Bears Set To Conclude Home Slate With VMI

MACON – For the final time in the 2026 season, the Mercer Bears (36-13, 9-6 SoCon) will take the field at OrthoGeorgia Park as conference foe VMI (27-20, 3-12 SoCon) comes to town.

Mercer vs. VMI | Friday, May 8 – Sunday, May 10 | 6/2/1:00 PM EST

Claude Smith Field at OrthoGeorgia Park | Macon, Ga.

Last Meeting: April 5, 2025 | 8-7 L

All-Time Series: 27-13 overall | 10-8 at home | Streak: L1

Projected Pitchers:

Friday: RHP Garrett Lambert (4-0, 3.97 ERA) vs. RHP Justin Spiegel (1-3, 6.12 ERA)
Saturday: RHP Miguel Hugas (8-2, 6.06 ERA) vs. RHP Clark Driscoll (3-2, 3.00 ERA)
Sunday: TBA

Notables:

There is a four-way tie for second place in the Southern Conference regular season standings with just two weekends remaining before the tournament begins. Western Carolina is first in the league with a 12-6 SoCon record while ETSU, Mercer, Wofford and Samford sit three games behind. The Catamounts hold the tiebreaker over all four second-place teams.
Mercer's offense leads the SoCon in almost every major hitting category. The Bears have the most at-bats, runs, hits, home runs, RBI, walks, batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, OPS and total bases.
The Bears' pitching staff excels in striking out opposing hitters. Mercer has 444 strikeouts as a team with a 9.8 strikeouts-per-nine innings.
The Keydets have dropped 12 of their last 15 games, including five consecutive contests against conference opponents.
VMI's offense is headlined by the slugging duo of Cole Raile and Grayson Fitzwater. Raile leads the Keydets with a .347 batting average while Fitzwater is close on his tail with a .327 average of his own. The pair of sluggers combine for 25 doubles, 33 home runs, 108 RBI and 243 total bases.
Hunter Sipe is not only the best arm on VMI's pitching staff, but he has also been one of the best arms in the entire conference. The senior southpaw has 25 appearances (only one start) and bolsters a 2.97 ERA over 66.2 innings. Sipe has a 56-to-15 strikeout-to-walk ratio and has held opposing hitters to a .238 batting average against him.

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Players Mentioned

Miguel Hugas

Garrett Lambert

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