Bears Hosts Wofford to Open SoCon Play

Friday, March 23

Macon, Ga.

6 p.m.

Mercer University

Wofford

Tickets

Photo by: Christopher Ian Smith

3/22/2018 4:08:00 PM | Baseball

Game 1 Live Stats Game 1 Video Tickets

Road to fourth straight SoCon regular season title begins Friday

By: Gerrit W. Van Genderen

MACON, Ga. – The road to a fourth consecutive Southern Conference regular season title begins Friday for Mercer, which hosts Wofford in a three-game series at OrthoGeorgia Park this weekend.

First pitch of Friday's series opener is slated for 6 p.m. All three games will be aired live on ESPN3. Mercer (17-5) has won five straight games entering conference play.

GAMEDAY LINEUP
Teams: Mercer (17-5) vs. Wofford (15-7)
Location: Macon, Ga. | OrthoGeorgia Park
Friday: March 23 | 6 p.m. | Live Stats | ESPN3
Saturday: March 24 | 2 p.m. | Live Stats | ESPN3
Sunday: March 25 | 1 p.m. | Live Stats | ESPN3
Tickets: www.tickets.mercer.edu
Projected Starters:

Friday: LHP Austin Cox (4-0, 5.11 ERA) vs. LHP Austin Higginbotham (2-1, 4.24 ERA)
Saturday: RHP Chase Burks (3-1, 6.38 ERA) vs. Adam Scott (3-1, 3.55 ERA)
Sunday: TBA vs. RHP Grant Byers (3-1, 4.61 ERA)

Batting Practice

Mercer has won its opening SoCon series every year since joining the league in 2015.
The Bears haven't lost a series to Wofford since joining the SoCon (split 2016 series, 1-1).
Mercer has opened SoCon play at home each of the last three years.
Craig Gibson (487-336) is 13 wins away from career victory No. 500.
Mercer leads the nation with 12.4 strikeouts per nine innings.
Mercer is one of nine teams nationally with 10 different players who have hit at least one home run this season. (Arkansas, 11; FAU, 11; South Carolina, 11; Davidson, 11; Georgia Tech, 11; Wichita State, 10; Elon, 10; Ohio, 10).
Trey Truitt ranks among the top five in numerous Southern Conference categories including total bases (60), slugging percentage (.800), RBI (21), runs scored (28), on base percentage (.511), home runs (7), hits (32) and batting average (.427).
The Bears currently have five players with reached base streaks of 10 games or better.

Youth Day at OrthoGeorgia Park
Mercer will host Youth Day at OrthoGeorgia Park at Friday's series opener to encourage and support physical activity and participation in youth sports. Any youth that wear their favorite sports jersey to Friday's game will get free admission for themselves and their family.

A Look at the Series
Mercer and Wofford have played 27 times in a series that extends back to 1905. Since joining the SoCon in 2015, Mercer is 5-3 against the Terriers with two series wins in 2016 and 2017.

Mercer clinched its third consecutive SoCon regular season title last season with a pair of wins in Spartanburg. The Bears also hosted Wofford at Claude Smith Field in 2016 to open SoCon play.

Series: Mercer, 17-10
First Meeting: 1905, Mercer 5-3
Last Meeting: 5/14/17, Mercer 11-7
Streak: Mercer, 2

A Look at Wofford
The Terriers open SoCon play with the conference's third best overall record behind Mercer (16-5) and UNCG (14-5). Wofford is hitting .307 for the season and put pressure on opposing defenses with a league-best 57 stolen bases.

Senior Mack Nathanson (.421, 28 RBI) has led the Terriers offensively while Wofford's three projected starting pitchers are a combined 8-3 on the mound. Adam Scott owns a league-best 48 strikeouts in 33 innings pitched.

Wofford spit with Gardner-Webb in a home-and-home this week following a weekend sweep of Siena. The Terriers have only played three road games this season.

SoCon #4Peat?
Since joining the Southern Conference in 2015, Mercer has established a dominance with three consecutive regular season titles. The Bears became the first SoCon team to three-peat since Western Carolina claimed three SoCon South Division titles and the overall league title from 1986-89. The last program to win the title four consecutive years was West Virginia, which won it in 1961-64.

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 133-54 at home since '12, including a 14-3 mark so far in 2018.

Lightning Rod
Senior right fielder Trey Truitt has been a catalyst for a Mercer offense averaging 9.4 runs per game this season. He was named the SoCon Player of the Week and a Collegiate Baseball National Player of the Week on Monday for a staggering four-game stretch in which he batted .588 with 14 RBI, four home runs, eight runs scored and two stolen bases.

Truitt is batting .416 for the season and just recently saw a career-long 13-game hit streak end. He ranks among the top five in numerous SoCon statistical categories including total bases (60), slugging percentage (.79), RBI (21), runs scored (29), on base percentage (.516), home runs (7) and hits (32).

Cox In Control
The odds have tended to be in Mercer's favor whenever Austin Cox takes the mound this season. Mercer is undefeated (5-0) when its left-handed ace starts this season and has outscored its opponents 65-28 in such games. Cox (4-0, 5.11 ERA) ranks second nationally in strikeouts per nine innings (16.05).

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.