Bears set to Host Georgia Tech

MACON, Ga. – The Mercer baseball team returns to action on Tuesday as they host in-state opponent #13 Georgia Tech at OrthoGeorgia Park with first pitch set for 6 p.m. The game was originally scheduled for Wednesday, put was moved up a day earlier because of inclement weather in middle Georgia.

You can purchase tickets for the contest by clicking here.

GAMEDAY LINEUP
Teams: Mercer (11-1) at #13 Georgia Tech (10-2)
Location: Macon, Ga. | OrthoGeorgia Park
Date: Tuesday, March 8, 2022 | 6 p.m. | Live Stats
Watch: ESPN+

Projected Rotations:
Tuesday: RHP Ryan Lobus vs. RHP John Medich

Batting Practice

Mercer is coming off a weekend sweep against UNC Asheville.
Wednesday's matchup between Georgia Tech and Mercer is the first of six meetings between Mercer and in-state schools.
On March 4, 2022, Head Coach Craig Gibson picked up his career 600^th win against UNC Asheville.
Starting for the Bears is RHP Ryan Lobus, He is 1-0 on the year with two starts and a 2.16 ERA. Lobus' last start was against #10 Florida State where he pitched 3.1 innings, struck out 3 and gave up 2 earned runs.
Collin Price has 15 walks on the year which places him 4^th nationally in Division 1.
As a team, Mercer is ranked top in the country in four categories: 4^th in home runs (24 total home runs), 7^th in homeruns per game (2 per game), 9^th in strikeout-to-walk ratio (4.23), and 10^th in WHIP (1.01).
The Bears have five players with three or more longballs on the year: Price (5), Colby Thomas (4), Le Bassett (4), Bill Knight (3), and Angelo DiSpigna (3).
Under the direction of Coach Craig Gibson, the Bears are 8-16 against Georgia Tech. The Bears have won two of the eight games in Macon, Ga.
This year, Mercer is 1-0 versus ranked opponents. The Bears beat #10 Florida State on March 1, 2022, 6-5 in extra innings.
The Orange & Black were picked to finish second in the 2022 Preseason SoCon Coach's and Media Polls. The Bears were picked behind Wofford in both polls.
Mercer is one of just three NCAA Division I programs to win at least 35 games in each of the past 10 full seasons, joining LSU and Vanderbilt.
Since 2010, the Bears are the winningest Division I baseball program in the state of Georgia. The Bears have won 400 games, 24 more wins than Georgia Tech who is second on the list.

Series History

Series: Georgia Tech leads 71-25
First Meeting: 1955 - Georgia Tech 5, Mercer 4
Last Meeting: 2021 – Georgia Tech 7, Mercer 3
Streak: L4

Scouting Georgia Tech
Georgia Tech (10-2) is coming off a three-game series against the Georgia. The Ramblin' Wreck won two games in the series against the Bulldogs in Athens, Ga. Georgia took game three on Sunday by a final score of 12-3.

In the 2022 season, Georgia Tech is 2-2 against other in-state Division 1 schools. In addition to the loss to Georgia this past Sunday, Georgia Tech also lost to Georgia Southern in their first midweek matchup on February 22 by a final score of 10-6 in Statesboro.

Sophomore catcher Kevin Parada made the 55-man preseason Golden Spike Award Watch List. He is the 11th Yellow Jacket selection since 2009 on its preseason watch list, joining Derek Dietrich, Kevin Jacob, Deck McGuire, Jed Bradley, Buck Farmer, Kel Johnson, Joey Bart, Tristin English and Luke Waddell. Named a consensus preseason all-American this year, Parada was named a freshman all-American last season after making 48 starts behind the dish and leading the ACC in hitting the entire first half of the season. He would inevitably "cool" slightly to finish top 20 in the league with a team-best .318, becoming the first freshman to lead Georgia Tech in hitting since Matt Murton in 2001.

Offensively, Georgia Tech has been quite productive this year. As a team they have hit 22 home runs this year, with Parada leading the way with six. Georgia Tech also has five Jackets hitting above .300 with over 35 batting appearance. Sophomore infielder, Chandler Simpson is leading for the Jackets with a .500 batting average. As a team, Georgia Tech ranks in the top 10 in Division 1 hits (9) with 137 total hits on the year, home runs (5) with 22, and sacrifice flies (2) with 11.

On the mound, redshirt senior right handed pitcher John Medich will get the start for the Jackets. Medich will be getting his first start of year, but has in appeared in three games for Georgia Tech. He owns a 4.76 ERA and has struck out 7 in 5.2 innings of work. As a pitching staff, Georgia Tech has struck out 135 batter while walking 53. The pitching staff has held their opponents to a .241 batting average and has given up 9 homers on the year and a total of 28 extra base hits.

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

Le Bassett

Angelo DiSpigna

Bill Knight

Ryan Lobus

Collin Price

Colby Thomas

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