Sunday, March 4
Macon, Ga.
9 p.m.
Mercer University
vs
Holy Cross
Bears Ride Streak into Weekend Series with Holy Cross
3/2/2018 10:35:00 AM | Baseball
Mercer hosts Crusaders in third straight weekend series at home
MACON, Ga. – Mercer will play host for the third consecutive weekend as it welcomes Holy Cross for a three-game nonconference series at OrthoGeorgia Park, starting with Saturday's 6 p.m. series opener.
Ten games into the 2018 campaign, the Bears (8-2) are winners of five straight games and have won both of their previous weekend series against Bethune-Cookman and UNC Asheville. Mercer is most recently coming off a home-and-home midweek sweep of in-state rival Kennesaw State.
GAMEDAY LINEUP
Teams: Mercer (8-2) vs. Holy Cross (1-5)
Location: Macon, Ga. | OrthoGeorgia Park
Saturday: March 3 | 6 p.m. | Live Stats
Sunday: March 4 | 2 p.m. | Live Stats
Monday: March 5 | 4 p.m. | Live Stats
Tickets: www.tickets.mercer.edu
Twitter Updates: @MercerBaseball
Projected Starters:
The Bears and Crusaders have never met on the baseball diamond. Saturday's series opener will mark the first time the two programs have clashed.
A challenging opening slate has Holy Cross at 1-5 overall as it heads south to Macon for this weekend's series. The Crusaders took on No. 24 Houston to start the season and claimed a 3-2 win in game one before the Cougars took the series. Three losses in Norman, Okla., to the Sooners (twice) and Valparaiso followed the next weekend.
Holy Cross was picked third in this year's Patriot League preseason coaches poll while three Crusaders were named to the preseason all-conference team. Despite going 24-29 overall, the Crusaders won the Patriot League Tournament and reached the Corvallis (Ore.) Regional of the NCAA Tournament last season. They defeated No. 25 Nebraska in the regional but fell short in losses to No. 1 Oregon State and Yale.
K's for Days
The Bears continue to lead the nation in strikeouts per nine innings (13.1). A program-record 23 strikeouts vs. UNC Asheville on Feb. 23 helped boost Mercer's numbers, but the Bears have also struck out at least 10 batters in nine of 10 games this season.
Austin Cox, who has struck out eight and 13 (career-high) in his first two starts of the year, is averaging 21.0 strikeouts per nine innings. Christian Vann (12.83) and Sawyer Gipson-Long (12.79) both rank inside the top 100 nationally.
Defend Your Turf
Mercer's steady dominance at OrthoGeorgia Park since the 2012 campaign has played a key role in eight consecutive seasons with 35 wins or more. The Bears are 126-53 at home since '12, including a 7-2 mark so far in 2018.
Jump on the JT-Train
JT Thomas is batting .475 through 10 games played this season and is currently riding a 13-game hitting streak dating back to last season. The 2018 SoCon Preseason Player of the Year has recorded multiple hits in seven of 10 games and hit his first home run of the campaign against UNC Asheville last Friday.
Top Bears
The senior duo of Trey Truitt and Alex Hanson have made a bang in the No. 1-2 spots of the Mercer lineup. In the six games Truitt (.345 batting average) and Hanson (.316) have batted 1-2 in the lineup, Mercer is 6-0. Both have scored a team-best 13 runs and have combined for 11 extra base hits, seven stolen bases and 16 runs batted in.
#JackOfAllTrades
After three years of anchoring Mercer's left field corner, senior Jackson Ware had a "first" experience on Feb. 23 vs. UNC Asheville at OrthoGeorgia Park. The Statesboro, Ga., native made his first career start at third base after making 145 starts in left field dating back to 2015. Since he took over at third base, the Bears are 5-0.
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 www.MercerBears.com.
Ten games into the 2018 campaign, the Bears (8-2) are winners of five straight games and have won both of their previous weekend series against Bethune-Cookman and UNC Asheville. Mercer is most recently coming off a home-and-home midweek sweep of in-state rival Kennesaw State.
