Baseball Heads to Atlanta to Face Georgia State

MACON, Ga. – The Mercer University baseball team travels to Atlanta on Tuesday to face Georgia State in a Peach State Showdown. The Bears and Panthers will square off at GSU Baseball Complex at 6 p.m.

GAMEDAY LINEUP
Teams: Mercer (10-9) at Georgia State (5-16)
Location: Atlanta, Ga. | GSU Baseball Complex
Tuesday: March 23 | 6 p.m. | Live Stats

Projected Rotations:

Tuesday: RHP Josh Farmer vs. RHP Dylan Matela

Batting Practice

The Bears will face Georgia State on Tuesday in their first meeting of the 2021 season. The last time these two squads battled was March 10, 2020. It was the last game Mercer played before the season was canceled.
Brandon Michie came up clutch this past weekend against Bradley. In the first two games of the series, Michie batted in the run that put the Bears ahead for good in the game. Each hit came in the bottom of the eighth inning.
On Monday, Michie was named Southern Conference Player of the Week. Last week, he hit .500 on with two home runs and eight RBI.
Since March 10, Michie has found his rhythm at the plate going 18-of-34 (.529) with 15 RBI. He has had two multi-home run games during the stretch, March 14 and March 20.
Mercer showed its power against Bradley at OrthoGeogia Park last weekend. The Orange & Black hit seven home runs, the second most in a series this season, and had a team average of .343. The Bears also tallied six doubles.
The Bears lead the Southern Conference with 40 doubles, which ranks 19th in the NCAA. Mercer is averaging 2.1 doubles per game, the 35th best mark. Eleven 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 159 consecutive games. Yeager will make his 160^th career start on Tuesday.
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 leads the series, 67-53
First Meeting: 1958 – Mercer 14, Georgia State 2
Last Meeting: 2020 – Mercer 9, Georgia State 5
Streak: W1

Scouting Georgia State
Georgia State comes into the matchup with the Bears with a record of 5-16. The Panthers dropped two of their three games to ULM this past weekend in their first Sun Belt series of the year. The Panthers are 2-3 at home this season with both wins coming over then-No. 14 West Virginia. Georgia State has not had a home game since Feb. 24 when it hosted Georgia.

Will Mize leads the Panthers at the plate. He is hitting .316 (25-for-79) with four doubles and two home runs. He also leads the team with 10 RBI. Josh Smith is the only other player on the roster with better than a .300 batting average. Smith is hitting .304 with six extra-base hits.

As a team, the Panthers are hitting .232. Georgia State has 44 extra-base hits – 30 doubles, 11 home runs, and three triples. Georgia State has tallied 75 walks, while striking out 215 times. On the bases, the Panthers are 17-for-26 on stolen base attempts.

Trey Horton leads the Panthers with 10 appearances on the mound for a total of 14.2 innings. Horton has a 1.84 ERA and has tallied 10 strikeouts. Rafael Acosta has made six appearances, with one start, and pitched 13.1 innings. Acosta has an ERA of 1.35 while striking out 11.

The Panthers pitching staff has an ERA of 5.61 and has allowed 186 hits in 176 innings. Opponents are hitting .268 off the Panthers. Georgia State has allowed 26 home runs this season.

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 Heads to Atlanta to Face Georgia State

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Angelo DiSpigna

Josh Farmer

Brandon Michie

RJ Yeager

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Mercer University Athletics

Baseball Heads to Atlanta to Face Georgia State

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Angelo DiSpigna

Josh Farmer

Brandon Michie

RJ Yeager

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