Mercer Sets 2011 Baseball Schedule

MACON, Ga. – 31 home games and non-conference contests against all six Division I institutions in the state of Georgia highlight the 2011 Mercer baseball schedule released on Monday morning by head coach Craig Gibson.

The Bears, who won their first Atlantic Sun Championship in 27 years and made their first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance last season, tout a challenging 56-game schedule in 2011 that features five exciting Atlantic Sun Conference weekend home series.

"I think we have put together another challenging schedule this season that will help us get ready for conference play," Gibson said. "Playing all six Division I institutions in our state (Georgia Tech, Georgia, Georgia State, Kennesaw State, Georgia Southern and Savannah State) gives our schedule an interesting dynamic in that we can see where we stack up against the other premier baseball programs in our state."

Mercer opens its 2011 campaign by playing 15 out of its first 20 games at Claude Smith Field, starting on Feb. 18 with a four-game weekend series against Big South member Liberty.

"We have a great opportunity to get off to a strong start this year, something we didn't do last season, with nine of our first 10 games starting out at home," said Gibson.

The Bears also face Alabama State (Feb. 25-27), Harvard (March 15) and Winthrop (April 30-May 1) in non-league series this spring. Mercer leads its all-time series against Alabama State, 5-1, but only has a 1-3 record in its all-time series with Winthrop. The Bears and Harvard have never met on the diamond before, giving Mercer its first game against an Ivy League institution since 1998.

Mercer's non-conference midweek dates consist of a number of contests against in-state opponents. They include match-ups against Georgia State (Feb.22, April 5, May 17), Georgia (March 8, May 10) Georgia Tech (March 29, April 19), Savannah State (March 22, April 12) and Georgia Southern (April 6). The Orange and Black resume their series with Georgia for the first time since 2007, and Georgia Southern for the first time since 2008.

The Bears also take on Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) member FAMU in four mid-week contests (Feb. 23, March 1, March 9, March 21).

Mercer kicks off its 30-game A-Sun Conference schedule when it travels to Nashville to take on Belmont in a three-game set on March 4-6. Mercer will also travel to Stetson (March 18-20), Campbell (April 1-2), North Florida (April 15-27) and USC-Upstate (May 13-14) for road league series in 2011.

Mercer's first conference series at Claude Smith Field pins the Bears against 2010 A-Sun Regular Season Champion FGCU on March 11-13. The Eagles took two out of three from the Bears last season. The Orange and Black also host in-state rival Kennesaw State (March 25-27), Jacksonville (April 8-10), Lipscomb (April 21-23) and ETSU (May 19-21) for A-Sun weekend home series in 2011.

"The way our conference schedule is set up, starting with series against Belmont, FGCU and Stetson,  we won't have to wait very long to see where we stack up against some of the other quality teams in the A-Sun," said Gibson.

The 2011 A-Sun Baseball Championships will be played on May 25-28 in Nashville, Tenn. at Dugan Field at Marsh Stadium, on the campus of Lipscomb University.

For the complete list of the Mercer baseball 2011 schedule, click here.