Bears and Catamounts to Clash in Cullowhee

Friday, April 20

Cullowhee, N.C.

5 p.m.

Mercer University

Western Carolina

Tickets

Photo by: Gerrit Van Genderen

4/19/2018 5:02:00 PM | Baseball

Tickets Watch (Game 1)Live Stats (Game 1)

Mercer seeks return to form in SoCon action

By: Gerrit W. Van Genderen

MACON, Ga. – Mercer continues its eight-game road trek with a visit to Western Carolina for a Southern Conference weekend series beginning Friday, April 20 at 5 p.m. in Cullowhee, N.C.

The Bears (26-13, 6-6 SoCon) look to snap a five-game losing streak when they face the Catamounts (3-32, 1-11) at Childress Field at Hennon Stadium. All three games can be streamed online; Friday and Sunday's games will be aired on the recently introduced ESPN+ while Saturday's contest will be through the SoCon Digital Network.

WEEKEND OUTLOOK
Teams: Mercer (26-13, 6-6 SoCon) at Western Carolina (3-32, 1-11 SoCon)
Location: Cullowhee, N.C. | Childress Field at Hennon Stadium
Tickets: CatamountSports.com
Friday: April 20 | 5 p.m. | Live Stats | ESPN+
Saturday: April 21 | 2 p.m. | Live Stats | SoCon Digital Network
Sunday: April 22 | 1 p.m. | Live Stats | ESPN+
Projected Starters:

Friday: LHP Austin Cox (6-1, 4.26 ERA) vs. RHP Chase Walter (0-5, 7.07 ERA)
Saturday: RHP Chase Burks (4-3, 5.55 ERA) vs. LHP Tristan Baker (1-4, 7.51 ERA)
Sunday: TBD vs. LHP Taylor Purus (1-8, 7.54 ERA)

Batting Practice

Craig Gibson (496-344) is four wins away from career victory No. 500.
Mercer leads the nation in strikeouts (422) and strikeouts per nine innings (11.0).
The Bears are nine wins away from reaching 35 victories for the ninth consecutive season.
Alex Hanson has reached base safely in 62 of 64 games dating back to last season.
Mercer is one of three teams with 13 players to have hit at least one home run this season (Tennessee Tech, 15; Elon, 13).
Robert Broom is tied for the most wins (7) in the SoCon. He leads the conference and ranks sixth nationally in strikeouts per nine innings (13.8).
Trey Truitt is one of five players nationally with 45-plus runs scored and 55-plus hits.
A win by Mercer on Friday would extend Western Carolina's losing streak to a program record 15 games.

A Look at the Series
Mercer and Western Carolina have met on the baseball diamond 13 times dating back to 2007. The Bears are winless in their last four games against Western Carolina, including a pair of defeats in Macon last season (series finale rained out). The Catamounts also bested Mercer twice in the 2016 SoCon Championship.

Mercer claimed the series victory in Cullowhee in 2016, rallying from a series-opening defeat with two wins en route to its second consecutive SoCon regular season title.

Series: Western Carolina, 7-6
First Meeting: 3/7/2007 | Mercer 13-10 in Macon, Ga.
Last Meeting: 5/19/2017 | Western Carolina 3-2 in Macon, Ga.
Streak: Western Carolina, 4

A Look at Western Carolina
The Catamounts have lost 14 straight games dating back to March 24 at The Citadel and own a 3-32 (1-11 SoCon) record entering this weekend's series. The squad owns a .254 batting average and is led by Justice Bigbie (.356).

Mercer will face three projected starters on the mound with a combined record of 2-17. The Catamount pitching staff has a 7.20 ERA while opposing batters are hitting .311 against them. Two of Western Carolina's three wins have come at home this season.

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.