Mercer to Face Belmont in Nashville this Weekend

Friday, May 10

Nashville, Tenn.

5 p.m.

Mercer University

Belmont

Photo by: Mitch Robinson

Mercer to Face Belmont in Nashville this Weekend

5/9/2019 7:57:00 AM | Baseball

Bears to play three-game nonconference series on the road

By: Gerrit W. Van Genderen

MACON, Ga. – Mercer will take a weekend off from Southern Conference play to face Belmont in a three-game series at E.S. Rose Park in Nashville, Tenn., starting at 6 p.m. (ET) on Friday.

The former ASUN Conference foes will clash for the first time since 2015 when they open the series on Friday night. The three-game set is Mercer's penultimate regular season series of the 2019 campaign.

All three games will have live stats available.

SERIES LINEUP
Teams: Mercer (26-22) at Belmont (23-24)
Location: Nashville, Tenn. | E.S. Rose Park
Friday: May 10 | 6 p.m. | Live Stats
Saturday: May 11 | 3 p.m. | Live Stats
Sunday: May 12 | 2 p.m. | Live Stats
Projected Rotations:

Friday: RHP Sawyer Gipson-Long vs. RHP Casey Queener
Saturday: RHP Kevin Coulter vs. RHP Joshua South
Sunday: LHP Tanner Hall vs. TBA

Batting Practice

Mercer and Belmont were ASUN Conference rivals until 2012 when the Bruins left for the Ohio Valley Conference. The Bears later left for the SoCon in 2015.
After running through an 11-game win streak, Mercer has lost two straight dating back to Sunday.
Mercer is 13-14 in nonconference games and 8-9 on the road.
Kevin Coulter continues to impress on the mound. He owns a 5-2 record, 2.37 ERA and a 53-to-13 strikeout-to-walk ratio in a team-leading 68.1 innings pitched.
Kel Johnson hit his 19th home run at Kennesaw State on Wednesday, tying him with head coach Craig Gibson for the ninth-most home runs in a single season by a Mercer player.
Kyle Dockus leads Mercer in batting average (.316), runs (42), hits (59), walks (28), on base percentage (.418) and stolen bases (15).
RJ Yeager has started 108 consecutive games at shortstop since the start of his freshman season.
Collin Price owns a 23-game reached base streak.
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: Tied, 22-22
First Meeting: March 15, 2002 in Macon | Mercer won, 6-2
Last Meeting: March 1, 2015 in Macon | Mercer won, 5-4
Streak: Mercer, 2

Scouting Belmont
The Bruins are one game under .500 overall heading into the weekend despite owning a 17-10 OVC record. They have lost three straight games dating back to a series loss last weekend against Southeast Missouri, along with a mid-week defeat to North Alabama.

Belmont's lineup is hitting a collective .249, led by Zach Ehrhart's .281 mark. Senior and freshman right-handers Casey Queener (4-2, 4.41 ERA) and Joshua South (4-4, 3.58) are expected to start on Friday and Saturday, with Sunday's starter yet to be announced.

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.