Tuesday, April 18
Atlanta, Ga.
6 p.m.
Mercer University
at
Georgia Tech
Mercer Looks to Keep SoCon Streak Rolling at The Citadel
4/20/2017 5:47:00 PM | Baseball
No. 27 Bears own a three-game lead in the conference standings
MACON, Ga. – No. 27 (NCBWA) Mercer heads to Charleston, South Carolina for a three-game Southern Conference series against The Citadel at Riley Park this weekend, starting with a series-opening first pitch at 4 p.m. Friday.
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The Bears (32-7, 11-1 SoCon) have won nine straight conference games and will seek to extend their lead in the SoCon standings against the Bulldogs (12-22, 3-6). Although Mercer had its season-long 11-game win streak snapped at Georgia Tech on Tuesday, the Orange and Black have won 17 of their last 20 games overall.
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All three games will be broadcasted live on the SoCon Digital Network.
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SERIES LINEUP
Teams: No. 27 Mercer (32-7, 11-1 SoCon) at The Citadel (12-22, 3-6)
Location: Charleston, S.C. | Riley Park
Friday: April 21 | 4 p.m. | Watch | Live Stats
Saturday: April 22 | 2 p.m. | Watch | Live Stats
Sunday: April 23 | 1 p.m. | Watch | Live Stats
Tickets: CitadelSports.com
Twitter Updates: @MercerBaseball
Projected Starters
The Citadel (12-22, 3-6 SoCon) has lost seven of its last 10 games played. The Bulldogs captured an 8-5 win over Charleston Southern on Tuesday, completing their season sweep of the Bucs. The Citadel is hitting a collective .238 at the plate and owns a 5.27 team ERA on the mound. Southpaw JP Sears (4-1, 1.74) leads the squad and was recently named to the Golden Spikes Midseason Watch List by USA Baseball recently. He leads all NCAA Division I pitchers with 87 strikeouts in 57.0 innings of work.
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Series History
Mercer leads The Citadel, 12-11, in the all-time series and has won six of 11 at Riley Park. The Bears won the regular season series in Macon last year before exploding for a 13-1 win over the Bulldogs in the opening round of the SoCon Tournament in Greenville, South Carolina.
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Last Time Out
Mercer saw its season-long 11-game win streak snapped with an 8-5 nonconference loss to Georgia Tech at Russ Chandler Stadium Tuesday night. A six-run second inning keyed a hot start by the Yellow Jackets (17-18), who are the only team to defeat Mercer (32-7) in the last 13 games. Mercer fell to 0-2 against Georgia Tech this season.
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The bats of Ryan Hagan and Alex Hanson got Mercer started with a promising first inning. Hanson's RBI double off the center field wall followed Hagan's leadoff single, making it four straight games that the duo has started with consecutive hits. Charlie Madden followed them up three at bats later with a suicide squeeze bunt, scoring Hanson. However, the 2-0 lead was short-lived as the Yellow Jackets scored eight unanswered runs on 10 hits by the end of the fourth. Andrew Kane, Christian Vann, Robert Broom and Nick Spear combined to limit Georgia Tech to one run over the final 6.1 innings of play while striking out nine batters. Josh Knies took the loss, falling to 2-1.
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Going For Three
The quest for a third consecutive SoCon championship continues this weekend as Mercer travels to The Citadel for its fifth league series of the season. The Bears have swept Furman, Samford and VMI in consecutive weekends en route to an 11-1 SoCon mark and three-game lead in the standings.
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We Got Your Number
Senior RHP Ryan Askew, who will get the ball Friday, and junior right fielder Trey Truitt have had great success against The Citadel in their respective careers. Askew is 3-0 with a 1.59 ERA, 15 strikeouts and one walk in 17 innings of work against the Bulldogs. Truitt, who set a SoCon Tournament single-game record with three home runs against The Citadel last year, is batting .462 with 18 hits (six home runs) and 21 RBIs in nine games against the conference foe.
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Hagan Heating Up
After a slow start to the season offensively, Ryan Hagan has emerged as one of Mercer's hottest bats since SoCon play opened. The senior made a switch to shortstop, defensively, and is batting .447 in league play with 19 runs scored, 11 RBI and seven stolen bases. All five of his home runs this season have come in SoCon games as well.
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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.
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The Bears (32-7, 11-1 SoCon) have won nine straight conference games and will seek to extend their lead in the SoCon standings against the Bulldogs (12-22, 3-6). Although Mercer had its season-long 11-game win streak snapped at Georgia Tech on Tuesday, the Orange and Black have won 17 of their last 20 games overall.
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All three games will be broadcasted live on the SoCon Digital Network.
