Bears Head North to Kennesaw State

KENNESAW, Ga. – The Mercer baseball program (16-9, 2-1) is slated to face Kennesaw State (11-11, 3-3) on Wednesday, March 29 at 6 p.m. at Stillwell Baseball Stadium. Head coach Craig Gibson's next win will tie the record for the all-time winningest coach in Mercer baseball history.

WEDNESDAY, March 29 | 6 p.m.
MER: RHP Walt Thomas (0-1, 9.00 ERA)
KSU: RHP Tanner Franklin (0-0, 4.70 ERA)
WATCH | LIVE STATS

Mercer leads the all-time series with Kennesaw State, 30-18, and is 27-16 under Gibson. The Bears have not lost on the road at KSU since 2013. Mercer won both meetings last season, including a 10-0 shutout.

SCOUTING KENNESAW STATE
The Owls currently sit at .500 overall and in conference play. Most recently, KSU swept Eastern Kentucky after being swept by Stetson and dropping a midweek matchup with Clemson. Kennesaw State has gone 1-2 against fellow Georgia programs, beating Georgia Southern and losing to Georgia Tech and Georgia State.

Freshman Tanner Franklin made his first start on the mound last Wednesday against Clemson. The right-hander has not thrown more than 1.2 innings in any outing this season. Franklin has struck out 11 batters and allowed four hits, four runs, six walks, and four hit batsmen in 7.2 total innings.

The Owls have multiple hitting threats in the batting order. Jackson Chirello has hit 10 doubles this season which is just four behind the national lead. Nick Colina has recorded four triples, ranking sixth in the country. Donovan Cash leads the team with 25 RBI and five home runs.

RECENT ACTION
The Bears opened Southern Conference play over the weekend at The Citadel with a 2-1 series win. Ryan Lobus and Josh Farmer earned their third and second wins of the season, respectively, allowing just six runs combined across Friday and Saturday. Wesley Franklin pitched four innings on Friday, striking out a season-high six batters to record his fifth save of the season.

The Mercer defense has excelled this season, ranking eighth in the nation in fielding percentage at .984. Only 24 Division I schools are fielding .980 or better. The Bears have turned 24 double plays this season which also ranks eighth in the country.

Jackson Cherry batted .500 last week, including three home runs. He launched two over the wall on Wednesday against Georgia Southern along with Ty Dalley. Mercer has the most home runs among Southern Conference teams this season with 34.

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.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Jackson Cherry

Ty Dalley

Josh Farmer

Wesley Franklin

Ryan Lobus

Walt Thomas

Footer

Mercer University Athletics