Terriers in Town

Friday, April 22

Macon, Ga.

6 P.M.

Mercer University

Wofford College

Buy Tickets

Photo by: James Thomas

4/21/2022 6:53:00 PM | Baseball

Mercer, Wofford set for pivotal SoCon series

MACON, Ga. – The Mercer baseball team returns to action on Friday when the Bears host the Wofford Terriers in a three-game weekend Southern Conference series. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. from OrthoGeorgia Park.

The Bears and Terries are the only teams in the conference that are undefeated in conference play. You can purchase tickets here to watch the SoCon showdown.

SERIES LINEUP
Teams: Mercer (31-6, 6-0 SoCon) at #24 Wofford (28-9, 6-0 SoCon)
Location: Macon, Georgia | OrthoGeorgia Park
Friday: April 22 | 6 p.m. | Live Stats | Watch
Saturday: April 23 | 2 p.m. | Live Stats | Watch
Sunday: April 24 | 1 p.m. | Live Stats | Watch

Projected Rotations:

Friday: RHP Josh Harlow (5-1, 3.95 ERA) vs. RHP Matthew Marchal (3-2, 2.54 ERA)
Saturday: RHP Ryan Lobus (5-1, 2.70 ERA) vs. RHP Josh Vitus (3-3, 3.28 ERA)
Sunday: RHP Josh Farmer (5-0, 3.72 ERA) vs. TBD

Batting Practice

The Bears enter the contest with a 31-6 record.
The Orange and Black have the second highest win percentage in the NCAA as they are sitting at .838
Wofford comes in at No. 24 in the Baseball America Poll. Mercer is 2-0 when facing ranked opponents this year. The Bears beat No. 10 Florida State on March 1 at OrthoGeorgia Park and No. 13 Georgia Tech on March 8 at OrthoGeorgia Park.
The Bears are coming into the game as 24 in this week's RPI. Wofford's RPI is 27
Mercer has slugged 70 home runs in 37 games during the 2022 season, the sixth-most in the nation. Colby Thomas lead the Bears with 16, Collin Price with 10 and the freshman Treyson Hughes follows with nine.
The Bears are second in the SoCon with a team .303 batting average right behind UNCG at .305
Thomas leads the Bears and the conference with 44 RBI's on the year. The Bears have the top 4 leaders in RBI's in the conference – Thomas (44), Bill Knight (43), Hughes (39) and Angelo DiSpigna (38)
DiSpigna is the reigning Player of the Week in the league after last weekend's performance at FAMU and a three game series at UNCG. DiSpigna is the first Bear to be receive this award this year.
Mercer leads the SoCon with the lowest ERA of 3.91.
Mercer leads the SoCon with 377 Ks this season. Mercer led by Josh Harlow, who has 60 this season. Jackson Kelley is right behind him with 58. Mercer has 12 pitchers that have at least double-digit strikeouts on the year.
Mercer leads the conference in multiple categories such as hits, RBI, runs scored, OBP, walks and home runs.
Mercer is one of just three NCAA Division I programs to win at least 35 games in each of the past 11 full seasons, joining LSU and Vanderbilt.

Series History

Series: 20-13
First Meeting: 1957; L, 4-2
Last Meeting: 2021; L, 8-7
Streak: L3

Scouting Wofford
The Terriers are 28-9 and 6-0 in the Southern Conference on the year are on an eight-game win streak with their last loss coming against No. 18 Dallas Baptist in the final game of a three-game series (Wofford won 2 of the 3 games). Last week, Wofford broke into the Top 25 in the Baseball America poll for the first time in school history. They are coming into the series as ranked No. 24 in the poll

Wofford's lineup is hitting a collective .299, led by Brice Martinez at a .386 mark. The Terriers like to swipe bags when they reach base. On the year, Wofford has 112 stolen bases which ranks third in the NCAA and they are averaging 3.03 stolen bases a game. Sophomore infielder Jack Renwick leads the team with 25 stolen bases.

On the mound, the Bears will face Junior Matthew Marchal on Friday who is 3-2 on the year with a 2.54 ERA and is third in the conference with 63 punchouts. On Saturday, the Terriers will start fifth year student Josh Vitus (3-3, 3.28 ERA). Dalton Rhadans, the reigning SoCon Pitcher of the Week, leads the team in innings pitched with 51.2 frames in 24 appearances in relief. Collectively, Wofford has a 4.24 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.