Bears Head to Greenville for #SoConBSB Championship

Wednesday, May 22

Greenville, S.C.

12:50 p.m.

Mercer University

Furman

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Photo by: Mitch Robinson

Bears Head to Greenville for #SoConBSB Championship

5/21/2019 7:47:00 AM | Baseball

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Mercer opens conference tournament against No. 5-seeded Furman

By: Gerrit W. Van Genderen

MACON, Ga. – Mercer opens the 2019 Southern Conference Baseball Championship, presented by Holston Gases, against fifth-seeded Furman at 12:30 p.m. (ET) on Wednesday at Fluor Field in Greenville, S.C.

The Bears (29-26, 14-10 SoCon) enter the tournament as the No. 4 seed and are aiming for their second title in five years; Mercer won the 2015 SoCon Championship and has reached the title game in three of four seasons.

Wednesday's first-round contest against Furman (26-29, 13-11) will be streamed live on the SoCon Digital Network/Roku and have live stats available.

Bears vs. Paladins

Date/Time: Wednesday, May 22 | 12:30 p.m.
Location: Greenville, S.C. | Fluor Field
Teams: No. 4 Mercer (29-26, 14-10) vs. No. 5 Furman (26-29, 13-11)
Live Stats: SoConSports.com
Watch: SoCon Digital Network/Roku
Tickets: SoConSports.com
Projected Starters: RHP Sawyer Gipson-Long vs. LHP John Michael Bertrand

Batting Practice

Mercer is 11-6 at the SoCon Championship.
The Bears won the 2015 tournament title and have reached the title game in three of four seasons as SoCon members, including last season.
Mercer is 4-0 in SoCon Championship first-round games, outscoring opponents 46-9 in those games.
Mercer and Furman have met twice in SoCon tournament play, splitting a pair of 6-1 games. Then-freshman Kevin Coulter pitched a complete game to lead Mercer to victory in 2016 before Furman won in 2017.
Wednesday is the fourth straight clash between Mercer and Furman. The two teams closed out the regular season with a three-game series; Furman won two of three. Mercer leads the series, 23-11.
Sawyer Gipson-Long is expected to start on the mound for Mercer on Wednesday. He earned the win and struck out eight batters in Mercer's 8-3, series-opening win at Furman on May 16.
Four Bears earned all-conference honors on Monday. Kel Johnson (first team, coaches; second team, media), Kevin Coulter (second team, coaches), RJ Yeager (second team, coaches) and Angelo DiSpigna (second team, media; all-freshman team) represented the Bears.
Kel Johnson is the SoCon's leader in home runs (21) and runs batted in (60).
Mercer is 17-8 in its last 25 games played.
Four freshmen – Trevor Austin, Angelo DiSpigna, Collin Price and Bill Knight – have started 54, 53, 45 and 33 games, respectively, this season.
Nick Spear needs one save to set a new program record for the most in a career. He recorded his 20th save on May 16 at Furman to tie Andrew Urena (2005-06) for the most in school history.
RJ Yeager has started 115 consecutive games at shortstop since the start of his freshman season.

Mercer at the SoCon Championship

Year-by-Year at the SoCon Championship
- 2015: 4-0 (Charleston)
- 2016: 3-2 (Greenville)
- 2017: 1-2 (Greenville)
- 2018: 3-2 (Greenville)
Vs. opponents at the SoCon Championship
- vs. The Citadel: 3-0
- vs. ETSU: 0-0
- vs. Furman: 1-1
- vs. Samford: 1-3
- vs. UNCG: 0-0
- vs. VMI: 3-0
- vs. Western Carolina: 3-2
- vs. Wofford: 0-0

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.