No. 22 Mercer Welcomes UNCG for Weekend SoCon Series

Friday, April 28

Macon, Ga.

6 p.m.

Mercer University

UNCG

No. 22 Mercer Welcomes UNCG for Weekend SoCon Series

4/27/2017 5:18:00 PM | Baseball

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Bears have won 12 straight conference games dating back to March 31

By: Gerrit Van Genderen

MACON, Ga. – No. 22 (NCBWA) Mercer will look to move past a pair of mid-week losses as it hosts UNCG in a three-game Southern Conference series this weekend at OrthoGeorgia Park.

The Bears (35-9, 14-1 SoCon) have won 12 straight conference games by sweeping Furman, Samford, VMI and The Citadel in consecutive weekends, earning them a four-game lead in the league standings. UNCG (24-15, 8-4) sits in third place and is coming off a nonconference series win at Ohio State last weekend.

Games one and two will be broadcasted live on the American Sports Network (ASN) and ESPN3. Rick Cameron will have the call on the airwaves all series via the flagship station 97.3 FM The Bull Icons and on the iHeartRadio app.

SERIES LINEUP
Teams: No. 22 Mercer (35-9, 14-1 SoCon) vs. UNCG (24-15, 8-4 SoCon)
Location: Macon, Ga. | OrthoGeorgia Park
Friday: April 28 | 6 p.m. | Watch | Listen | Live Stats
Saturday: April 29 | 2 p.m. | Watch | Listen | Live Stats
Sunday: April 30 | 1 p.m. | Listen | Live Stats
Tickets: MercerBears.com
Twitter Updates: @MercerBaseball
Projected Starters

Friday: RHP Ryan Askew (4-0, 4.08) vs. LHP Bryce Hensley (5-4, 4.50)
Saturday: LHP Austin Cox (3-1, 5.29) vs. RHP Matt Frisbee (6-2, 3.71)
Sunday: RHP Kevin Coulter (4-2, 4.85) vs. RHP Dan Loats (3-2, 5.28)

Quick Hits

Mercer's 35 wins are tied with Louisville for the most in the country.
The Bears are nationally ranked No. 22 by NCBWA and No. 24 by Baseball America while receiving votes in the USA Today Coaches' Poll (54).
Mercer is No. 40 in the latest RPI rankings.
Mercer has won at least 35 games in each of the past eight seasons.
Mercer has won 12 straight SoCon games.
Reliever Robert Broom was named SoCon Pitcher of the Week (April 17-23). He threw eight scoreless frames (three appearances), allowing only two hits while striking out 11 batters.
JT Thomas and Charlie Madden are the only teammates nationally with 50+ RBIs this season.
Mercer ranks among the top 10 nationally in nine different offensive categories, including first in sacrifice bunts (64) and third in home runs (69).

Scouting UNCG
The Spartans smacked double-digit hits in all three games to claim two of three at Ohio State last weekend in nonconference action. With the series win, UNCG owns a 24-15 overall record as it returns to conference play. UNCG opened conference play with a series win over second-place Western Carolina but most recently dropped a series to Wofford on April 13-15.

An impressive offensive unit, UNCG is batting .330, led by freshman standout Caleb Webster who ranks first nationally with a .432 average. All three Spartan starting pitchers have owned their weekend slots for at least the last four weeks while Bryce Hensley and Matt Frisbee are mainstays since last year.

Series History
Mercer has won five of nine all-time meetings with the Spartans. The programs have battled in SoCon regular season play each of the last two seasons after first facing one another in 1998 in Macon. Last year's series in Greensboro was with the SoCon regular season championship up for grabs; Mercer won two of three to clinch the title for the second straight year.

Last Meeting
Mercer clinched its second straight SoCon regular season title with a 9-1 win over the Spartans on May 20, 2016 in Greensboro. Kevin Coulter tossed eight innings and scattered seven hits to earn the win on the mound. Charlie Madden went 3-for-3 with four RBIs while Hunter Bening added a two-run long ball that put the game out of reach.

Last Time Out
No. 22 (NCBWA) Mercer fell in extra innings for the first time all season as Georgia Southern defeated the Bears on a walk-off wild pitch Wednesday night at J.I. Clements Stadium.

A pair of wild pitches with two runners on in the bottom of the 10th resulted in the Eagles (28-14) defeating Mercer (35-9) for the second time in as many days. The game-winning run reached base with a one-out walk. Nick Spear (5-1) took the loss on the mound. With Mercer trailing 3-1 entering the seventh, JT Thomas and Danny Edgeworth tied it up with a sacrifice fly and RBI double, respectively. Trey Truitt led off the inning with a single and eventually scored. However, only one Bear reached base the rest of the night.

Going For Three
The quest for a third consecutive SoCon championship continues this weekend as Mercer hosts UNCG for its sixth league series of the season. The Bears have swept Furman, Samford, VMI and The Citadel in consecutive weekends en route to an 14-1 SoCon mark and four-game lead in the standings.

We Got Your Back
Mercer's bullpen has been formidable this season and a key contributor to the success of the program. With a 3.75 combined ERA, the Mercer bullpen has struck out 244 batters in 206.1 innings. The 'pen owns a 22-3 record after earning all three wins at The Citadel last weekend. Mercer is 21-0 when leading after the sixth inning.

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 .419 in league play with 20 runs scored, 13 RBI and seven stolen bases. All five of his home runs this season have come in SoCon games as well.

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.