Tanis Captures Bears First A-Sun Weekly Honor

MACON, Ga. – Sophomore Jacob Tanis had an outstanding week for the Mercer baseball team and was rewarded by being named the Atlantic Sun Conference "Player of the Week", as announced by the league office on Monday afternoon.

It was the first weekly A-Sun award for Mercer (16-10, 4-2 A-Sun) this season, even though it is currently tied for third place in the league standings.

"I am very happy to see Jake capture this great honor because he works so hard and is such an integral part of our team," head coach Craig Gibson said. "It is good to see a member of our team get rewarded for our good start in A-Sun play."

Tanis, a third baseman, garnered the weekly position player accolades, while USC Upstate's Matt Branham was the week's top pitcher in the A-Sun.

Tanis' numbers shone brightly in both of Mercer's series last week. He was a combined 11-for-23 on the week (.478) to go along with eight RBI and four runs scored.

In a key three-game set against the defending A-Sun champs Jacksonville, Tanis helped the Bears accomplish a series win over the Dolphins in Jacksonville for the first time since 1997. In the trio of games at JU, the Peachtree City, Ga. native banged out six hits, drove in three runs and scored three times.

While winning two-of-three games versus the Dolphins has the Bears in the hunt among the A-Sun leaders, Tanis was also brilliant in a two-game non-conference showcase against the nation's No. 3 ranked team, Georgia Tech, earlier in the week. While GT won both ends of the home-and-home tandem, Tanis' bat proved to be a highlight for MU.

The sophomore hit a three-run home run against Georgia Tech starter Mark Pope (the only home run Pope has allowed this season in more than 18 innings of work) to put Mercer right back into Tuesday's series opener in Macon. Tanis went 3-for-4 in the game and drove in five runs.

In the two games against the Yellow Jackets, Tanis had a solid .625 average in his eight at-bats.

Tanis leads Mercer in multiple statistical categories including slugging percentage (.712), runs scored (33), doubles (14), home runs (8), RBI (41) and sacrifice flies (5). He has a season batting average of .369 (41-for-111) and sports a creditable .940 fielding percentage at the "hot corner."

Mercer will be back in action on Tuesday afternoon when it plays in-state rival Savannah State. Game time is set for 5 p.m. and will be played at Grayson Stadium in Savannah, Ga.