April 26, 2012

MACON, Ga. – The Mercer baseball team finally wraps up a grueling road stretch with a pivotal Atlantic Sun Conference weekend series at Jacksonville.

 

Mercer (26-18, 7-11 A-Sun) finishes off the brutal road trip at Jacksonville this weekend that has seen the club play nine games in 12 days in four different states throughout the southeast region.

 

Game one of the Bears series against the Dolphins is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on Friday evening, with game two to be played on Saturday at 1 p.m. and game three set for Sunday at 1 p.m. at John Sessions Stadium.

 

Last Time Out

 

The Mercer baseball team received another dominant pitching performance by freshman Dawson Brown in a 6-2 win over Alabama State on Wednesday evening at the Wheeler-Watkins Baseball Complex.

 

Following in the footsteps of sophomore Brandon Barker yesterday, Brown threw his first career complete game and the second in as many days for Mercer, who hadn't received a nine-inning performance from any pitcher since 2009 until the past two days.

The Orange and Black jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the top of the sixth after an RBI single by junior Logan Gaines and Brown did the rest from there looking sharp on the mound throughout.

 

The McDonough, Ga. native threw a season-high nine innings and allowed two runs, only one of which was earned, on six hits to go along with six strikeouts to pick up his third win of the season.

 

Scouting the Opposition

 

Jacksonville (14-28, 4-11 A-Sun) has had a disappointing season to say the least after starting the campaign ranked in the top-40 nationally and picked to finish second in the 2012 Atlantic Sun Preseason Coaches' poll. The Dolphins had the past five days off due to finals and have not played since being swept by USC Upstate last weekend. Pitching and defense have haunted Jacksonville all season long, as the club ranks last in the A-Sun with a 4.89 team ERA and a .947 fielding percentage. Offensively, the Dolphins are paced by consensus preseason All-American first baseman Adam Brett Walker. Walker currently leads the team with a .338 batting average, eight home runs and 34 RBI.

 

Quick Hits

 

- Freshman Chesny Young is currently on a 10-game hitting streak and a 14-game reached base streak. The Atlanta, Ga. native has an incredible .489 batting average over his last 10 games while also leading the team with six doubles and eight RBI over that stretch.

 

- Senior Brandon Love puts his personal four-game winning streak on the line Friday night against Jacksonville. Love is 4-0 in his last four starts with a 1.69 ERA and 22 strikeouts in 26.2 innings pitched.