Baseball Returns to OrthoGeorgia To Face Bradley

MACON, Ga. – The Mercer University baseball team returns to OrthoGeorgia Park for a three-game set with Bradley University this weekend. The Bears and Braves are scheduled to play a single game on Friday at 6 p.m. and a doubleheader on Saturday starting at 2 p.m.

GAMEDAY LINEUP
Teams: Mercer (7-9) vs. Bradley (5-4)
Location: Macon, Ga. | OrthoGeorgia Park
Friday: March 19 | 6 p.m. | Live Stats
Saturday (G1): March 20 | 2 p.m. | Live Stats
Saturday (G2): March 20 | 45 minutes after Game 1| Live Stats

Projected Rotations:

Friday: RHP Garett Delano vs. LHP Brooks Gosswein
Saturday (G1): RHP Tommy Green vs. RHP Dalton Mall
Saturday (G2): RHP Jackson Kelley vs. RHP Nick King

Batting Practice

For the first time since, 2017, the Mercer Bears will host the Bradley Braves. The two teams were scheduled to play in 2020 before COVID-19 canceled the season. The series between these two programs is tied at three.
In Tuesday's victory over Florida A&M, the Bears' bats heated up as the team collected a season-high 19 hits.
Graduate Student Garett Delano was named the SoCon Pitcher of the Week on Monday. He tossed 7.0 innings against Marshall and only allowed two hits while striking out a career-high 11. The very next day, Delano was named the John Olerud Two-Way Player of the Week.
Since March 10, Brandon Michie has found his rhythm at the plate. Since then, he has gone 13-of-23 (.565) with nine RBI and his first multi-home run game of the season, which came on March 14 against Marshall.
Mercer's bats were on fire down in Tallahassee for the two-game set between the Bears and Rattlers. As a team, Mercer hit .392 with seven extra-base hits for its highest batting average in a series this season.
The Bears lead the Southern Conference with 34 doubles in 2021, which ranks 20th in the NCAA. Mercer is averaging 2.1 doubles per game, the 37th best mark. Ten different Bears have hit a double, and the team is led by Angelo DiSpigna's eight two-base knocks.
RJ Yeager has started every game at shortstop since he arrived on campus as a freshman. He has currently started 156 consecutive games.
Mercer was picked to finish second in the 2021 Preseason SoCon Coaches and Media Polls. The Bears were picked behind Samford in both polls.
Mercer is one of just four NCAA Division I programs to win at least 35 games in each of the past 10 full 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 401 games, seven more than Georgia Tech who is second on the list.

Series History
Series: Mercer and Bradley are tied at 3-3
First Meeting: 2015 – Bradley 8, Mercer 2
Last Meeting: 2017 – Bradley 8, Mercer 6
Streak: L1

Scouting Bradley
Bradley comes to Macon with a record of 5-4 on the season and is coming off a 9-8 loss to Alabama State on March 14. The Bears and Braves were supposed to square off in 2020 before the COVID-19 canceled the season.

Fifth-year senior Dan Blot leads the team. He was named the Missouri Valley Player of the Year by several college baseball media outlets and is hitting .306 with three home runs, a team-high 10 RBI and .444 on-base percentage through nine contests.

Ryan Vogel paces the team with a .412 (14-of-34) batting average. Connor O'Brien is second on the team with a .351 average. The Braves have hit 21 doubles, with O'Brien leading the way with seven. Bradley is hitting .251 as a squad.

On the mound, the team has an ERA of 3.04, the 21^st best mark among all NCAA Division I pitching staffs. Coming out of the pen is Jed Moscot, who leads the team with an ERA of 0.00 in 14 innings pitched. Saturday's probable starter, Dalton Mall, is second with an ERA of 1.35 in 13.1 innings pitched. Mall leads Bradley with 19 punch outs.

Teams are hitting .176 off the Braves over the first nine games of the 2021 campaign. As a staff, they have fanned 72 batters and surrendered only 40 walks . Teams have struggled to get the extra-base hits against the Braves, as Bradley's pitching staff has allowed just 16 hits extra-base knocks.

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.

Baseball Returns to OrthoGeorgia To Face Bradley

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Players Mentioned

Garett Delano

Angelo DiSpigna

Tommy Green

Jackson Kelley

Brandon Michie

RJ Yeager

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Mercer University Athletics

Baseball Returns to OrthoGeorgia To Face Bradley

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Garett Delano

Angelo DiSpigna

Tommy Green

Jackson Kelley

Brandon Michie

RJ Yeager

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