Baseball Set for Battle of I-16

UPDATE (9:30 a.m., Wednesday): Mercer and Georgia Southern pushed the start time back and now will start at 7:30 p.m. tonight from J.I. Clements Stadium.

MACON, Ga. – The Mercer baseball team heads to Statesboro, Ga. looking to extend its wining streak to nine games on Tuesday when they face Georgia Southern. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. from J.I. Clements Stadium.

GAMEDAY LINEUP
Teams: Mercer (8-0) at Georgia Southern (3-4)
Location: Statesboro, Ga. | J.I. Clements Stadium
Tuesday: Feb. 25 | 6 p.m. | Live Stats

Projected Rotations:

Tuesday: RHP Josh Farmer vs. RHP Tyler Owens

Batting Practice

The Bears improved to 8-0 on the season with a sweep of Radford this past weekend. This is the best start for the Bears since 2014. A win at Georgia Southern would tie the program record of wins to start a season.
Mercer is one of 19 teams in the NCAA that remain undefeated and are the only team in the Southern Conference with a perfect record.
The Bears' offense is off to a fast start. Mercer is eighth in the nation in doubles with 21. Angelo DiSpigna leads the way with five on the season. Freshman Colby Thomas has hit four.
Mercer was hit by six pitches in Sunday's series finale against Radford. This moved the total for the season to 21, the second most in the NCAA.
The Bears hold an 6.4 strikeout-to-walk ratio, which is the third best in the nation and tops in the Southern Conference.
Tanner Hall has picked up two wins this season. His two wins rank him third in the NCAA and leads the Southern Conference.
Mercer is one of just four NCAA Division I programs to win at least 35 games in each of the past 10 seasons, joining LSU, Florida State and Vanderbilt.
Since 2010, the Bears are the winningest Division I baseball program in the state of Georgia. The Bears have won 389 games, 11 more wins than Georgia Tech who is second on the list.
The Bears were picked to finish third in the Southern Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll. Mercer tallied one first place vote and 51 points.
Le Bassett was the only Bear to earn First Team Preseason All-SoCon honors. He earned his spot as a DH. Angelo DiSpigna, RJ Yeager and Collin Price were named to the second team.

Series History

Series: Georgia Southern leads the series, 82-28
First Meeting: April 28, 1960, L, 7-6
Last Meeting: March 26, 2019, L, 7-3
Streak: Mercer, L2

Scouting Georgia Southern
Under veteran head coach Rodney Hennon, the Eagles of Georgia Southern enter the midweek matchup with a 3-4 overall record. Georgia Southern was swept by Eastern Carolina in its last three games, and the Eagles have dropped their last four games. Georgia Southern was picked to finish in third place in the Sun Belt East Division. They received two first place votes and 50 points.

At the plate, the Eagles are hitting .253 as a team with 13 extra base hits. Mitchell Golden leads the team with a .353 batting average. Golden is the only player hitting over .300. Mason McWhorter leads the team with six RBI. Jarrett Brown and Chandler Davis have hit one home run apiece, which leads the team.

On the mound, the pitching staff has a team ERA of 3.45 on the season. They have allowed 54 hits including 16 extra base hits. Opponents are hitting .242 on the season against the Eagles staff. Tyler Owens will get the start on Tuesday. He has made two appearances on the season, with one start. He has pitched sixth innings and has ERA of 0.00.

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.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Le Bassett

Angelo DiSpigna

Josh Farmer

Tanner Hall

Collin Price

Colby Thomas

RJ Yeager

Footer