UNCG has earned a 36-17 overall record to go with their 14-7 record in SoCon play.  Mercer enters at 33-20, and 14-7, tied for the top spot in the SoCon.  The Bears and Spartans will participate in a doubleheader on Thursday afternoon, starting at 3:00 p.m., with the second game coming 45 minutes following the conclusion of the first. 

If unable to attend the games, fans can tune into the SoCon Digital Network where all games will be streamed, with Enoch Davis on the call.  There will also be live stats available via a link on UNCGSpartans.com.  As always, fans can stay updated via Twitter by following @UNCGScores, and stay up to date with all things UNCG Baseball by following @UNCGBaseball on Twitter and liking UNCG Baseball on Facebook. 

Mercer and UNCG have played just six times in school history.  The series between the Spartans and Bears is level at three games each.  The Bears have never made the trek to Greensboro, with all six meetings having been in Macon, Ga.  Previous to meeting in 2015, the last time the Bears faced the Spartans was in 1998, the first year that UNCG was a member of the Southern Conference. 1998 was also the last time that UNCG won a SoCon regular season championship. 

The Spartans dropped two of three games to the Western Carolina Catamounts in Cullowhee over the weekend.  UNCG hit eight home runs over the three-game stretch, the most since the start of the 2012 season when the Spartans connected for eight home runs against Delaware State.  UNCG has only dropped one other series this year, with Samford taking two of three games.  The Spartans responded, taking two of three games in the following series with the Wofford Terriers.

Pitching Matchups

Thursday – UNCG | Hunter Smith (RHP, 6-3, 5.13 ERA, 79.0 IP, 64 K's) vs. Mercer | Ryan Askew (RHP, 4-2, 4.30 ERA, 81.2 IP, 56 K's)

Friday – UNCG | Matt Frisbee (RHP, 4-3,  5.16 ERA,  59.1 IP,  45 K's) vs. Mercer | Kevin Coulter (RHP, 6-3, 5.24 ERA, 68.2 IP, 37 K's)

Sunday - UNCG | Keaton Haack (RHP, 4-2,  3.46 ERA,  41.2 IP,  29 K's) vs. Mercer | TBA

UNCG

Currently, the UNCG offense currently leads the NCAA with a .351 team batting average.  UNCW trails the Spartans by an impressive 22 points.  UNCG also leads the NCAA in hits, doubles, triples, slugging percentage, sacrifice flies and on base percentage. 

The Spartan offense is led by a pair of hitters who are above the .395 mark.  L.J. Kalawaia (Wailuku, Hawai'i/Ohlone College) and Ben Spitznagel (Cincinnati, Ohio/Wabash Valley CC) have hit .401, and .396 respectively.  Spitznagel is second in the NCAA with 88 hits, Kalawaia is 12th with 381  Collin Woody (Tampa, Fla./College of Central Florida) is 19th in the nation with 79 hits, but leads the NCAA with 11 sacrifice flies, while placing seventh in the NCAA with 63 RBI.  Kalawaia ranks tenth in the NCAA with 61 RBI, as well as leading UNCG with 22 stolen bases. (Rankings as of May 16th)

Four different players rank in the top 18 in runs scored this year.  Kalawaia ranks eighth with 59, Spitznagel and Woody are tied at sixth with 57 runs scored, Dillon Stewart (Dunn, N.C./Brunswick CC) is 18th at 56.  Stewart leads the Spartans with 11 home runs this year.  Woody has hit 10 out of the ballpark, with three others hitting at least five home runs this year.  Jake Kusz (Durham, N.C./Riverside) has hit eight, Cesar Trejo (Greensboro, N.C./Ragsdale has seven, Kalawaia has hit six and Ryne Sigmon (Danville, Va./Danville CC) has had five leave the yard this season. 

UNCG has four players in the top 38 of RBI producers in the country, the most of any NCAA Division I institution.  Woody and Kalawaia are fighting for the top spot on the UNCG squad, at 63 and 61, respectively.  Sigmon and Stewart have driven in 55 and 54, respectively.

The Spartans will use the same rotation as they have the last three weekends.  Hunter Smith (Whiteville, N.C./Whiteville) will start Thursday, Matt Frisbee (Candler, N.C./Enka) will go Friday and Keaton Haack (Greensboro, N.C./Pitt CC) will wrap up the series on Saturday.  Smith has been a series opener starter all season for UNCG.  The redshirt junior will be making his 14th start of the season, all of which have come on the first game of a series.  Smith has earned a 6-3 record.  Smith has gone at least 5.0 innings in his last 11 starts, including 7.0 innings of two-hit baseball in a victory over Samford. 

