February 23, 2012

Baseball Welcomes Presbyterian to Town for Three-Game Series

MACON, Ga. – The Mercer baseball team continues its busy start to the 2012 season with a three-game series against Big South member Presbyterian this weekend at Claude Smith Field.

Game one of the series is scheduled for 4 p.m. on Friday afternoon, with games two and three to be played at 1 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, respectfully.

The Bears have had a very demanding start to their 2012 campaign with nine games over the first ten days of the season. However, the Orange and Black have persevered thus far, accumulating five wins which is tied with four other teams for the most in the nation to date.

Last Time Out

The Mercer baseball team continued its early season fireworks on the offensive side of the ball in a 19-1 win over Florida A&M on Wednesday evening at Moore-Kittles Field.

Mercer (5-1) pounded out 21 hits in the contest, its second game of the young season with 20 or more hits.

To balance out the Bears potent offense, freshman Eric Nyquist put together a strong outing on the mound. The Chicago, Ill. native went five innings, allowing just one earned run on five hits while striking out two.

Sophomore DJ Johnson finished the game 3-for-5 with four RBI and three runs scored while classmate Derrick Workman went 3-for-4 with three RBI, a home run and four runs scored.

Scouting the Opposition

Presbyterian enters play this weekend with an 0-4 overall record after most recently dropping a 7-5 decision to Furman on Tuesday evening. The Blue Hose were picked to finish 10^th in the Big South Preseason Coaches' poll after returning seven starting position players and five starting pitchers from a team that went 24-32 overall in 2011. Pacing Presbyterian this season is sophomore slugger Brad Zebedis, who was named the Big South Conference Preseason Player of the Year and a Preseason All-American by multiple publications.

Quick Hits

- Mercer scored 12 runs in the top of the fifth in its win over Florida A&M on Wednesday, its second 10-plus run inning this season after putting up 11 runs in the sixth inning against Morehead State on February 17.

- The Bears are currently on a six-game road winning streak dating back to last season, which is the third-longest current road streak in the nation.