Mercer visits former conference rival

Mercer will take a seven-game winning streak north when the Bears visit former A-Sun rival Georgia State.

First pitch is 6 p.m. on Tuesday.

The two teams were scheduled the play the front end of a two-game season series at OrthoGeorgia Park last Wednesday, but the contest was cancelled due to inclement weather in the Macon area.

Mercer is 28-6 and is tied for the national lead in wins with No. 1 Oregon State, No. 4 Clemson and No. 6 Texas Tech.

Georgia State is 11-20 and on a 10-game losing streak.

Georgia State has won three straight against Mercer and five of the last six meetings, including both games last season.

Senior center fielder Ryan Blanton has a team-leading five homers, 21 RBI and 21 runs scored for Georgia State.

Former Houston County standout Justin Jones is second for the Panthers with a .279 average, and leads with six doubles.

Mercer visits VMI this weekend for a Southern Conference series, and is then at Georgia Tech on April 18 and at The Citadel the following weekend.

The Bears aren't back home until April 25 when Georgia Southern visits.

Mercer pair honored

Mercer baseball player Ryan Askew and softball player Taylor Rodgers were cited by the Southern Conference on Monday.

Rodgers was awarded one of 10 postgraduate scholarships by the conference. The scholarship is worth $2,000, and athletes are evaluated on academics, athletics and community service.

A first-team All-Southern Conference utility player in 2016, Rodgers also earned preseason All-SoCon honors entering this season.

The three-time National Fastpitch Coaches Association All-America Scholar-Athlete is a mechanical engineering major with a 3.68 GPA and plans to pursue a graduate degree in civil engineering after graduating.

Askew is the latest conference pitcher of the week.

Askew, a senior from Suwanee, threw his first career complete game Friday in the Bears’ 4-2 win over Samford, striking out seven batters with no walks.

The right-hander needed only 105 pitches (78 strikes) to improve to 4-0 this season.

Bulldogs and Yellow Jackets to battle

Georgia welcomes Georgia Tech on Tuesday in the first battle of the rivalry this season.

First pitch is slated for 7:02 p.m, and the game will be televised by the SEC Network.

Georgia is 14-19 while Georgia Tech is 16-14.

For the second straight week, Georgia will play four games in five days. After the Tech game, Georgia heads to No. 15 Arkansas (25-8, 8-4 SEC) for an SEC series starting at 7 p.m. on Thursday.

Georgia Tech is home to Louisville starting Friday for a weekend ACC series, and hosts Mercer on April 18.

The Yellow Jackets host the Bulldogs on April 25, and they'll play at SunTrust Park on May 9.

Last year, Georgia went 2-1 against Georgia Tech, winning 13-5 in Athens and 3-1 on Tech’s campus while the Yellow Jackets avoided a series sweep by taking the game at Turner Field 6-3 in 10 innings.

This story was originally published April 10, 2017 at 9:24 PM with the headline "Mercer visits former conference rival."