loss of the season.

In their first meeting the Bucs surprised the Eagles and struck early, taking the lead and scoring with a solo home run in the top of the first, making it the first time in the early season the Eagles had trailed anyone.

GS was able to tie the game in the fourth inning, but the Bucs answered with four runs in the sixth inning to kill the Eagle’s momentum

Since their last matchup the Bucs numbers have fallen with their record showing a losing season so far of 4-7 and a losing streak of three.

While Lauren Lee from ETSU has been hot on the bats with 14 hits, seven runs, and a .424 batting average, the Bucs as a team has only collected 73 hits for their 11 games and collectively average a .264 batting average.

Georgia Southern (10-4)

Looking to continue their best start in school history, the Eagles hope to bounce back from their 0-8 loss to no. 1 Florida from the previous weekend and further improve their record.

Out of all four teams competing in this Purple and Gold challenge, the Eagles look most impressive, having 112 hits total and batting a team average of .291, with standout players such as Logan Harrell who has logged 16 hits for the Eagles and seven runs. Hannah Farrell has been hot at the bats as well swinging 13 hits and nine runs.

Under instruction of new head coach Kim Dean, the Eagles seem to be playing more confident and come out extremely intense, usually taking early leads in their games.

While in the beginning of the season a lot of people questioned whether or not the Eagles would be successful this season with a new head coach and only five returning starters, GS is proving themselves to be doing just fine and showing they’re hungry and ready for more wins.

Kaitlin Sells, The George-Anne sports reporter, gasports@georgiasouthern.edu