2010 Mercer Baseball Schedule
MACON, Ga. – 30 home games and non-conference series against 2009 NCAA Tournament participants Georgia Tech and Georgia State highlights the 2010 Mercer baseball schedule released on Thursday morning by head coach Craig Gibson.
The Bears, who have made four consecutive trips to the A-Sun Baseball Championships, tout a challenging 56-game schedule this season featuring four exciting Atlantic Sun Conference weekend home series.
“We are excited about our schedule this season, in that we have some different teams on there that we are playing for the first time,” head coach Craig Gibson said. “Our non-conference schedule is highlighted by our home and home with perennial ACC power Georgia Tech, and as always we are expecting a very challenging and grueling A-Sun league schedule.”
Mercer opens its 2010 campaign by playing 14 out of its first 17 games at Claude Smith Field, starting on Feb. 19 with a four-game weekend series against Morehead State.
“We have a good stretch of games we play at home to start our 2010 campaign that we will look to take advantage of in building momentum leading up to A-Sun play.”
The Bears also face Evansville (Feb. 26-28), Chicago State (March 6-8) and University of South Florida (March 19-21) in non-league weekend series this spring. Mercer and Evansville will pick up their all-time series, which is tied at 2-2, for the first time since 1981. On the other hand, the Bears will take on Chicago State and USF for the first time in program history.
As always, Mercer’s non-conference schedule features midweek dates with a number of in-state opponents. They include 2009 NCAA Tournament participants Georgia State (March 3, April 13, April 21) and Georgia Tech (March 10, March 24) as well as Savannah State (March 30-31, April 6). The Bears also take on Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) member FAMU in four midweek contests (Feb. 23, March 2, March 16-17) and Southern Conference member The Citadel (May 11).
The Bears kick off their 27-game A-Sun Conference schedule when they host Campbell in a three-game set on March 12-13. Mercer will also welcome Stetson (April 9-10), USC Upstate (April 23-24) and Belmont (May 20-21) to Macon for home league series in 2010.
Mercer’s first conference series away from Claude Smith Field pins the Bears against 2009 A-Sun Champion Jacksonville on March-26-27. The Dolphins took two out of three from the Bears last season. Other A-Sun road series in 2010 include trips to FGCU (April 2-3), ETSU (April 16-17), Kennesaw State (April 30-May 1) and Lipscomb (May 13-14).
UNF, who is eligible for A-Sun postseason play for the first time this season, rotates off the Mercer schedule this season.
The 2010 A-Sun Baseball Championships will be played on May 26-29 in Nashville, Tenn. at Dugan Field at Marsh Stadium, on the campus of Lipscomb University.