GAMEDAY LINEUP
Teams: Mercer (8-2) vs. Holy Cross (1-5)
Location: Macon, Ga. | OrthoGeorgia Park
Saturday: March 3 | 6 p.m. | Live Stats
Sunday: March 4 | 2 p.m. | Live Stats
Monday: March 5 | 4 p.m. | Live Stats
Tickets: www.tickets.mercer.edu
Twitter Updates: @MercerBaseball
Projected Starters:
- Saturday: LHP Austin Cox (2-0, 6.00 ERA) vs. RHP Pat McGowan (0-1, 0.87 ERA)
- Sunday: RHP Chase Burks (1-0, 3.86 ERA) vs. RHP Declan Cronin (0-1, 7.00 ERA)
- Monday: RHP Kevin Coulter (0-1, 7.56 ERA) vs. RHP Zane Hedaya (1-1, 5.14 ERA)
- Mercer and Holy Cross (Mass.) are separated by 1,033 miles.
- The Bears have won five straight, marking their longest streak since winning 12 in a row from March 31-April 15 last season.
- Mercer continues to lead the nation in strikeouts per nine innings (13.1).
- Mercer has won 20 of 22 series dating back to April of the 2016 season.
- JT Thomas ranks second nationally in hits (19).
- Robert Broom is tied for the national lead in pitching appearances (6).
- Nine of Mercer's first 10 games have been played at OrthoGeorgia Park.
- Craig Gibson (478-333) is 22 wins away from reaching career victory No. 500.
- Mercer is 126-53 at OrthoGeorgia Park since 2012.
The Bears and Crusaders have never met on the baseball diamond. Saturday's series opener will mark the first time the two programs have clashed.
- Series: First Meeting
- First Meeting: N/A
- Last Meeting: N/A
- Streak: N/A
A challenging opening slate has Holy Cross at 1-5 overall as it heads south to Macon for this weekend's series. The Crusaders took on No. 24 Houston to start the season and claimed a 3-2 win in game one before the Cougars took the series. Three losses in Norman, Okla., to the Sooners (twice) and Valparaiso followed the next weekend.
Holy Cross was picked third in this year's Patriot League preseason coaches poll while three Crusaders were named to the preseason all-conference team. Despite going 24-29 overall, the Crusaders won the Patriot League Tournament and reached the Corvallis (Ore.) Regional of the NCAA Tournament last season. They defeated No. 25 Nebraska in the regional but fell short in losses to No. 1 Oregon State and Yale.
K's for Days
The Bears continue to lead the nation in strikeouts per nine innings (13.1). A program-record 23 strikeouts vs. UNC Asheville on Feb. 23 helped boost Mercer's numbers, but the Bears have also struck out at least 10 batters in nine of 10 games this season.
Austin Cox, who has struck out eight and 13 (career-high) in his first two starts of the year, is averaging 21.0 strikeouts per nine innings. Christian Vann (12.83) and Sawyer Gipson-Long (12.79) both rank inside the top 100 nationally.
Defend Your Turf
Mercer's steady dominance at OrthoGeorgia Park since the 2012 campaign has played a key role in eight consecutive seasons with 35 wins or more. The Bears are 126-53 at home since '12, including a 7-2 mark so far in 2018.
Jump on the JT-Train
JT Thomas is batting .475 through 10 games played this season and is currently riding a 13-game hitting streak dating back to last season. The 2018 SoCon Preseason Player of the Year has recorded multiple hits in seven of 10 games and hit his first home run of the campaign against UNC Asheville last Friday.
Top Bears
The senior duo of Trey Truitt and Alex Hanson have made a bang in the No. 1-2 spots of the Mercer lineup. In the six games Truitt (.345 batting average) and Hanson (.316) have batted 1-2 in the lineup, Mercer is 6-0. Both have scored a team-best 13 runs and have combined for 11 extra base hits, seven stolen bases and 16 runs batted in.
#JackOfAllTrades
After three years of anchoring Mercer's left field corner, senior Jackson Ware had a "first" experience on Feb. 23 vs. UNC Asheville at OrthoGeorgia Park. The Statesboro, Ga., native made his first career start at third base after making 145 starts in left field dating back to 2015. Since he took over at third base, the Bears are 5-0.
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 www.MercerBears.com.
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