Bears to Host Samford in Three-Game SoCon Tilt

Friday, April 7

Macon, Ga.

6 p.m.

Mercer University

Samford

Bears to Host Samford in Three-Game SoCon Tilt

4/6/2017 4:15:00 PM | Baseball

Game 1 Live Stats Game 1 Video Game 1 Radio

Mercer looks to remain atop the Southern Conference standings

By: Gerrit Van Genderen

MACON, Ga. – Mercer hosts Samford for a three-game Southern Conference series this weekend at OrthoGeorgia Park, starting with a 6 p.m. first pitch in Friday's series opener.

Winners of four in a row, the Bears (25-6, 5-1 SoCon) are in sole possession of first place in the conference standings having already defeated ETSU twice and swept Furman. Samford (19-10, 2-1) owns the second-best overall win percentage (.655) in the conference behind Mercer.

Friday and Saturday's home games at 6 p.m. and 2 p.m., respectively, will be broadcasted on the American Sports Network (ASN) with Matt Stewart and David Cohen getting the call. Rick Cameron will have the call for all three games on the airwaves via the flagship station 97.3 FM The Bull Icons and on the iHeartRadio app.

SERIES LINEUP
Teams: Mercer (25-6, 5-1 SoCon) vs. Samford (19-10, 2-1 SoCon)
Location: Macon, Ga. | OrthoGeorgia Park
Tickets: MercerBears.com
Friday: April 7 | 6 p.m. | Watch | Listen | Live Stats
Saturday: April 8 | 2 p.m. | Watch | Listen | Live Stats
Sunday: April 9 | 1 p.m. | Listen | Live Stats
Twitter Updates: @MercerBaseball
Projected Starters

Friday: RHP Ryan Askew (3-0, 3.55) vs. RHP Mikhail Cazenave (2-3, 4.79)
Saturday: LHP Austin Cox (2-1, 5.35) vs. RHP Jesse McCord (3-2, 5.05)
Sunday: RHP Kevin Coulter (2-2, 6.89) vs. RHP Stephen Jones (2-1, 4.88)

Quick Hits

Charlie Madden was named a Perfect Game Midseason All-American, among the top 10 nationally in home runs (13), runs scored (35), RBIs (36) and slugging percentage (.763).
Mercer is 38-29 all-time against the Bulldogs.
Mercer continues to receive votes in two national polls (ESPN/USA Today Coaches' Poll and NCBWA Top 25 poll) and is 48th in the latest RPI rankings.

Scouting Samford
Samford boasts a three-game win streak heading into this weekend's series. The Bulldogs (19-10, 1-2 SoCon) dropped their SoCon opener, 4-0, to VMI last Friday and have since defeated the Keydets twice along with an 11-3 win over Alabama State.

The Bulldogs are 8-7 on the road and 16-5 overall since March 3. T.J. Dixon is the league's active career leader in runs (162), games played (202) and stolen bases (69). He is batting .345 and has reached base safely in 28 of 29 games played this season. The Samford pitching staff owns a SoCon-best 4.31 ERA while logging 253 strikeouts in 255.0 innings pitched.

Series History
Mercer is 38-29 all-time against the Bulldogs, including a 4-3 record since joining the SoCon. Samford took two of three in last year's conference series in Birmingham, defeating the Bears 11-5 and 3-1 in games one and three. The two programs clashed in the 2015 SoCon Championship finale, ending in a 5-0 Bears win.

Last Time Out
Consecutive five-run innings highlighted by three home runs powered Mercer to a 10-4 nonconference win over Kennesaw State at Stillwell Stadium Tuesday night. Trey Truitt hit a go-ahead three-run blast in the third while Charlie Madden and Danny Edgeworth went back-to-back leading off the fourth as eight Bears pitchers combined to limit Kennesaw State to six hits.

Madden Named Midseason All-American
A dominant opening half of the 2017 campaign has landed senior catcher Charlie Madden on the Midseason Perfect Game/Rawlings All-America Second Team.

Madden is the only SoCon player named to either the first or second teams. A two-time SoCon Player of the Week so far this season, Madden is batting a career-best .316 in 114 at bats and ranks second nationally with 13 home runs. His SoCon-leading 35 runs scored, 36 RBIs, 87 total bases and .763 slugging percentage are all top-10 marks nationally as well.

Home, Sweet, Home
Friendly confines, indeed. Mercer is 14-3 at home after opening OrthoGeorgia Park with a 10-0 record to start the season. It marked the second-best home start in program history. The Bears' three losses came against to Bradley, ETSU and Georgia Tech in March.

Weapons of Choice: A Spear and a Broom
Mercer has benefited from the outstanding relief pitching of Nick Spear and Robert Broom this season. The duo is a combined 9-1 over 55.3 innings pitched while notching 75 strikeouts collectively. Opposing batters are hitting .197 off Broom and .202 off Spear.

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.