Mercer to Host UNCG in SoCon-Opening Series

Friday, March 22

Macon, Ga.

6 p.m.

Mercer University

UNCG

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Photo by: Ken Lanese

3/21/2019 3:11:00 PM | Baseball

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Bears, Spartans will clash in Macon this weekend

By: Gerrit W. Van Genderen

MACON, Ga. – Mercer's Southern Conference slate will begin this weekend when it hosts UNCG for a three-game series at OrthoGeorgia Park.

The Bears (11-11) are in the midst of a 12-game home stand and will look to snap a four-game skid against UNCG (13-6) when they square off in Friday's series opener at 6 p.m. (ET). All three games will be streamed live; Friday will be held on the SoCon Digital Network and Saturday and Sunday will be featured on ESPN+.

WEEKEND LINEUP
Teams: Mercer (11-11) vs. UNCG (13-6)
Location: Macon, Ga. | OrthoGeorgia Park
Friday: March 22 | 6 p.m. | Live Stats | SoCon Digital Network
Saturday: March 23 | 2 p.m. | Live Stats | ESPN+
Sunday: March 24 | 1 p.m. | Live Stats | ESPN+
Tickets: tickets.mercer.edu
Projected Rotations:

Friday: LHP Beau Healy vs. RHP Phillip Sanderson
Saturday: TBA vs. RHP Jeremiah Triplett
Sunday: TBA vs. RHP Austin Koehn

Batting Practice

Mercer has won all four of its SoCon-opening series since joining the league in 2015.
UNCG head coach Link Jarrett spent two seasons on Craig Gibson's staff in 2004-05.
Kel Johnson is tied for the national lead in home runs (12) and additionally ranks inside the top 10 nationally in runs batted in (32) and total bases (65).
Johnson enters the weekend with a 21-game reached base streak.
Mercer is 10-7 at OrthoGeorgia Park this season.
Nick Spear ranks seventh nationally with 12 appearances on the mound.
Mercer's pitching staff has struck out 10-plus batters in half of its 22 games this season.
Freshman Angelo DiSpigna owns a team-best .358 batting average.
Mercer is one of four NCAA Division I programs to win at least 35 games in each of the past nine seasons, joining LSU, Florida State and Vanderbilt.

Series History

Series: UNCG leads, 9-6
In Macon: UNCG leads, 6-3
First Meeting: 2/27/1998 in Macon (UNCG won, 7-6, in 11 innings)
Last Meeting: 5/7/2018 in Greensboro (UNCG won, 7-1)
Streak: UNCG, 4

Scouting UNCG
The Spartans enter their first league series with a 13-6 overall record and have dropped their past two contests against Jacksonville and North Carolina A&T. UNCG has won its last three weekend series, however, with sweeps of Penn and Princeton and two of three against Jacksonville.

Despite just 10 home runs as a team, UNCG has 33 stolen bases and a collective .284 batting average. Greg Hardison owns a team-best .338 average and SoCon Preseason Player of the Year Caleb Webster is batting .301 with seven extra-base hits. Phillip Sanderson, Jeremiah Triplett and Austin Koehn are expected to start on the mound for the Spartans. Triplett is 2-0 with a 2.60 ERA and a .184 batting average against.

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.