Bears Conclude Regular Season In Johnson City

Thursday, May 14

Johnson City, Tenn.

5 p.m.

Mercer University

East Tennessee State

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Bears Conclude Regular Season In Johnson City

5/13/2026 4:14:00 PM | Baseball

By: Rylee Bamberger, Rylee.m.bamberger@live.mercer.edu

MACON – Two days removed from upsetting the No. 3 team in the country, the Mercer Bears (40-13, 12-6 SoCon) conclude their regular season against Southern Conference foe ETSU (30-19, 10-8 SoCon) in Johnson City, Tennessee.

Mercer at East Tennessee State | Thursday, May 14 – Saturday, May 16 | 5/2/1:00 PM EST

Thomas Stadium | Johnson City, Tenn.

Last Meeting: April 19, 2025 | 4-5 L

All-Time Series: 41-20 overall | 14-7 on the road | Streak: L2

Projected Pitchers:

Thursday: RHP Garrett Lambert (5-0, 3.79 ERA) vs. RHP Logan Grass (0-1, 6.11 ERA)
Friday: RHP Miguel Hugas (9-2, 5.58 ERA) vs. RHP Michael Harpster (6-2, 3.68 ERA)
Saturday: TBA

Notables:

The Bears head into the final weekend of the 2026 regular season as winners of 15 of their last 16 games. Mercer is currently tied for first in the Southern Conference standings heading into the final weekend with Western Carolina.
This past Tuesday, Eli Stephens and Braydon Kersey slugged the Bears past No. 3 Georgia Tech at Russ Chandler Stadium for Mercer's first win in Atlanta since 2018. Stephens launched two home runs and Kersey blasted his 21st homer of the season to headline the historic win. Jeb Johnson threw 5.1 impressive innings and limited one of the best offenses in the nation to just two earned runs.
The Bears are three wins away from tying the most wins in a single season in program history. Mercer's best season was in 2013 when the Bears went 43-18. Mercer last reached 40 wins in 2022.
Mercer has not won a series in Johnson City since 2022. Last season, ETSU came to Macon and took the series against the Bears.
ETSU dropped four of its last five games. This past weekend, Wofford took the series over the Bucs in Spartanburg, South Carolina.
Tristan Curless, a SoCon Player of the Year candidate, headlines ETSU's offense with a .386 batting average. The senior two-way player has 13 doubles, 14 home runs, 61 RBI and an 1.186 OPS.
Michael Harpster leads the Bucs' pitching staff with a 6-2 record and a 3.68 ERA. The junior right-handed pitcher has made 13 appearances for ETSU and has 73 strikeouts in 66.0 innings pitched.