Mercer Closes Out 2014 Regular Season Slate at ETSU
5/14/2014 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
MACON, Ga. – With a chance for a second-straight 40-win season and Atlantic Sun Conference Regular Season Title, the Mercer baseball team concludes the 2014 regular season with a three-game series at East Tennessee State starting on May 15 at Thomas Stadium.
Mercer (37-13, 17-7 A-Sun) takes on the Buccaneers in game one on Thursday evening at 7 p.m., with game two slated for Friday at 7 p.m. and game three set for a 1 p.m. first pitch on Saturday.
Mercer currently resides in second-place in the A-Sun standings with its 17-7 league mark, but is just a game back of first-place Florida Gulf Coast heading into the final weekend of conference play.
PITCHING MATCHUPS
Thursday
Mercer: RHP Brandon Barker (4-3, 3.28 ERA, 54 K's)
ETSU: RHP Jimmy Nesslet (6-5, 4.29 ERA, 52 K's)
Friday
Mercer: LHP Grant Papelian (5-2, 3.40 ERA, 43 K's)
ETSU: LHP Jamin McCann (3-4, 5.09 ERA, 23 K's)
Saturday
Mercer: RHP Eric Nyquist (7-1, 3.33 ERA, 44 K's)
ETSU: RHP Logan Rice (3-0, 3.51 ERA, 37 K's)
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
ETSU enters this week's series with a 24-27 overall record after most recently dropping a 9-5 mid-week contest to Appalachian State on May 13. The Bucs have held their own at home this season as they have posted a 19-12 record at Thomas Stadium compared to a 4-14 record away from Johnson City. ETSU possesses a potent line-up that ranks in the top-five in the A-Sun in slugging percentage, doubles, hits, runs scored and home runs. Senior two-way star Clinton Freeman leads the Bucs with a .330 batting average, 11 home runs and 50 RBI
LAST TIME OUT
MACON, Ga. – The Mercer baseball team tied its season-high with three home runs to end the home portion of its 2014 season on a high note following a 6-5 win over Georgia State on Tuesday evening at Claude Smith Field. Mercer finished the season with a 6-2 record against in-state foes and a 24-4 record at Claude Smith Field. The Bears .857 home winning percentage in 2014 is the sixth-best in the nation trailing only Virginia, Cal Poly, South Carolina, Texas and UNLV. Junior Chesny Young and senior Nick Backlund paced the Bears line-up with two hits, a home run and two RBI apiece in the win. Freshman Ryan Askew earned the win for Mercer after getting the starting nod and allowing just two earned runs on five hits in five innings pitched.
FAST FACTS
- Mercer holds a 20-10 lead in the all-time series over ETSU. The Bears have won three out of the last four season series against the Bucs including taking two-of-three from ETSU in Macon last season. Junior Chesny Young has thrived hitting against ETSU pitching over the years, posting a .483 batting average with four doubles and six RBI in seven games played.
- Mercer continued its recent domination of in-state competition following its 6-5 win over Georgia State on May 13. Mercer finished 2014 with the best record amongst in-state foes with its 6-2 mark better than Kennesaw State (8-4), Georgia Tech (7-5), Georgia State (4-5), Georgia Southern (3-4), Georgia (3-7) and Savannah State (1-5). The Bears are now 29-14 against schools in the state of Georgia dating back to the start of the 2011 season.
