Baseball Hosts ETSU in SoCon Action

MACON, Ga. – The Mercer baseball team returns to OrthoGeorgia Park this weekend when it hosts ETSU in Southern Conference action. The three-game set will start on Friday at 6 p.m.

GAMEDAY LINEUP
Teams: Mercer (24-16, 10-5 SoCon) vs. ETSU (18-18, 8-9 SoCon)
Location: Macon, Ga. | OrthoGeorgia Park
Friday: April 30 | 6 p.m. | Live Stats
Saturday (G1): May 1 | 2 p.m. | Live Stats
Saturday (G2): May 1 | 5:30 p.m. | Live Stats

Projected Rotations:

Friday: RHP Garett Delano vs. RHP Hunter Loyd
Saturday (G1): RHP Jackson Kelley vs. LHP Colby Stuart
Saturday (G2): RHP Josh Farmer vs. RHP Nathanial Tate

Batting Practice

The Bears enter the contest with a 24-16 record and a 10-5 mark in SoCon play. Mercer is looking to extend its three game-winning streak.
On Tuesday, the College Baseball Foundation named RJ Yeager as its Shortstop of the Week, and Garett Delano as the John Olerud Two-Way Player of the Week.
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 excel both on and off the field and must have achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition.
Mercer has hit 62 home runs in 40 games during the 2021 season. The 62 home runs rank third in the nation. Angelo DiSpigna and Brandon Michie lead the Bears with 10 home runs each.
On Monday, Angelo DiSpigna was named the Southern Conference Player of the Week for the first time in his career. He hit .500 on the week with a double and four home runs. His 10 home runs in 2021 lead the SoCon.
The Bears lead the Southern Conference with 81 doubles, which ranks 13th in the NCAA. Fourteen different Bears have hit a double, and the team is led by Bill Knight's 12 two-base knocks, which also leads the SoCon.
Taylor Loubs leads the Bears and Southern Conference with seven wins on the season.
On Wednesday night, Luke Sutko picked up his team-high sixth save of the sesaon. That moved him into a tie for the Southern Conference lead.
Mercer holds a 15-1 record when scoring 10 or more runs in a game. The Bears scored 12 runs in their win over Kennesaw State on Wednesday.
Mercer has won nine of the last ten matchups against ETSU. This weekend, the Bears look to extend their winning streak. Mercer has currently won seven-straight games against the Bucs.
RJ Yeager has started every game at shortstop since he arrived on campus as a freshman. He has currently started 180 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 418 games, seven more than Georgia Tech who is second on the list.

Series History
Series: Mercer leads the all-time series, 35-14
First Meeting: 1978 – ETSU 4, Mercer 3
Last Meeting: 2019 – Mercer 11, ETSU 7
Streak: W7

Scouting ETSU
ETSU enters the weekend set with the Bears with an 18-18 overall record and an 8-9 mark in Southern Conference play. The Bucs are coming off a 12-0 loss to Virginia Tech on Tuesday night. The Bucs are 6-10 when playing on the road this season.

Ethan Cady leads the team with a batting average of .307. He has missed the last five games for the Bucs but still leads the team with 10 home runs and 34 RBI. Ashton King is second on the team with an average of .278. As a team, the Bucs are hitting .234 with 36 home runs and 71 doubles.

The Bucs' pitching staff holds an ERA of 4.08 on the season in 315.2 innings pitched. Opponents are hitting .247 off ETSU this season. The Bears will face Hunter Loyd in the first game. Loyd has an ERA of 3.09 in 58.1 innings. Saturday, Mercer faces lefty Colby Stuart who has an ERA of 2.74 in 62.1 innings. Nathanial Tate will start the final game of Saturday's doubleheader. Tate has tossed 42.2 innings and has an ERA of 4.22.

Out of the pen, Seth Chavez leads the team with 13 appearances. Chavez has a 4.20 ERA in 15 innings pitched. Matthew Bollenbacher has appeared in nine games and pitched 19.1 innings and holds a stellar 1.86 ERA.

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

Garett Delano

Angelo DiSpigna

Josh Farmer

Jackson Kelley

Bill Knight

Brandon Michie

Luke Sutko

RJ Yeager

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