An up and down regular season in 2024 for Georgia Southern baseball gave way to a heartbreaking end to their season in Montgomery. After a magical run to the Sun Belt Conference championship game, the Eagles gave up a three-run lead going into the final inning to end their season just three outs away from a regional appearance.
Although the end to the season was a massive shock wave throughout the whole program, the Eagles used the offseason to attain some incredible talent, both inside of the transfer portal and with top high school players. Of the 41 players on the roster for 2025, an even 20 of them are first-year Eagles, totalling 13 transfers and seven true freshmen.
The biggest shock for fans visiting J.I. for the first time in 2025 is the demolition of the Wiggins Building, which has been a mainstay at the field and housed the players and coaches for the past 25 years. The university announced a few months ago of a $10 million project to construct a state-of-the-art, 16,000+ square-foot facility that will be one of the top in the Sun Belt, and if not all of Mid-Major baseball programs.
For head coach Rodney Hennon, it was tough for him to watch a building that felt like a second home topple to the ground, but is more than excited about the program's future. Coach Hennon is also set to make history this year as he is now the longest tenured coach across all of Georgia Southern athletics history, with this being his 26th season as the skipper. More importantly, he is just five wins away from passing Jack Stallings to have the most wins in program history with 860 being the magic number.
"I think everyone is just excited to see progress", said coach Hennon. "I'm also really proud of our guys as we've had to make some adjustments for this season while construction is going on and our team has just adapted really well. It was a really special day with the groundbreaking ceremony last Friday, but it was really tough to watch it go down with how much time we spent there. When you talk about progress, though, we're not only going to have a first-class facility for our program, but also for our fans."
Fans can also expect a plethora of new faces, mostly on the pitching staff, but they return tons of firepower offensively from last season with some talented bats to boot as well. Josh Tate leads both the lineup and the bats for Georgia Southern, leading the team in 2024 with his scorching .369 average. While he got comfortable in the infield last season, he was named to the Preseason All-Sun Belt team as an outfielder, which is where he will spend most of his time.
Other returning sluggers include Sean White, JD Kaiser, Sean Smith, Cade Parker and Luke Odden, among others. The trio of White, Kaiser, and Parker combined for 28 home runs and 110 RBIs in 2024.
For the Eagles, however, a strong start to the season is what coach Hennon, and fans alike, hope happens in 2025 following a 4-8 start to last season.
"You look back at last year and we had several newcomers then that got out of the gate slow, and then once they got up to speed, they really started playing to their potential. Having a lot of those guys back with some big game experience last year is hopefully going to bode well for us, especially to start the season and get out of the gates quicker," says coach Hennon.
The Eagles, who were recently picked fifth in the Sun Belt Preseason poll, also managed to snag some top offensive talent from the transfer portal as well, such as former Missouri Tiger in Juju Stevens (R-Jr., Durham, N.C.) who had an incredible fall showing. Others include Liberty first baseman Cam Foster (Sr., Douglasville, Ga.), who averaged .270 and 30 home runs across his three seasons and 177 games played with the Flames. Finally, two Yellow Jackets from Georgia Tech made their way to Statesboro in Jett Lovett (Sr., Newnan, Ga.), a .267 hitter in three seasons in Atlanta, and Nico Senese (R-So., Senoia, Ga.), a redshirt sophomore who hit .311 in 23 games in his freshman year.
On the mound, the Eagles are going for a near total refresh, as they lost over 350+ innings of work from last season. With the explosiveness and confidence that the offense has, it will be up to a nearly brand new pitching staff to determine how 2025 treats the Eagles.
"I think it's a really talented group," said coach Hennon of his pitchers. "These guys are going to get the opportunity to make an impact right away. Kade Grundy Sr., Somerset, Ky.), a senior transfer from Louisville, will get the nod on Friday night and he's a veteran guy that's pitched at a high level coming in. Jacob Phillips, who was a first-year guy a year ago, was used a little bit everywhere but primarily out of the bullpen, but he's continued to improve and develop and will be in a starting role to start the season on Saturday. And then another new freshman Thomas Burke (Fr., Monroe, Ga.). He's a true freshman and a big lefty at 6'6 and he'll get the start on Sunday. Another veteran guy Joey White is our go-to late in the ball game. He was another newcomer last year that got some valuable experience, so there's some leadership on the staff and we're excited about seeing what these guys can do collectively."
A few more new faces on the mound include South Carolina transfer Jevarra Martin (So., Atlanta, Ga.), who will mainly see time as a midweek starter. Besides a slew of freshman tossers, the Eagles also have TCU transfer Jax Lewis (So., Belville, Ga.) and redshirted Eagle Carson Bryant who both missed all of their respective last season due to injury.
With such being the case for any team in the Sun Belt, the Eagles' 2025 schedule shows no stretches of light games. Tough games include a midweek home-and-home against College of Charleston, who many predict are the top dogs in the CAA this season. Additionally, a home-and home with Georgia Tech, a series at Campbell, and two teams predicted to make it to Omaha in Clemson and Florida, await the Eagles just in non-conference play.
As far as the Sun Belt opponents go, the Eagles schedule is somewhat favorable. Although having to go to Conway to start conference play against Coastal Carolina in mid-March and also traveling to Louisiana in late April, the Eagles managed to avoid having a series against the top two preseason teams in the Sun Belt in Southern Miss and Troy. This year, J.I. has the honor to host conference series' against App State, Old Dominion, Arkansas State, James Madison, and Texas State.
For Georgia Southern baseball, 2025 will be the closing of one era and the ushering in of a new one with the facility, causing many changes for the team and fans alike in Statesboro this season. However, the product on the field and the potential this team has is through the ceiling. With the amount of new players and first-time pitchers in a college environment on the Eagles' staff, the season will be predicated on them.
Weekend game times are below.
Feb 14 (Fri) 6:30 PM vs Western Carolina
Love at First Pitch
Statesboro, Ga. J.I. Clements Stadium
Feb 15 (Sat) 2 PM vs Western Carolina
Construction Day
Statesboro, Ga. J.I. Clements Stadium
Feb 16 (Sun) 1 PM vs Western Carolina
Superhero Sunday
Statesboro, Ga. J.I. Clements Stadium
