GREENSBORO, N.C. – UNCG will meet Mercer for the first time as Southern Conference foes this weekend as the Spartans travel to Macon, Ga. for a three-game series with the Bears at Claude Smith Field. The teams will begin the set Friday at 6 p.m. Only Friday's game will be carried on the SoCon Digital Network.
UNCG is 17-19 overall and 8-7 in SoCon play while Mercer stands at 24-16 and 10-4. The series is a matchup between two of the top four teams in the conference as the Bears are in a virtual tie for first place with Samford while the Spartans are tied with Western Carolina for fourth place. Next weekend's opponent, Wofford, sits just percentage points ahead of the Spartans and Catamounts in third place. The Blue and Gold is 4-9 in away contests this season, including 3-3 in SoCon road games. The Bears own a 13-11 mark at home and a 5-1 record in home league contests.
UNCG has quietly raised its team batting average to .293 as the Spartans have tallied 101 hits in their last eight games including a season-high 19 in Tuesday's loss to Elon. Senior Tyler Long leads the squad hitting .336 and is one of six lineup regulars batting .307 or higher. UNCG's pitching staff sports a 5.98 earned run average and opponents are hitting .289 against the group.
Mercer has won four of its last five games, including a doubleheader sweep over Savannah State Tuesday. The Bears are paced offensively by Kyle Lewis who owns a .377 batting average and a team-best 10 home runs. Collectively, Mercer is hitting .269 while the Bears' pitching staff sports a 4.28 earned run average. Opponents are hitting .274 against Mercer.
The teams have met just three times on the diamond as UNCG traveled to Macon for a nonconference series during the 1998 campaign. The Spartans won the opener before the Bears reeled off two-straight victories to clinch the series.
Bits and Pieces: The Spartans have hit a home run in 16 of their last 17 games ... Woody has hit safely in eight-straight games and has reached base safely in 15-straight contests while Kalbfleisch has reached base safely in his last 12 appearances ... Long was credited with both game-winning RBI in UNCG's two walkoff wins against Wake Forest and Furman ... During the first weekend of league play, UNCG handed Western Carolina just its third series loss in Southern Conference action in three seasons ... The Blue and Gold is 12-6 when compiling double figures in the hit column and 6-0 when scoring 10 or more runs ... The Spartans have surpassed their home run total from last season (25), hitting 38 so far this campaign ... 11 different players have a home run to their credit this season with King leading the way with eight bombs ... The Spartan pitching staff has struck out 10 or more batters in 12 games ... Former UNCG pitching standout Max Povse made the Opening Night start for the Rome Braves April 9 allowing just one earned run on four hits with seven strikeouts and two walks.
Pitching Matchups:
Friday – RHP Ryan Clark (6-3, 3.60) vs. RHP Eric Nyquist (4-2, 4.03)
Saturday – RHP Andrew Wantz (5-1, 4.68) vs. LHP Grant Papelian (4-3, 4.07)
Sunday – RHP Michael Bates (0-3, 10.36) vs. RHP DJ Johnson (1-2, 7.64)
Up Next: UNCG heads to Chapel Hill Tuesday for its lone meeting of the season with North Carolina. First pitch at Boshamer Stadium is scheduled for 6 p.m.
Keep up with the UNCG baseball team all year long by logging on to www.uncgspartans.com and following the Spartans' official Twitter accounts @UNCGBaseball/@uncgsports.
