MACON, Ga. – The Mercer baseball team concludes its eight-game road trip with a huge opportunity when it travels to No. 23 Mississippi State this weekend for a three-game series in Starkville.

The Bulldogs represent the first ranked team the Bears play this season after they notched a pair of victories over ranked teams (then No. 6 and No. 9 Georgia Tech) in 2011.

Game one of the Bears' series at Mississippi State is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on Friday evening, with game two to be played on Saturday at 2 p.m. and game three set for Sunday at 1 p.m.

Last Time Out

The Mercer baseball team exploded for six runs in the fifth inning to pull away for an 8-5 win against in-state rival Savannah State on Tuesday evening at Tiger Field.

Down 3-1, Mercer retaliated by plating six runs in the top of the fifth. A two-RBI double by junior Logan Gaines highlighted the barrage to give the Orange and Black a 7-3 lead.

Sophomore Nick Backlund finished the day 3-for-5 with a home run and two RBI while junior David Reid-Foley also collected three hits and a run scored in the win.

Scouting the Opposition

Mississippi State (12-2) enters play this weekend ranked No. 23 in both the USA Today/ESPN Coaches poll and the Baseball America Top-25 poll. The Bulldogs have started the 2012 season with 17-straight games at home, most recently with a two-game mid-week sweep of Big 10 member Penn State. MSU is led offensively by sophomore infielder Adam Frazier who paces the squad with a .379 batting average, 17 runs scored and eight doubles.

Quick Hits

- Senior Brandon Love currently ranks second in the A-Sun Career Active Leaders and tied for 17^th in the NCAA Career Active Leaders with 18 wins.

- Dating back to last season, junior Evan Boyd is on a 17-game on-base streak and has at least one hit in 13 of 14 games this season.