PREVIEW: Mercer at Georgia Southern

STATESBORO, Ga. (Interstat) — Mercer and Georgia Southern meet Wednesday at J.I. Clements Stadium in a midweek nonconference matchup with starkly contrasting fortunes.

First pitch is set for 6 p.m. The forecast calls for 79 degrees and cloudy skies.

Mercer (35-13) enters as the visiting team riding a 21-game advantage in the win column over Georgia Southern (14-34). The Bears took the last meeting between the clubs on April 29 in Macon, winning 10-9. Mercer has won three of its last four overall after dropping Sunday’s series finale 5-0 at Samford, though the Bears took the weekend set 2-1.

Georgia Southern comes off a 14-4 loss to Coastal Carolina on Sunday. The Eagles have lost seven of their last 10.

Players to watch

Mercer reliever Jess Ackerman has been effective against Georgia Southern recently. In the April 29 win, the right-hander tossed two scoreless innings, allowing one hit with four strikeouts. Over his last eight appearances, Ackerman has a 2.53 ERA across 14⅔ innings, striking out 20.

For the Eagles, right-hander Alex Mason will look to rebound after a rough outing against Mercer on April 29. He faced one batter and was charged with three earned runs without recording an out. Mason did earn a win Sunday against Coastal Carolina, going 8⅓ innings and allowing four earned runs on four hits with two strikeouts. His season has been uneven; in his last seven appearances spanning 19⅓ innings, opponents have hit .236 against him, but he has allowed 19 earned runs.

What’s at stake

Mercer continues a stretch of seven straight road games and opens a five-game trip before a Friday home series against Virginia Military Institute. Georgia Southern begins a five-game homestand, with Georgia State visiting for a weekend Sun Belt series starting Friday.

Simulator projection

Interstat’s game simulator projects an 8-2 Mercer win.

Mercer’s offense has averaged 8.1 runs per game this season. Georgia Southern has allowed 7.9 runs per game. The Eagles’ pitching staff has a 7.82 ERA over the last 10 games.

The Bears have won four of the last five meetings between the schools.