It will be a couple of weeks before Georgia Southern plays another Southern Conference series, but there’s not time to rest.

The Eagles are set for a six-game out-of-conference slate beginning today at 6:30 p.m. against Mercer.

"These games are important," said GSU coach Rodney Hennon. "These are games that if you can go out and win, you can help build a resume for later in the year.

"I told our team that there’s a lot of thought that goes into who we play outside the league, and we try to play teams that are good competition, and teams that if we can win against them, we’ll possibly be in a position to earn an at-large bid. But you’ve got to win those games, and we definitely have to me more consistent in mid-week games than we’ve been until this point."

The Eagles (18-11, 9-3 Southern Conference), who moved into a first-place tie in the conference over the weekend with a three-game sweep over The Citadel last weekend, are just 3-7 in their last 10 non-conference matchups.

"Any time you don’t show up focused and ready to play," Hennon said, "that could be the one game that keeps you from winning a championship in your league or keeps you from getting into a regional later in the year."

Mercer (21-9, 8-6 Atlantic Sun) has been on a tear lately, winning five straight including a 4-2 win over Georgia Tech.

The GSU bats came alive against The Citadel. The Eagles scored 30 runs in the series, and Victor Roach had five homers and 13 RBIs.

Roache, a sophomore who spent much of the 2010 season as well as the off season fighting through leg injuries, has started every game this season.

"He’s probably just started to get comfortable and get into a rhythm and get some confidence," Hennon said about Roache’s performance. "You’ve just got to let him go."

One Eagle who will get a break this week is Andy Moye, who has been starting at third base when he hasn’t been the Sunday starter on the mound. Moye isn’t expected to take the mound today or in the three-game, weekend series at Marshall.

"We’re going to give Andy the week off," said Hennon. "I feel like we need to rest him a little bit. He can still hit, but there will be more opportunities for guys on the pitching staff beginning tonight."

Sophomore lefty Drew Johnson, who has pitched only 5.2 innings in four appearances this season, will get the start for GSU.

Matt Yogus can be reached at (912) 489-9408.