Mercer Heads To Western Carolina For A Three-Game Set

MACON, Ga. – The Mercer baseball team heads to Cullowhee, N.C., to face Western Carolina this weekend for a three-game Southern Conference set. The Bears and Catamounts will square off in a doubleheader on Friday and a single game on Saturday.

GAMEDAY LINEUP
Teams: Mercer (27-17, 12-6 SoCon) at Western Carolina (22-14, 10-6 SoCon)
Location: Cullowhee, N.C. | Childress Field at Hennon Stadium
Friday (G1): May 7 | 3 p.m. | Live Stats | Watch
Friday (G2): May 7 | 7 p.m. | Live Stats | Watch
Saturday: May 8 | 3 p.m. | Live Stats | Watch

Projected Rotations:

Friday (G1) RHP Garett Delano vs. RHP Zach Franklin
Friday (G2) RHP Josh Farmer vs. RHP Tristen Campbell
Saturday: TBA vs. RHP Jacob Corn

Batting Practice

The Bears enter the contest with a 27-17 record and a 12-6 mark in SoCon play. Mercer is one of four teams in the Southern Conference that holds a winning conference record.
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.
Mercer has hit 71 home runs in 44 games during the 2021 season. The 71 home runs rank third in the nation. Brandon Michie and Angelo DiSpigna lead the Bears with 12 home runs, and Yeager follows with 11.
On Monday, Garett Delano was named the Southern Conference Player of the Week. This is the first time he has been named player of the week. Earlier this season, he was named SoCon Pitcher of the Week. He hit .588 on the week with 10 hits and six RBI.
May 4^th 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 seven wins this season, which is tied for the most in the SoCon
Luke Sutko leads Mercer with six saves. The six saves are the second-most in the Southern Conference. Sutko also ranks second in the conference in appearances with 22.
The Bears lead the Southern Conference with 93 doubles, which ranks 6th in the NCAA. Fourteen different Bears have hit a double, and the team is led by Bill Knight's 14 two-base knocks, which also leads the SoCon.
Mercer is coming off its fifth shutout of the season and first since April 11 when it shutout UNCG, 17-0.
On Wednesday night, Mercer's pitching staff limited the Owls to four hits and struck out 14 batters. The Bears used seven pitchers, and each pitcher had at least one strikeout. The pitching staff limited the Owls to a .129 batting average.
Yeager has started every game at shortstop since he arrived on campus as a freshman. He has currently started 184 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 421 games, 17 more than Georgia Tech who is second on the list.

Series History
Series: Mercer leads the all-time series, 11-10
First Meeting: 2007 – Mercer 13, Western Carolina 10
Last Meeting: 2019 – Mercer 6, Western Carolina 2
Streak: W1

Scouting Western Carolina
Western Carolina enters the weekend with a 22-14 record and 10-6 mark in SoCon play. The Catamounts are coming off a series loss to UNCG last weekend. WCU is 15-4 when playing on its home field this season, with its last loss coming on April 20 to Wake Forest.

As a team, the Catamounts have a .305 batting average, the best in the Southern Conference. They have six players hitting .300 or better this season and are led by Will Prater who is hitting .438. Justice Bigbie and Luke Robinson lead the team with eight home runs each. Bigbie is hitting .371, and Robinson is hitting .336. Both Bigbie and Robinson are one and two in RBI on the team with 38 and 37 respectively.

As a pitching staff, the Catamounts hold an ERA of 5.19, and opponents are hitting .268 off of WCU. The team has tallied 293 punch outs and has issued just 144 walks. The Bears will face Zach Franklin in game one on Friday. Franklin was named SoCon Pitcher of the Week on Monday. He has a 5-3 record and an ERA of 2.83 in 28.2 innings pitched with 36 strikeouts. Mercer will also face Tristen Campbell (2-1, 6.11 ERA) and Jacob Corn (1-0, 5.29 ERA).

Out of the pen, the Catamounts are led by Davis Tyndall who has made 19 appearances and has tossed 26 innings. Tyndall is limiting opponents to a .189 batting average and has tallied 29 strikeouts. Jack Snyder follows with 15 appearances. Snyder has pitched 16.1 innings and holds an ERA of 6.61.

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.

Mercer Heads To Western Carolina For A Three-Game Set

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Players Mentioned

Garett Delano

Angelo DiSpigna

Josh Farmer

Bill Knight

Taylor Lobus

Brandon Michie

Luke Sutko

RJ Yeager

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Mercer University Athletics

Mercer Heads To Western Carolina For A Three-Game Set

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Garett Delano

Angelo DiSpigna

Josh Farmer

Bill Knight

Taylor Lobus

Brandon Michie

Luke Sutko

RJ Yeager

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