Frisbee has been a weekend starter all season for UNCG.  The freshman has made 13 starts, 11 of which came on Sunday afternoon.  After moving up in the rotation, Frisbee has worked 9.1 innings, and allowed only 6 runs.  Haack is set to make his fourth weekend start of his career on senior day.  The right hander worked as a reliever his junior year before being a midweek starter for the Navy and Gold to being this season.  In total, Haack has started nine games of his 11 appearances.  Haack has only given up more than five hits once this season, and has earned a 3.46 ERA in 41.2 innings. 

Andrew Wantz (Holly Springs, N.C./Holly Springs), Chad Sykes (Creedmoor, N.C./Voyager Academy) and Woody have solidified the end of games for UNCG.  The three have combined to finish out 36 games this year.  Wantz leads the team with 30 appearances this season, logging 67.0 innings, earning a 2.55 ERA during the season.  The sophomore leads the Spartans with 80 strikeouts this year and has held opponents to a .197 average against. 

Sykes has worked in 25 games this year, logging 42.2 innings.  Sykes has struck out 50 batters, including a stretch of 20-straight games with at least one strikeout.  Sykes earned the victory in his last outing against Western Carolina, throwing 3.2 innings, allowing just two hits and striking out two batters.  Woody has finished out a team-high 16 games this year.  He finished out a pair of games a week ago against Western Carolina working in 4.0 innings, allowing one run. 

Mercer

The Bears enter this weekend's series tied with UNCG atop the Southern Conference standings.  The Spartans and Bears each have earned a 14-7 record, with the Bears being 33-20 overall on the season.  In the last ten games, Mercer has posted a 7-3 record and took two of three games from the Butler Bulldogs last weekend in Indianapolis.  The Bears haven't dropped a series since April 1-3 when the Samford Bulldogs took two games in Birmingham. 

Offensively, Mercer is led by Golden Spikes Award Watchlist, and preseason SoCon Player of the Year outfielder Kyle Lewis.  Lewis has started all 53 games, and has hit for a .419 average.  That average ranks fifth in the nation, and his 83 hits is good for eighth in the nation.  The junior outfielder doesn't just get on base, but leads the Bears with 64 RBI this year to go with 17 home runs.  Currently, Lewis is riding a 13-game hitting streak.  Trey Truitt is another Bear that has had a successful 2016 campaign.  The sophomore outfielder has been the Bears' leadoff hitter, hitting at a .335 clip.  Truitt has started 52 of 53 games, and has earned 14 home runs and 45 RBI in that time.  His 15 doubles are second on the team to Ryan Hagan.  Hagan has started all 53 games, hitting at a .329 average.  The junior infielder has hit 16 doubles and is second behind Lewis iwth 47 RBI.  Charlie Madden and Danny Edgeworth are a couple other bats to watch in the Bear lineup.  Madden and Edgeworth have each hit 10 home runs this year, with seven and ten doubles, respectively. 

Mercer will send Ryan Askew and Kevin Coulter to the hill Thursday and Friday, with the Saturday starter yet to be determined.  Askew has worked in 13 games, serving as the Friday starter all season.  His 81.2 innings leads the Bear pitching staff and he has earned a 4-2 record.  Opponents are hitting .271 against Askew.  Coulter has started a team-high 14 games, while making one relief appearance.  The freshman right-hander has thrown in 68.2 innings, earning a 5.24 ERA in that time.  Mercer has used six other pitchers who have started at least one game. Last weekend, the Bears sent Connor Herd to the hill, but used seven pitchers in a 7-3 loss to the Butler Bulldogs.  Mercer has a pair of workhorses on the back end of the pitching staff.  Conard Broom has made 38 appearances, through 53 games.  Broom has logged 56.2 innings, earning four saves and a 4-3 record in the process.  The freshman's longest outing came on April 19th, a 9-8 win over Georgia Tech in Atlanta.  In 21 SoCon games, Broom has made appearances in 17 games. Austin Lord has made 30 appearances for the Bears, working in 34.2 innings.  The junior lefty has earned a 4-1 record and four saves.  Lord has shown great command this season, striking out 34 batters, compared to walking just nine. 

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