Mercer Welcomes Georgia Tech for Mid-Week Clash

MACON, Ga. – Mercer takes its perfect 4-0 in-state record and 14-2 mark at home into a nonconference tilt with Georgia Tech at 6 p.m. Tuesday at OrthoGeorgia Park.

The familiar foes will meet for the 164th time in the first of a two-game home-and-home series that will be completed April 18 in Atlanta. Mercer (21-5, 2-1 Southern Conference) has won eight of its last 10 games and opened league play with a series win over ETSU last weekend.

The Yellow Jackets (13-9, 3-6 Atlantic Coast Conference) are 4-6 in their last 10 games but own a 2-0 record against Georgia schools this season, having defeated Georgia Southern and Georgia State.

The mid-week clash will be broadcasted on the American Sports Network (ASN) with Matt Stewart (play-by-play) and Jason Jacobs (color) getting the call. Rick Cameron will have the call on the airwaves via the flagship station 97.3 FM The Bull Icons and on the iHeartRadio app.

GAMEDAY LINEUP
Teams: Mercer (21-5, 2-1 SoCon) vs. Georgia Tech (13-9, 3-6 ACC)
Date/Time: March 28 | 6 p.m.
Location: Macon, Ga. | OrthoGeorgia Park
Live Stats: MercerBears.com/livestats
Watch: American Sports Network | Matt Stewart (play-by-play) & Jason Jacobs (color)
Listen: Mercer Sports Network/97.3 The Bull Icons (Rick Cameron)
Tickets: MercerBears.com
Twitter Updates: @MercerBaseball
Projected Starters: RHP Kevin Coulter (2-1, 6.94) vs. RHP Ben Schniederjans (0-1, 3.14)

Coach Gibson Quotables
"This will be a great game with a fun environment at OrthoGeorgia Park. This is Georgia Tech's first trip to Macon with our new ballpark and it is another important in-state contest for us. We're 4-0 against teams in Georgia so far this year and we want to continue to have that success."

Scouting the Yellow Jackets
Georgia Tech enters Tuesday's game with a 13-9 overall record and a 3-6 mark in Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) play. The team is 4-6 in its last 10 games and was defeated twice at Wake Forest last weekend. Georgia Tech owns a 2-0 record against in-state foes so far this season, having defeated Georgia Southern, 10-3, and Georgia State, 12-5.

Kel Johnson (eight home runs, 26 RBIs) and Trevor Craport (.344 batting average, 32 hits) were tabbed as preseason All-Americans while Austin Wilhite leads the team with a .384 average. Joey Bart owns nine home runs and a .713 slugging percentage.

The Yellow Jackets are No. 82 in this week's RPI rankings and are receiving votes alongside Mercer in the latest National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) poll.

Series History
Mercer and Georgia have met at least once every season since 2008 and will continue that trend with a home-and-home series this spring. The programs are an even 5-5 in the last 10 meetings after splitting two games a year ago. This will be the 164th all-time meeting of these familiar foes. Georgia Tech owns a 109-55 all-time advantage, which includes a 44-29 mark in Macon.

Last Time Out vs. Georgia Tech
Mercer defeated Georgia Tech, 9-8, at Russ Chandler Stadium in Atlanta behind a pair of big innings. The Bears scored all nine runs over two frames and was led by a grand slam from Blaise Lezynski. Ryan Hagan and Trey Truitt had two hits apiece while Nick Spear and Robert Broom combined for 6.1 innings of relief and allowed five hits and one run.

The Yellow Jackets claimed the front end of last year's home-and-home series, besting Mercer 6-5 at Claude Smith Field behind a five-run first inning. Mercer staged a comeback behind home runs from Trey Truitt and Charlie Madden, but fell short.

Family Affair
Bragging rights within the Gibson family will be on the line Tuesday as Mercer Head Coach Craig Gibson takes on his son, Tyler Gibson, who is in his second season as an undergraduate assistant coach at Georgia Tech. The younger Gibson was a two-time Georgia All-State player at Stratford Academy in Macon and played four years of minor league ball before arriving at Georgia Tech to pursue his bachelor's degree.

Small Ball, Long Ball
The Mercer offense is proving it can do a bit of everything, as it ranks fifth nationally with 42 home runs and first nationally with 40 sacrifice bunts. Those figures are reflected on an individual level as Charlie Madden is in second place nationally with 11 home runs, a seven-way tie for first place nationally in home runs (9) while Jackson Ware and Alex Hanson are first (11) and fourth (7) nationally in sacrifice bunts as well.

King of the Hill
Mercer takes a 21-5 record into Tuesday's contest, which is tied for the best start in program history. The team's .808 winning percentage ranks 10th nationally as well. The Bears are 8-2 in their last 10 games played and have worked their way into the top-40 of the RPI rankings this week at No. 34.

Follow The Bears
For complete coverage of Mercer Baseball, please follow the Bears on social media at @MercerBaseball (Twitter), /MercerBaseball (Facebook) and @Mercer.Baseball (Instagram) or visit the official home of Mercer Athletics at MercerBears.com.

Mercer Welcomes Georgia Tech for Mid-Week Clash

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Players Mentioned

Robert Broom

Kevin Coulter

Ryan Hagan

Alex Hanson

Blaise Lezynski

Charlie Madden

Nick Spear

Trey Truitt

Jackson Ware

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