Top-Seeded Bears Open SoCon Tournament With No. 5 Citadel

Thursday, May 21

Greenville, S.C.

9 a.m.

Mercer University

The Citadel

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Top-Seeded Bears Open SoCon Tournament With No. 5 Citadel

5/20/2026 9:17:00 PM | Baseball

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

GREENVILLE, S.C. – The Mercer Bears (43-13, 15-6 SoCon) are set to begin their Southern Conference Tournament slate with No. 5 The Citadel (31-24, 11-10 SoCon) on Thursday, May 21 at 9:00 a.m. at Fluor Field in Greenville, South Carolina. The Bears earned a "double bye" after winning the SoCon Regular Season title and securing the top seed in the tournament.

#1 Mercer vs. #5 The Citadel | Thursday, May 21 | 9:00 AM EST

Fluor Field | Greenville, South Carolina

Last Meeting: March 22, 2026 | 2-3 L

All-Time Series: 34-28 overall | 14-12 on the road | Streak: L1

Links: X | Instagram | Live Stats | ESPN+

Projected Pitchers:

TBA

The 2026 Regular Season at a Glance:

Tied most wins in a single season (43)
Most wins at home & best home W/L in a single season (29-2)
Most home runs in a single season (prev. best 111 in 2023)
500+ strikeouts for fifth time in school history
10-game winning streak (4/17-5/2), 9-game winning streak (2/18-3/1), currently on 8-game winning streak. Winners of 18 out of last 19.
26th in RPI. No. 23 in Perfect Game's Top 25. No. 6 in 11Point7 Mid-Major Rankings.
Nine players on All-SoCon Teams (7 First Teamers, 1 Second Team, 2 All-Freshman)

All-SoCon Awards

Chris Katz was named the SoCon Player of the Year after a tremendous first season in Macon. The senior transfer is the first Bear since Kyle Lewis in 2016 to record 70+ hits, runs and RBI in the same season. Katz also has 20 home runs and 158 total bases.
Head coach Craig Gibson earned his third SoCon Coach of the Year award after leading the Bears to a historic regular season. Under Gibson's guidance, Mercer tied a program-best 43 wins and set a new record with 29 wins at home. Gibson also surpassed 770 career wins.
Garrett Lambert was named the 2026 SoCon Freshman of the Year as well as a member of the All-SoCon First Team and All-Freshman Team. The redshirt freshman missed the majority of 2024, and all of 2025, to injury. Lambert has 80 strikeouts and a perfect 5-0 record with 65.1 innings.
Titan Kamaka, Brant Baughcum, Eli Stephens, Braydon Kersey and Jess Ackerman were also named members of the All-SoCon First Team. Andrew Garnett was Mercer's sole representative on the All-SoCon Second Team. Ethan Buffone was also named to the All-Freshman team

Scouting The Citadel

The Bulldogs earned a spot in tomorrow's contest by scoring 34 runs in their first two games of the tournament. The Citadel entered the competition as the No. 5 seed and run-ruled No. 8 VMI 21-11 in eight innings.
The Citadel is on a five-game winning streak dating back to May 14. The Bulldogs are winners of 11 of their last 13 contests.
Michael Gibson, an All-SoCon Second Team first baseman/reliever, leads The Citadel's offense with a .378 batting average. Gibson went 5-for-5 with four RBI in the Bulldogs' opening game and 3-for-5 with three RBI against Wofford.
Andrew Bufkin leads the Bulldogs' pitching staff with a 2.65 ERA across 20 appearances and 68.0 innings. Bufkin threw five strong innings against Wofford and struck out eight Terriers to earn his sixth win of the season.