By: Joseph Stuckey

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

Statesboro is buzzing over the recent hometown commitment of left-handed pitcher Sam Hubbard.

The Georgia Southern Eagles recently received a verbal commitment from the Bulloch Academy standout pitcher in the class of 2027.

Of course, both Bulloch Academy and Georgia Southern are located in Statesboro, Georgia, with the campuses less than 5 minutes apart from each other.

The rising senior is listed at 5 feet 10 inches and 178 pounds, which is an ideal frame for a developing pitcher. Anytime there is a GSU Eagle from Bulloch County or one of the surrounding counties, it really gets the fanbase excited in Statesboro.

An added bonus for GSU, being the hometown team, the Eagles are considered a baseball factory and have produced numerous MLB draft picks over the years.

The Eagles compete in the Sun Belt Conference, which is quickly becoming a power conference in college baseball, with GSU alongside teams like Southern Miss and Coastal Carolina.

The program has a strong reputation for developing players and consistently fields competitive teams in the Sun Belt Conference. Just a few years ago, the Eagles were a top 16 seed in the College World Series and hosted a regional in Statesboro. I say all of that to reiterate my point of how Hubbard staying home may turn out to be one of the best decisions he could make to continue his baseball career.

Hubbard is a multi-sport athlete who plays football in the fall and baseball in the springtime. He was the quarterback who helped lead Bulloch Academy football to its 2024 GIAA 4-A State Championship, which coincidentally was held under the lights at GSU’s Paulson Stadium.

Under his tenure as quarterback, the team claimed a Region Championship (2024), hosted an Elite-8 appearance at the swamp in Statesboro (2025), and, of course, the aforementioned State Championship (2024).

Hubbard can throw the deep ball to the Gators’ arsenal of receivers, but his true weapon on the football field is his ability to scramble when needed.

The Gators have really relied on him to get tough yards, and he has shown he truly has ice in his veins at times. The Bulloch Academy fanbase is really excited about this upcoming football season with Hubbard at Quarterback, along with a loaded Senior class of standout athletes.

He has also had great success on the baseball diamond. In the 2026 baseball season, he set the new single-season program record with 100 strikeouts. He also had some impressive outings this season, including the final outing of his junior year, where he recorded 14 strikeouts and allowed only walked 1 batter.

In his first 2 outings of the season, he pitched only 6 innings but struck out 15 batters. It also came out this week that Sam was selected to the District 2 All-Region team as well as the GIAA 4-A All-State team.

Hubbard has also participated in the New Balance Future Stars series, Perfect Game Georgia, and Perfect Game Florida, where his fastball has been clocked at 86-89 miles per hour.

He has also been featured on Prep Baseball Georgia during his time in high school.

With these high strikeout rates, Sam really has the potential to be a front-of-the-rotation starter in college.

With his decision to stay local and play for Georgia Southern, Sam is poised to become a hometown hero and a role model for future generations of Statesboro athletes.

As the baseball community in Statesboro looks ahead, I see Sam as a dominant force in the Sun Belt Conference over the next few years.