Mercer Hosts Georgia Southern on Tuesday

MACON, Ga. – The Mercer baseball team will wrap up its 2021 home slate on Tuesday evening when it hosts Georgia Southern at OrthoGeorgia Park. The two teams are set to square off for the second time this season.

Mercer hits the road following the midweek contest to conclude the Southern Conference schedule at Wofford on Thursday and Friday. The Bears have clinched a spot in the 2021 Southern Conference Tournament which will be held in Greenville, South Carolina from May 27-29.

The Bears and Terriers series starts at 4 p.m. on Thursday with a single game, and they will play a doubleheader at 2 p.m. on Friday.

GAMEDAY LINEUP
Teams: Mercer (33-18, 17-7 SoCon) vs. Georgia Southern (29-20, 12-10 Sun Belt)
Location: Macon, Ga. | OrthoGeorgia Park
Tuesday: May 18 | 6 p.m. | Live Stats | Watch

Projected Rotations:

Tuesday: RHP Jackson Kelley vs. RHP Jacob Parker

Batting Practice

The Bears enter the contest with a 33-18 record and a 17-7 mark in SoCon play. This will be the second matchup between Mercer and Georgia Southern. The Bears fell to the Eagles, 3-2, in mid-April.
Garett Delano was one of 10 semifinalists for the John Olerud Two-Way Player of the Year Award. This award is selected by the College Baseball Foundation. Delano is the only player from the Southern Conference on the list.
Mercer has hit 83 home runs in 51 games during the 2021 season, the second-most in the nation. Angelo DiSpigna and RJ Yeager lead the Bears with 13 home runs, while Brandon Michie follows with 12.
Tuesday's contest will be the Bears' final contest of the season against an in-state opponent. Mercer is 6-2 against Peach State teams this season.
May 4 was Opening Day for the minor leagues. Mercer has seven former players playing in the minor leagues this season.
Taylor Lobus leads the Bears with nine wins this season, which is the most in the SoCon.
Luke Sutko leads the Southern Conference with 11 saves. His 11 saves are the fifth-most in the NCAA. He also leads the conference in appearances with 28.
The Bears lead the Southern Conference with 108 doubles, which ranks third in the NCAA. Fourteen different Bears have hit a double, led by Bill Knight and RJ Yeager with 15 two-base knocks, which is the second-most in the SoCon.
Mercer is one of three teams in the Southern Conference who has tallied 400 or more strikeouts this season. Mercer has 442 on the season, which is second-best in the SoCon. Lobus leads the team with 66. Mercer has 15 pitchers that have picked up at least one strikeout this season.
Yeager has started every game at shortstop since he arrived on campus as a freshman. He has currently started 191 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. This season, Mercer has won 33 games, while Vanderbilt has 36 victories, LSU 32 and Florida State 28.
Since 2010, the Bears are the winningest Division I baseball program in the state of Georgia. The Bears have won 427 games, 19 more than Georgia Tech which is second on the list.

Series History
Series: Georgia Southern leads the all-time series, 76-26
First Meeting: 1960 – Georgia Southern 7, Mercer 6
Last Meeting: 2021 – Georgia Southern 3, Mercer 2
Streak: L3

Scouting Georgia Southern
Georgia Southern enters the midweek contest with the Bears with a 29-20 record on the season. The Eagles are coming off a victory in the final game of their series at Elon. Georgia Southern dropped the first two conyrdyd before battling back to earn a 7-5 win in the third game.

As a team, the Eagles are hitting .287 on the season with 92 doubles and 46 home runs. Mason McWhorter leads the team with an average of .379. McWhorter also lead the team in homers (14) and RBI (42). He is one of three players hitting over .300. Christian Avant is second on the team with a .375 batting average.

The Eagles pitching staff holds an ERA of 4.07 in 433.2 innings pitched. The staff has tallied 496 strikeouts while issuing only 155 walks. Opponents are hitting .254 off the Eagles' pitching staff. Jacob Parker will start against the Bears. He he has pitched 24.1 innings and has an ERA of 4.07, but Tuesday will be his first start of the 2021 season.

Nick Jones leads the team with a 1.23 ERA and has appeared in 24 games this season. He has 15 saves, the most in the NCAA. Jay Thompson follows with 18 appearances on the season. Thompson is 6-0 this season in 26.2 innings pitched. He has an ERA of 1.35.

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

Jackson Kelley

Bill Knight

Taylor Lobus

Brandon Michie

Luke Sutko

RJ Yeager

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