2023 Mercer Baseball Season Preview
2/15/2023 12:58:00 PM | Baseball
MACON, Ga. – Opening Day for the Mercer men's baseball 2023 season is on Friday, February 17 at 6 p.m. at OrthoGeorgia Park at Claude Smith Field against William & Mary. The Bears are under the direction of 20th-season head coach Craig Gibson.
Mercer hosts three-straight weekend series to open the schedule. Season tickets are on sale here, and single-game tickets can be purchased here.
PRESEASON HONORS
The Bears received votes in the Collegiate Baseball preseason poll released in December. Mercer is one of three Southern Conference programs to receive votes along with Samford and Wofford.
Mercer was picked to finish second in both the Southern Conference Coaches Poll and Media Poll. The Bears received two first-place votes in the coaches poll and six first-place votes in the media poll.
Three players were named to All-Southern Conference Preseason Teams with Treyson Hughes on the All-SoCon First Team and Josh Harlow and Jozsef Rohrbacher on the All-SoCon Second Team. Harlow and Hughes were also named to the Perfect Game Preseason All-Southern Conference Team. Ty Dalley was selected as the Perfect Game Preseason Southern Conference Freshman of the Year.
PITCHING
The Bears showcase a wealth of experience on the mound with a returning pitching staff that accounted for 73% of the wins and 72% of the strikeouts recorded last season.
Bringing two preseason awards with him, Harlow will be a prominent starter for the Bears. The sophomore went 7-2 in 15 appearances while recording a 4.92 ERA. Harlow led the team with 84 strikeouts last season and only allowed 57 hits.
Another primary starter is Ryan Lobus who pitched 69.1 innings in 16 appearances last season, finishing with a 4.54 ERA. Josh Farmer, a sixth-year Bear, will feature on the mound regularly after pitching 63.1 innings in 15 appearances with a 4.69 ERA last year.
Other players in the starting mix include Fred Wilson, Colton Cosper, and Wes Franklin. Wilson, a left-hander from Powder Springs, Georgia, went 5-0 on the mound last season. Cosper earned two wins in 19 appearances as a freshman last season. Â Franklin, who doubles as an infielder and right-handed pitcher, recorded one save and three wins last year.
Among the relievers are Garrett Sloan, Jaxon O'Neal, and Eli Runyan. A junior right-hander, Sloan, struck out 23 batters in 22.2 innings pitched last season. O'Neal allowed only 19 hits in 26.1 innings while earning 31 strikeouts in his first season with the Bears last year. Runyan comes to Mercer from South Alabama after appearing in 18 games from the bullpen to log a 4.43 ERA.
A few new faces for Mercer include Connor Folds, Micah Takac, and Lawson Cole. Folds joins the Bears from Calvary Christian where he was named to the GAPPS I-AA All-State Team after helping the Knights to a State Championship title. High school teammates, Takac and Cole, join Mercer from Stratford Academy in Macon.
Projected to be the closer for the Bears is Holton McGaha. This is the left-hander's fifth year with Mercer, and he started strong in his collegiate career with 24 appearances as a freshman in 2019. McGaha recorded nine strikeouts in six innings pitched last season.
OFFENSE
Four position starters return for Mercer this season: Hughes, Rohrbacher, Antonio Brown, and Trevor Austin. Hughes recorded the second-best batting average on the team last season at .317. He logged 53 RBI on 71 hits, featuring 14 homeruns.
Rohrbacher can play in most areas of the field and finished with a .267 batting average last season 36 hits while reaching home plate 33 times. A. Brown earned the third-most walks (29) last season and stole 12 bases, a team-high. Austin started all 47 games he appeared in last season and recorded the fewest strikeouts of the consistent starters.
Multiple new faces will play a role for the Bears this season. After redshirting last season, Landon Underhill is ready to be a versatile player for the Bears. Dalley, who earned freshman preseason honors, can make an instant impact in his first season with Mercer. A handful of transfers were introduced to the squad including Bradley Frye from Georgia Tech, Carter Sanford from South Alabama, Reid Brown from Austin Peay, and Eric Toth from Presbyterian.
