Georgia Southern shortstop Evan McDonald extended his hitting streak to 11 games after picking up two more hits against Troy on Saturday night.

Just two weeks ago it looked like McDonald’s time in the starting lineup was fading, as he had just two hits to show in the first nine games of the season.

Ever since the game against the College of Charleston, where his 11-game hitting streak began, McDonald has seen his average jump from .100 to .304 as he is hitting a remarkable .410 throughout the streak.

Before this streak started, he was consistently being put at the bottom of the lineup, typically hitting ninth. Now, with the second best batting average on the team, he’s in the lead off spot.

Overcoming a slump is always hard to do, but McDonald was able to lean on his coaches for support as they gave him the opportunity to get out of his slump by keeping him in the lineup.

“Seeing my name on the lineup everyday kind of gave me confidence,” McDonald said.

On top of that, the coaches reassured him that they have confidence in him, and that he can do it. So instead of giving up, he decided to make some changes and hope for the best.

“I cut down the amount of swings I took before games drastically… and that gave me a little bit more energy come game time,” McDonald said.

This goes to show that sometimes even the littlest things can make the biggest differences.

McDonald has done more than just help the team out with his hitting, he has also shown that he is very dangerous on the base path, scoring nine runs during the streak. He had failed to cross home plate before the streak started.

This sudden display of consistent offense is nothing out of the ordinary for McDonald.

While playing ball at Platte County High School his senior season, McDonald hit .395 and was named to the All-Conference team for the third time in his high school career.

After high school McDonald played at the Junior College level before transferring to Georgia Southern.

While attending Barton Community College, he had a solid sophomore season, which lead to him picking up an offer from Georgia Southern. That season, he managed to get a hit in 43 of the 52 games he played in, finishing with a .369 batting average. Along the way he had multiple hitting streaks, and one of them was a 14-game hitting streak, the longest of his college career.

“Do I want to see my numbers climb that high? Yes, but I’m not going to worry about it, I just want to get on base and help the team out,” McDonald said.