Bears Head East to Face Georgia Southern

MACON, Ga. – The Mercer baseball program (5-3) will play the first of four in-state foes on Tuesday, February 28 at 6 p.m. as the Bears travel to Georgia Southern (4-3).

TUESDAY, February 28 | 6 p.m.
MER: RHP Garrett Sloan (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
GSU: RHP Jaylen Paden (0-0, 11.25 ERA)
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Tuesday's game is the eighth-straight home game for Georgia Southern to open the season. The Eagles lead the all-time series with Mercer, 78-27, dating back to 1960. The record is closer under head coach Craig Gibson with GSU leading 16-11 since 2004.

SCOUTING GEORGIA SOUTHERN
The Eagles notched back-to-back weekend series wins after defeating West Virginia on Opening Weekend followed by ETSU most recently. GSU lost the Sunday contest both weekends. Georgia Southern lost, 8-6, to Georgia Tech last Tuesday despite taking a 5-0 lead in the first.

Jesse Sherrill is tied for the team lead in batting average (.318) and leads the team in on-base percentage (.531). The lead-off hitter has recorded seven hits, two RBI, seven walks, and three hit by pitch. The Eagles have only launched two home runs so far this season, hit by Zane Faulk and Noah Ledford.

Pitcher Jaylen Paden is expected to make his third appearance and second start of the season on the mound. The right-hander is credited with a save in the Eagles' Opening Day win against West Virginia after logging zero runs, one hit, one walk, and two strikeouts in one inning pitched. He threw three innings against Georgia Tech, allowing five hits and five runs while striking out three.

RECENT ACTION
The Bears won Friday night's game against Rhode Island, 9-7, but dropped the weekend series after the Rams won 7-4 on Saturday and 15-4 on Sunday. Trevor Austin and Treyson Hughes both batted .500 on the weekend. Hughes currently ranks seventh in the nation for runs scored at 14. Eric Toth and Eli Runyan each hit their second home run of the season against the Rams.

On the mound, Mercer recorded 32 strikeouts across the three games led by Ryan Lobus with seven on Saturday. Josh Harlow and Jaxon O'Neal each struck out six on Friday night.

Garrett Sloan will make the first start of his career on Tuesday. The junior has made two appearances in relief this season for seven scoreless innings in which he posted six strikeouts, four hits, and two walks.

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Players Mentioned

Trevor Austin

Josh Harlow

Treyson Hughes

Ryan Lobus

Jaxon O'Neal

Eli Runyan

Garrett Sloan

Eric Toth

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