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.Â
Mercer hosts three-straight weekend series to open the schedule. Season tickets are on sale here, and single-game tickets can be purchased here.
PRESEASON HONORS
The Bears received votes in the Collegiate Baseball preseason poll released in December. Mercer is one of three Southern Conference programs to receive votes along with Samford and Wofford.
Mercer was picked to finish second in both the Southern Conference Coaches Poll and Media Poll. The Bears received two first-place votes in the coaches poll and six first-place votes in the media poll.
Three players were named to All-Southern Conference Preseason Teams with Treyson Hughes on the All-SoCon First Team and Josh Harlow and Jozsef Rohrbacher on the All-SoCon Second Team. Harlow and Hughes were also named to the Perfect Game Preseason All-Southern Conference Team. Ty Dalley was selected as the Perfect Game Preseason Southern Conference Freshman of the Year.
PITCHING
The Bears showcase a wealth of experience on the mound with a returning pitching staff that accounted for 73% of the wins and 72% of the strikeouts recorded last season.
Bringing two preseason awards with him, Harlow will be a prominent starter for the Bears. The sophomore went 7-2 in 15 appearances while recording a 4.92 ERA. Harlow led the team with 84 strikeouts last season and only allowed 57 hits.
Another primary starter is Ryan Lobus who pitched 69.1 innings in 16 appearances last season, finishing with a 4.54 ERA. Josh Farmer, a sixth-year Bear, will feature on the mound regularly after pitching 63.1 innings in 15 appearances with a 4.69 ERA last year.
Other players in the starting mix include Fred Wilson, Colton Cosper, and Wes Franklin. Wilson, a left-hander from Powder Springs, Georgia, went 5-0 on the mound last season. Cosper earned two wins in 19 appearances as a freshman last season. Â Franklin, who doubles as an infielder and right-handed pitcher, recorded one save and three wins last year.
Among the relievers are Garrett Sloan, Jaxon O'Neal, and Eli Runyan. A junior right-hander, Sloan, struck out 23 batters in 22.2 innings pitched last season. O'Neal allowed only 19 hits in 26.1 innings while earning 31 strikeouts in his first season with the Bears last year. Runyan comes to Mercer from South Alabama after appearing in 18 games from the bullpen to log a 4.43 ERA.
A few new faces for Mercer include Connor Folds, Micah Takac, and Lawson Cole. Folds joins the Bears from Calvary Christian where he was named to the GAPPS I-AA All-State Team after helping the Knights to a State Championship title. High school teammates, Takac and Cole, join Mercer from Stratford Academy in Macon.
Projected to be the closer for the Bears is Holton McGaha. This is the left-hander's fifth year with Mercer, and he started strong in his collegiate career with 24 appearances as a freshman in 2019. McGaha recorded nine strikeouts in six innings pitched last season.
OFFENSE
Four position starters return for Mercer this season: Hughes, Rohrbacher, Antonio Brown, and Trevor Austin. Hughes recorded the second-best batting average on the team last season at .317. He logged 53 RBI on 71 hits, featuring 14 homeruns.
Rohrbacher can play in most areas of the field and finished with a .267 batting average last season 36 hits while reaching home plate 33 times. A. Brown earned the third-most walks (29) last season and stole 12 bases, a team-high. Austin started all 47 games he appeared in last season and recorded the fewest strikeouts of the consistent starters.
Multiple new faces will play a role for the Bears this season. After redshirting last season, Landon Underhill is ready to be a versatile player for the Bears. Dalley, who earned freshman preseason honors, can make an instant impact in his first season with Mercer. A handful of transfers were introduced to the squad including Bradley Frye from Georgia Tech, Carter Sanford from South Alabama, Reid Brown from Austin Peay, and Eric Toth from Presbyterian.
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.Â
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