Bears Complete Regular Season at Samford

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – This weekend, the curtain closes on the regular season as Mercer heads west to Alabama to take on Samford in the last series of 2022.

Mercer will face Samford in Birmingham for the second season in a row and look to take its third straight series from the Bulldogs, after winning two-of-three in 2021's regular season meetings.

GAMEDAY LINEUP
Teams: Mercer (38-14, 11-7 SoCon) at Samford (24-26, 15-13 SoCon)
Location: Birmingham, Ala. | Joe Lee Griffin Field
Thursday: May 19 | 5 p.m. ET | Live Stats | ESPN+
Friday: May 20 | 3 p.m. ET | Live Stats | ESPN+
Saturday: May 21 | 2 p.m. ET | Live Stats | ESPN+

Projected Starters:

Thursday: Ryan Lobus (RHP) vs. Jacob Cravey (RHP)
Friday: Josh Farmer (RHP) vs. Michael Ross (LHP)
Saturday: Josh Harlow (RHP) vs. TBD

Batting Practice

Mercer enters the contest with a 38-14 overall and 11-7 SoCon mark following a defeat to instate foe, Georgia Southern, in the midweek.
The Bears have slugged 100 home runs in 52 games during the 2022 season, the most in the conference and sixth-most in the nation. Collin Price's 18 homers apiece – a mark that paces the SoCon and 19^th nationally.
Bill Knight leads the SoCon in runs batted in with 57 and Price sits right behind with 56.
Colby Thomas also leads the league in slugging percentage with .728.
Mercer leads the SoCon with the lowest ERA of 4.75. Jackson Kelley leads the team with a 1.54 ERA.
Mercer currently leads the conference with 501 strikeouts this season. Mercer is led by Josh Harlow and Kelley, who both have registered 78 and 75 Ks, respectively. 13 pitchers have tallied double-digit punchouts on the year.
Kelley has yielded just 29 hits and nine runs – the fewest in the league in both classifications.
Mercer has pitched five shutouts, a mark that ranks 12th in Division I.
The Bears' 9.9 strikeouts per nine innings ranks 34th in the country
The Bears' arms have held their conference opposition to just a .258 average, which leads the league.
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.

A Look at the Series
Mercer holds a 46-28 lead over Samford heading into the series. The Bears have taken the last two regular season series, but the Bulldogs took the last meeting – a 10-8 affair – in the 2021 SoCon Baseball Tournament in Greenville, S.C.

Series: Mercer leads, 46-28
Last Meeting: May 27, 2021 (SAM, 10-8)
Streak: Samford, W1

Scouting Samford
The Bulldogs have dropped three of five but have won against a pair of Bulldogs – defending national champion Mississippi State and The Citadel – in their last stretch. The duo of Colton Ledbetter and Garrett Howe have led the Samford offense, each with 57 hits on the season. Additionally, Ledbetter paces the team with 13 home runs slugged and has batted 42 runs in.

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

Josh Farmer

Josh Harlow

Bill Knight

Ryan Lobus

Collin Price

Colby Thomas

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