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SERIES LINEUP
Teams: No. 27 Mercer (32-7, 11-1 SoCon) at The Citadel (12-22, 3-6)
Location: Charleston, S.C. | Riley Park
Friday: April 21 | 4 p.m. | Watch | Live Stats
Saturday: April 22 | 2 p.m. | Watch | Live Stats
Sunday: April 23 | 1 p.m. | Watch | Live Stats
Tickets: CitadelSports.com
Twitter Updates: @MercerBaseball
Projected Starters
- Thursday: RHP Ryan Askew (4-0, 3.86) vs. LHP JP Sears (4-1, 1.74)
- Friday: LHP Austin Cox (3-1, 5.61) vs. RHP Will Abbott (1-3, 3.41)
- Saturday: RHP Kevin Coulter (4-2, 5.44) vs. RHP Thomas Byelick (0-3, 9.00)
- Mercer's 32 wins are tied for the most in the country with Texas Tech.
- The Bears are No. 27 in the latest NCBWA Top-30 poll and No. 22 in the latest Perfect Game USA Top 25 rankings.
- Mercer continues to receive votes in the USA Today Coaches' Poll (46).
- Mercer is No. 31 in the latest RPI rankings.
- Junior catcher JT Thomas was named SoCon Player of the Week on Monday. He hit .444 with 13 RBIs and three home runs as Mercer went 4-0 against Georgia State and VMI last week.
- Mercer owns a SoCon-best 2.93 strikeout-to-walk ratio. RHP Ryan Askew is 18th nationally with an individual ratio of 7.33.
- Mercer ranks among the top 10 nationally in 10 different offensive categories, including first in sacrifice bunts (57), second in walks (237) and third in home runs (67).
The Citadel (12-22, 3-6 SoCon) has lost seven of its last 10 games played. The Bulldogs captured an 8-5 win over Charleston Southern on Tuesday, completing their season sweep of the Bucs. The Citadel is hitting a collective .238 at the plate and owns a 5.27 team ERA on the mound. Southpaw JP Sears (4-1, 1.74) leads the squad and was recently named to the Golden Spikes Midseason Watch List by USA Baseball recently. He leads all NCAA Division I pitchers with 87 strikeouts in 57.0 innings of work.
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Series History
Mercer leads The Citadel, 12-11, in the all-time series and has won six of 11 at Riley Park. The Bears won the regular season series in Macon last year before exploding for a 13-1 win over the Bulldogs in the opening round of the SoCon Tournament in Greenville, South Carolina.
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Last Time Out
Mercer saw its season-long 11-game win streak snapped with an 8-5 nonconference loss to Georgia Tech at Russ Chandler Stadium Tuesday night. A six-run second inning keyed a hot start by the Yellow Jackets (17-18), who are the only team to defeat Mercer (32-7) in the last 13 games. Mercer fell to 0-2 against Georgia Tech this season.
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The bats of Ryan Hagan and Alex Hanson got Mercer started with a promising first inning. Hanson's RBI double off the center field wall followed Hagan's leadoff single, making it four straight games that the duo has started with consecutive hits. Charlie Madden followed them up three at bats later with a suicide squeeze bunt, scoring Hanson. However, the 2-0 lead was short-lived as the Yellow Jackets scored eight unanswered runs on 10 hits by the end of the fourth. Andrew Kane, Christian Vann, Robert Broom and Nick Spear combined to limit Georgia Tech to one run over the final 6.1 innings of play while striking out nine batters. Josh Knies took the loss, falling to 2-1.
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Going For Three
The quest for a third consecutive SoCon championship continues this weekend as Mercer travels to The Citadel for its fifth league series of the season. The Bears have swept Furman, Samford and VMI in consecutive weekends en route to an 11-1 SoCon mark and three-game lead in the standings.
Â
We Got Your Number
Senior RHP Ryan Askew, who will get the ball Friday, and junior right fielder Trey Truitt have had great success against The Citadel in their respective careers. Askew is 3-0 with a 1.59 ERA, 15 strikeouts and one walk in 17 innings of work against the Bulldogs. Truitt, who set a SoCon Tournament single-game record with three home runs against The Citadel last year, is batting .462 with 18 hits (six home runs) and 21 RBIs in nine games against the conference foe.
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Hagan Heating Up
After a slow start to the season offensively, Ryan Hagan has emerged as one of Mercer's hottest bats since SoCon play opened. The senior made a switch to shortstop, defensively, and is batting .447 in league play with 19 runs scored, 11 RBI and seven stolen bases. All five of his home runs this season have come in SoCon games as well.
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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.
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