Thursday, May 27
Greenville, S.C.
7 p.m.
Mercer University
vs
Samford
Photo by: Mitch Robinson
Mercer Heads to Southern Conference Tournament
5/26/2021 4:09:00 PM | Baseball
The Bears open play on Thursday night against Samford
MACON, Ga. – The Mercer baseball team heads to Fluor Field this week to participate in the Southern Conference Baseball Tournament presented by Holston Gases. The Bears open play on Thursday at 7 p.m. against Samford.
Live stats and video links for all games can be found by clicking here.
GAMEDAY LINEUP
Teams: Mercer (35-20, 18-9 SoCon), Samford (32-22, 20-10 SoCon), Western Carolina (26-19, 14-11 SoCon), Wofford (35-19, 21-9 SoCon)
Location: Greenville, S.C.| Fluor Field
Tournament Central: Click Here
Batting Practice
Scouting Samford
Samford enters the conference tournament with a 32-22 record on the season. The Bulldogs have won three of their last five contests and had a trio of players earn SoCon postseason honors.
The Bulldogs are hitting .275 on the season and are led by Tyler McManus who is hitting .327. He has 11 home runs and a team-high 48 RBI. Sonny DiChiara leads both the team and SoCon with 14 home runs this season. Ryan Crockett also has 11 bombs for the Bulldogs. Crocket is hitting .286 on the season.
The Bulldogs and Bears open play on Thursday, and the Bulldogs will throw Samuel Strickland. He is 5-3 on the season in 14 starts and holds an ERA of 4.92 while striking out 65. Carson Cupo led the team with 26 appearances and went 8-0 on the season. He holds an ERA of 3.73. Chase Isbell follows with 25 appearances this season. He has seven saves and an ERA of .240.
Scouting Western Carolina
Western Carolina enters the tournament with a record of 26-19 and is on a four-game winning streak entering the tournament. The Catamounts had five players earn All-SoCon plaudits.
WCU enters the postseason leading the SoCon in team batting average at .301. Will Prater leads the team with a .404 average, and Justice Bigbie follows with a .371 average. The Catamounts have six players hitting .300 or better this season. Pascanel Ferreras leads the team with 13 home runs and 46 RBI.
The Catamounts' pitching staff holds an ERA of 5.43 on the season, and Jack Snyder leads the team in ERA with a mark of 3.41 in 37 innings pitched. Snyder has made 18 appearances, including two starts. Davis Tyndall has made 22 appearances for the Catamounts and he has a record of 1-1 with an ERA of 4.08.
Scouting Wofford
Wofford enters the tournament with a 35-19 record. Last weekend, the Terriers won the SoCon regular season and took two-of-three from Mercer.
As a team, the Terriers are hitting .292 on the season, the second-best mark in the SoCon. They have five players hitting over .300 this season. Wofford is led by SoCon Player of the Year Colin Davis who has 11 homers and 43 RBI on the season while hitting .359. Nolen Hester leads the team hitting .363 on the season.
The team ERA of 4.70 is the second-lowest mark in the league. The Terriers pitching staff is led by SoCon Pitcher of the Year Elliot Carney. Carney has a 6-3 record this season with an ERA of 2.71. He has pitched 83 innings and struck out 101 batters. Dalton Rhadans has tossed 54.2 innings and struck out 58 batters while posting an ERA of 2.80.
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.
Live stats and video links for all games can be found by clicking here.
GAMEDAY LINEUP
Teams: Mercer (35-20, 18-9 SoCon), Samford (32-22, 20-10 SoCon), Western Carolina (26-19, 14-11 SoCon), Wofford (35-19, 21-9 SoCon)
Location: Greenville, S.C.| Fluor Field
Tournament Central: Click Here
Batting Practice
- The Bears enter the Southern Conference tournament with a 35-20 record. This is the eleventh straight season Mercer has won 35 or more games.
