Mercer Hosts Samford in Pivotal SoCon Clash

Friday, May 3

Macon, Ga.

6 p.m.

Mercer University

Samford

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Photo by: Mitch Robinson

5/2/2019 8:08:00 AM | Baseball

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Bears, Bulldogs are SoCon’s top two teams heading into weekend

By: Gerrit W. Van Genderen

MACON, Ga. – Mercer will take a nine-game win streak into its final home series of the season against Southern Conference-leading Samford at OrthoGeorgia Park this weekend.

Since opening conference play with a 4-7 record, the Bears (24-20, 11-7) have reeled off the SoCon's longest win streak. The series will start at 6 p.m. Friday. Saturday (2 p.m.) and Sunday's (1 p.m.) games will be streamed on the SoCon Digital Network.

Seven graduating players – Kyle Bialousz, Kevin Coulter, Kel Johnson, Taylor Lobus, Scott Smith, Nick Spear and Garrett Wilkinson – will be honored prior to Sunday's first pitch during a Senior Day ceremony.

SERIES LINEUP
Teams: Mercer (24-20, 11-7 SoCon) vs. Samford (33-13, 13-2 SoCon)
Location: Macon, Ga. | OrthoGeorgia Park
Friday: May 3 | 6 p.m. | Live Stats
Saturday: May 4 | 2 p.m. | Live Stats | SoCon Digital Network
Sunday: May 5 | 1 p.m. | Live Stats | SoCon Digital Network
Tickets: tickets.mercer.edu
Projected Rotations:

Friday: RHP Sawyer Gipson-Long vs. LHP Samuel Strickland
Saturday: RHP Kevin Coulter vs. RHP Jesse McCord
Sunday: LHP Tanner Hall vs. RHP Zac Hester

Promotions at the Park

Friday: Bibb County Youth Night (Bibb County students get free admission. Mention you are with Bibb County schools and get an additional five free tickets.)
Friday: 10-Cent Hot Dog Night
Sunday: Senior Day Pre-Game Ceremony (approximately 12:45 p.m.)
Sunday: Disney World Trip Giveaway (Details)

Batting Practice

Samford and Mercer are first and second, respectively, in the SoCon regular season standings heading into the weekend.
Mercer's nine-game win streak is the longest active streak in the SoCon.
Mercer went 11-4 during the month of April, including a 9-3 conference record.
The Bears have not defeated Samford since April 9, 2017; Samford has won the last six meetings, including a clash in the SoCon Championship title game last season.
Tanner Hall boasts some of the league's best numbers on the mound in SoCon play; he owns a 4-0 record, 2.00 ERA, 28 strikeouts and a .197 batting average against in 36 innings pitched.
Not to be outdone, Kevin Coulter has tossed a team-high 39.1 innings in conference action. He has a 2.75 ERA and .272 batting average against in SoCon play.
Three Bears – Kyle Dockus (.358), RJ Yeager (.313) and Alex Crotty (.313) – are hitting above .300 in SoCon play.
Dockus leads the team in overall batting average (.322), runs (41), hits (56), on base percentage (.419), walks (25) and stolen bases (15).
Kel Johnson saw his 42-game reached base streak come to an end last Sunday. He has reached in all but one of the 43 games he has played in this season. Johnson ranks among the nation's best with 17 home runs and 51 runs batted.
Three freshmen – Angelo DiSpigna, Collin Price and Bill Knight – have started the majority of Mercer's SoCon games. The trio has a combined seven home runs, 36 RBI and 29 runs scored in conference contests.
RJ Yeager has started 104 consecutive games at shortstop since the start of his freshman 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, 41-35
First Meeting: 1983 | Mercer won, 17-3
Last Meeting: May 27, 2018 at SoCon Championship in Greenville, S.C. | Samford won, 14-4
Streak: Samford, 6

Scouting Samford
The Bulldogs have emerged as the SoCon frontrunners and are 20 games over .500 heading into this weekend's series in Macon. Samford leads the league in batting (.323) and pitching (2.39 ERA) in their 15 conference games played so far this season and has swept Furman, The Citadel and UNCG.

Brooks Carlson is hitting .391 with 24 extra base hits (16 doubles) and owns a staggering .482 batting average in conference games. Two Samford starting pitchers, Zach Hester and Jesse McCord, own 1.44 and 1.82 ERAs in five SoCon starts, respectively.

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.