March 31, 2011

MACON, Ga. – The Mercer baseball team looks to build on its biggest win of the season when it travels to Campbell for a three-game Atlantic Sun Conference series this weekend.

 

Game one of the three-game set is on Friday night at 6 p.m., with games two and three on Saturday afternoon at 1 and 4:30 p.m. at Taylor Field.

 

Mercer and Campbell's all-time series is tied at 27-27, but the Bears have had the upper hand lately, winning seven of the last 10 meetings between the two squads.

 

Last Time Out

 

ATLANTA, Ga. – On a bitterly cold Tuesday night, the Mercer baseball team heated things up versus Georgia Tech, defeating the nation's No. 6 ranked team, 4-2.

 

The Bears' (18-9) win over Georgia Tech (21-5) also ended the Yellow Jackets 16-game winning streak, the longest current streak in the country.

 

Tied at 2-2 in the top of the eighth, sophomore Evan Boyd came up with runners on second and third and promptly pulled a clutch two-RBI double to right field to give Mercer its first lead of the game, 4-2.

 

Not to be lost in the shuffle of runs Mercer pushed across in the late innings was the stellar relief pitching of senior Russell Moses. Moses, who came on for French in the bottom of the fourth, tossed 5.1 innings of shutout baseball to keep the Yellow Jackets offense at bay and secure the comeback win for the Bears.

 

Scouting the Opposition

 

Campbell (12-14, 1-8 A-Sun) enters play this weekend coming off its biggest win of the season, a 4-1 home victory over ACC member Duke. The Camels rank first in the country in batters hit by pitch and seventh in the nation with 54 stolen bases. Pitching has been Campbell's Achilles heel this season, as it ranks last in the A-Sun with a 6.40 team ERA. Senior Ellis Lowe paces the Camels offense with a .389 batting average and 11 doubles while junior Jimmy Brenneman leads the conference with 17 stolen bases.

 

Quick Hits

 

-  The A-Sun currently sports a 100-72 non-conference record, seven teams with an under-100 team RPI (Mercer is No. 80 in the RPI) and an overall conference RPI that currently ranks sixth in the nation. Only the SEC, ACC, Conference USA, Big 12 and Pac-10 sport better conference RPI's than the A-Sun.

 

- In the most recent SEBaseball.com Mid-Major Top-25 poll, Mercer is ranked No. 8 overall. Three other A-Sun schools are also in the poll including Stetson (No. 2), Jacksonville (No. 13) and ETSU (No. 20).