- The Bears had seven players earn All-SoCon honors on Tuesday. RJ Yeager (SS) and Garett Delano (2B) earned First Team honors, while Bill Knight (OF), Collin Price (C), Trevor Austin(3B), Luke Sutko (RP), Delano (SP) earned second team honors. Colby Thomas earned Freshman All-SoCon honors.
- 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 89 home runs in 55 games during the 2021 season, the second-highest total in the nation. Angelo DiSpigna and Yeager lead the Bears with 13 home runs. Brandon Michie follows with 12, and Thomas rounds out the players with double-figure bombs with 10.
- Yeager was named a semifinalist for the Brooks Wallace Award, which is awarded to the top shortstop in the country. He was one of 30 semifinalists for the award and the only player from the Southern Conference on the list.
- 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.
- Sutko leads the Southern Conference with 12 saves. His 12 saves are the third-most in the NCAA. He also leads the conference in appearances with 30.
- The Bears lead the Southern Conference with 115 doubles, which ranks fifth in the NCAA. Fourteen different Bears have hit a double, led Yeager who has 16 two-base knocks, which is second in the SoCon. Knight and Michie follow with 15 each.
- Mercer is one of four teams in the Southern Conference that has tallied 400 or more strikeouts this season. Mercer has 474 on the season, which is second-best in the SoCon. Lobus leads the team with 72. 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 195 consecutive games.
- 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 35 games, while Vanderbilt has 39 victories, LSU 34 and Florida State 29.
- Since 2010, the Bears are the winningest Division I baseball program in the state of Georgia. The Bears have won 429 games, 18 more than Georgia Tech which is second on the list.
Scouting Samford
Samford enters the conference tournament with a 32-22 record on the season. The Bulldogs have won three of their last five contests and had a trio of players earn SoCon postseason honors.
The Bulldogs are hitting .275 on the season and are led by Tyler McManus who is hitting .327. He has 11 home runs and a team-high 48 RBI. Sonny DiChiara leads both the team and SoCon with 14 home runs this season. Ryan Crockett also has 11 bombs for the Bulldogs. Crocket is hitting .286 on the season.
The Bulldogs and Bears open play on Thursday, and the Bulldogs will throw Samuel Strickland. He is 5-3 on the season in 14 starts and holds an ERA of 4.92 while striking out 65. Carson Cupo led the team with 26 appearances and went 8-0 on the season. He holds an ERA of 3.73. Chase Isbell follows with 25 appearances this season. He has seven saves and an ERA of .240.
Scouting Western Carolina
Western Carolina enters the tournament with a record of 26-19 and is on a four-game winning streak entering the tournament. The Catamounts had five players earn All-SoCon plaudits.
WCU enters the postseason leading the SoCon in team batting average at .301. Will Prater leads the team with a .404 average, and Justice Bigbie follows with a .371 average. The Catamounts have six players hitting .300 or better this season. Pascanel Ferreras leads the team with 13 home runs and 46 RBI.
The Catamounts' pitching staff holds an ERA of 5.43 on the season, and Jack Snyder leads the team in ERA with a mark of 3.41 in 37 innings pitched. Snyder has made 18 appearances, including two starts. Davis Tyndall has made 22 appearances for the Catamounts and he has a record of 1-1 with an ERA of 4.08.
Scouting Wofford
Wofford enters the tournament with a 35-19 record. Last weekend, the Terriers won the SoCon regular season and took two-of-three from Mercer.
As a team, the Terriers are hitting .292 on the season, the second-best mark in the SoCon. They have five players hitting over .300 this season. Wofford is led by SoCon Player of the Year Colin Davis who has 11 homers and 43 RBI on the season while hitting .359. Nolen Hester leads the team hitting .363 on the season.
The team ERA of 4.70 is the second-lowest mark in the league. The Terriers pitching staff is led by SoCon Pitcher of the Year Elliot Carney. Carney has a 6-3 record this season with an ERA of 2.71. He has pitched 83 innings and struck out 101 batters. Dalton Rhadans has tossed 54.2 innings and struck out 58 batters while posting an ERA of 2.80.
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.
Players Mentioned
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