Mercer Opens 2014 Season at Home Against High Point on Friday

MACON, Ga. (MERCER RELEASE) – On the heels of the greatest season in Mercer baseball history, the 2014 edition of the Bears begin their encore attempt starting this weekend when they welcome High Point into town for a three-game series starting on Friday night at Claude Smith Field.

Mercer takes on the Panthers in game one on Friday afternoon at 4 p.m., with game two slated for Saturday at 2 p.m. and game three set for a 1 p.m. first pitch on Sunday.

PITCHING MATCHUPS

*- 2013 stats included

Friday

Mercer: RHP Brandon Barker (7-2, 2.66 ERA, 79 K’s)

High Point: RHP John McGillicudy (N/A)

Saturday

Mercer: LHP Grant Papelian (3-4, 5.60 ERA, 32 K’s)

High Point: LHP Mike Krumm (0-2, 5.09 ERA, 15 K’s)

Sunday

Mercer: RHP Eric Nyquist (1-1, 4.25 ERA, 17 K’s)

High Point: RHP Andre Scrubb (N/A)

SCOUTING THE OPPONENT

Sixth-year head coach Craig Coazrt leads a very young High Point squad into Macon to begin the 2014 campaign this weekend. The Panthers return only 10 letterwinners and four starters back from a team that went 29-29 and finished second in the Big South North Division last season. High Point, which features 14 freshmen on its roster, does tout one of the top relievers in the country in junior Joe Goodman who was named to the NCBWA Preseason Stopper of the Year Watch List after posting a 3-0 record with a 0.37 ERA and four saves last season. The Panthers lead the all-time series against Mercer 2-1 after winning a weekend series over the Bears in High Point during the 2012 season.

FAST FACTS

– The Mercer baseball team secured a league-high five Preseason All-Conference selections and, for the second time in as many years, was picked to finish first in the 2014 Atlantic Sun Conference Preseason Coaches’ poll. Mercer also secured two out of the three conference specialty awards as junior Chesny Young was named the A-Sun Conference Preseason Player of the Year while senior Michael Massi was voted the A-Sun Conference Preseason Defensive Player of the Year. Young and Massi were joined on the A-Sun Preseason All-Conference team by seniors Nick Backlund and Brandon Barker and junior Dimitri Kourtis.

– Junior Chesny Young and senior Derrick Workman both are on the verge of making history entering the start of the 2014 season. Young is currently riding a 30-game hitting streak which is the longest active streak in the nation and is just 11 games shy of breaking into the top-10 longest hitting streaks in NCAA Division I history. Workman enters his senior season just 44 hits shy of breaking the all-time Mercer career record of 264 hits set by Tim Smith in 1980-1983.

– The Mercer baseball team ranks 25th in the country with 158 wins dating back to the start of the 2010 season, but that pales in comparison to the offensive numbers the Bears have put up since the start of the 2011 campaign. Mercer has hit more home runs (201), tallied more total bases (2,915) and compiled a higher team slugging percentage (.467) than any team in the nation dating back to the start of the 2011 season.