Mercer Treks North to Face VMI this Weekend

Thursday, April 18

Lexington, Va.

3 p.m.

Mercer University

VMI

Photo by: Irán Hernandez

4/17/2019 12:00:00 PM | Baseball

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Bears to face the Keydets in three-game SoCon series

By: Gerrit W. Van Genderen

MACON, Ga. – Mercer will take the 500-mile trip north to Lexington, Va., this weekend, where it will face VMI in a three-game Southern Conference series at Gray-Minor Stadium.

To avoid Easter Sunday, the Bears (17-20, 5-7 SoCon) and Keydets (10-27, 5-7) will play on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. All three conference games will be streamed on the SoCon Digital Network, starting with Thursday's series opener at 6 p.m. (ET).

SERIES LINEUP
Teams: Mercer (17-20, 5-7 SoCon) at VMI (10-27, 5-7 SoCon)
Location: Lexington, Va. | Gray-Minor Stadium
Thursday: April 18 | 6 p.m. | Live Stats | SoCon Digital Network
Friday: April 19 | 4 p.m. | Live Stats | SoCon Digital Network
Saturday: April 20 | 1 p.m. | Live Stats | SoCon Digital Network
Projected Rotations:

Friday: RHP Sawyer Gipson-Long vs. RHP Jacob Menders
Saturday: RHP Kevin Coulter vs. RHP Adam Jewell
Sunday: LHP Tanner Hall vs. RHP Zak Kent

Batting Practice

Mercer has won three straight games against VMI, most recently defeating the Keydets, 19-0, in the first round of the 2018 SoCon Tournament in Greenville, S.C.
The Bears took two of three games from VMI in Macon during the regular season last year.
Mercer has won two straight games, including a 7-0 shutout win over Kennesaw State on Tuesday.
Tanner Hall is expected to start on the mound Saturday. The left-hander was named the SoCon Pitcher of the Week on Monday after tossing eight innings in a 6-2 series-ending win over Western Carolina last weekend.
Craig Gibson is 16-5 as a head coach against VMI.
Kel Johnson owns a 36-game reached base streak entering the weekend.
Johnson and RJ Yeager have both been named SoCon Player of the Month for March and February, respectively. Yeager ranks second on the team with a .322 batting average this season.
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: Mercer leads, 16-5-1
First Meeting: March 30, 1964 in Macon (Tied, 2-2, in 11 innings)
Last Meeting: May 23, 2018 in Greenville (Mercer won, 19-0, in 7 innings)
Streak: Mercer, 3

Scouting VMI
The Keydets are 10-27 overall and 5-7 in SoCon play heading into the three-game series against Mercer. VMI took an 11-10 victory over Richmond on Tuesday night, defeating the Spiders in 11 innings at home. Six of the Keydets' 10 wins have come at home this season.

Two Keydets are hitting above .300 in SoCon play this season, including Callen Nuccio (.319) and Josh Hollifield (.304). VMI has picked up at least one win in all four SoCon series this season, including a pair over ETSU at home.

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.