Friday, April 23
Birmingham, Ala.
2:30 p.m. ET (1:30 p.m. CT)
Mercer University
at
Samford
Photo by: Katie Linkner
Baseball Heads to Birmingham for SoCon Series With Samford
4/22/2021 4:46:00 PM | Baseball
Mercer returns to action on Friday against Samford
MACON, Ga. – The Mercer Bears will hit the road for a second consecutive weekend as they head to Birmingham, Ala., to battle the Samford Bulldogs in a three-game series.   Â
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GAMEDAY LINEUP
Teams: Mercer (21-15, 8-4 SoCon) at Samford (22-15, 12-3 SoCon)
Location: Birmingham, Ala. | Joe Lee Griffin Field
Friday (G1): April 23 | 2:30 p.m. ET | Live Stats | Watch
Friday (G2): April 23 | 5:30 p.m. ET | Live Stats | Watch
Saturday: April 24 | 2 p.m. ET | Live Stats | Watch
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Projected Rotations:
Batting Practice
Series History
Series:Â Mercer leads the all-time series, 44-27
First Meeting: 1983 – Mercer 17, Samford 3
Last Meeting: 2019 – Mercer 4, Samford 3
Streak: W1
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Scouting Samford
The Bulldogs enter the game with the Bears with a 22-15 record and a 12-3 mark in the Southern Conference. Samford has dropped its last three games. The Bulldogs are 15-3 at home in 2021.
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Tyler McManus leads the team with a .313 batting average and 29 RBI. Sonny DiChiara also has 29 RBI this season and has a team high eight home runs. As a team, Samford is hitting .262 with 25 home runs and an on-base percentage of .371.
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On the bump, the Bulldogs have a 6.10 ERA in 321.2 innings pitched this season. Samuel Strickland, who is set to take the hill in the first game of the series Friday night, has pitched 48.2 innings this season and holds an ERA of 3.70. Jesse McCord is scheduled to start the nightcap of Friday's twin bill, and he leads the team with 60 punch outs this season. He has pitched 44.1 innings.
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Carson Cupo leads the team with 19 appearances on the season and has pitched 23 innings. All of his appearances are out of the pen. Chase Isbell follows with 17 appearances, also all out of the pen, and has pitched 20.1 innings. AS a team the Bulldogs have 346 strikeouts.
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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.
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GAMEDAY LINEUP
Teams: Mercer (21-15, 8-4 SoCon) at Samford (22-15, 12-3 SoCon)
Location: Birmingham, Ala. | Joe Lee Griffin Field
Friday (G1): April 23 | 2:30 p.m. ET | Live Stats | Watch
Friday (G2): April 23 | 5:30 p.m. ET | Live Stats | Watch
Saturday: April 24 | 2 p.m. ET | Live Stats | Watch
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Projected Rotations:
- Friday (G1) RHP Garett Delano vs. LHP Samuel Strickland
- Friday (G2) RHP Jackson Kelley vs. RHP Jesse McCord
- Saturday: RHP Josh Farmer vs. RHP Zach Hester
Batting Practice
- The Bears enter the weekend with a 21-14 record and an 8-4 mark in SoCon play. Mercer is coming off a 17-4 non-conference victory over Georgia State on Wednesday night.
- Garett Delano was named to the John Olerud Two-Way Player of the Year Award watch list. This award is named by the College Baseball Foundation. Delano is the only player from the Southern Conference on the list.
- RJ Yeager was named a candidate for the Senior CLASS Award. The award is for a student-athlete who excels both on and off the field and must have achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition.
- Yeager was named to the Brooks Wallace Award Watch List. This award is honors the nation's top shortstop. This is the second time in his career that Yeager has been named to the list.
- Mercer has hit 49 home runs in 36 games during the 2021 season. The 49 home runs rank 10th in the nation. Brandon Michie and Yeager lead the team with eight bombs.
- In the win over Georgia State on Wednesday, Yeager recorded his first multi home run game of the season. He now has 23 career home runs, the most on the active roster for the Bears.
- The Bears lead the Southern Conference with 71 doubles, which ranks 19th in the NCAA. Thirteen different Bears have hit a double, and the team is led by Angelo DiSpigna and Bill Knight's 11 two-base knocks.
- RJ Yeager has started every game at shortstop since he arrived on campus as a freshman. He has currently started 176 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 415 games, 14 more than Georgia Tech which is second on the list.
Series History
Series:Â Mercer leads the all-time series, 44-27
First Meeting: 1983 – Mercer 17, Samford 3
Last Meeting: 2019 – Mercer 4, Samford 3
Streak: W1
Â
Scouting Samford
The Bulldogs enter the game with the Bears with a 22-15 record and a 12-3 mark in the Southern Conference. Samford has dropped its last three games. The Bulldogs are 15-3 at home in 2021.
Â
Tyler McManus leads the team with a .313 batting average and 29 RBI. Sonny DiChiara also has 29 RBI this season and has a team high eight home runs. As a team, Samford is hitting .262 with 25 home runs and an on-base percentage of .371.
Â
On the bump, the Bulldogs have a 6.10 ERA in 321.2 innings pitched this season. Samuel Strickland, who is set to take the hill in the first game of the series Friday night, has pitched 48.2 innings this season and holds an ERA of 3.70. Jesse McCord is scheduled to start the nightcap of Friday's twin bill, and he leads the team with 60 punch outs this season. He has pitched 44.1 innings.
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Carson Cupo leads the team with 19 appearances on the season and has pitched 23 innings. All of his appearances are out of the pen. Chase Isbell follows with 17 appearances, also all out of the pen, and has pitched 20.1 innings. AS a team the Bulldogs have 346 strikeouts.
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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.
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Players Mentioned
IF/RHP
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IF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
RHP
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OF
/ Baseball
IF/OF
/ Baseball
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