BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Samford Bulldogs and Mercer Bears will begin a three-game series on Thursday in Macon in a battle for the Southern Conference Regular Season title, with the Bulldogs coming into the weekend second in the conference standings and the Bears first.
 
Mercer holds a 47-42 series advantage over the Bulldogs, but Samford has won four of its last five over the Bears. The Bulldogs took two of three against Mercer at home last season and bested them 13-10 in the second round of the SoCon Tournament.
 
The Bulldogs took two of three games at home this past weekend against Kansas, winning game one on Thursday 3-2 and clinching the series with a 9-7 rubber-match victory on Saturday.
 
Samford is scheduled to throw Jacob Cravey in game one, Brody Westbrooks in game two, and Will Lynch in game three. Cravey enters the weekend leading the SoCon and ranking fourth in the nation with 104 strikeouts and was named one of 25 semifinalists for the 2023 Pitcher of the Year by the College Baseball Foundation on Wednesday.
 
The Bulldogs rank second with 44 home runs and a .600 slugging percentage in SoCon play. John Anderson has belted a league-best 10 home runs in conference action while Stephen Klein (.595) and Jayden Davis (.545) rank first and second in on-base percentage in league games.
 
Samford's 5.13 team ERA in SoCon play ranks second in the league. Cravey ranks first with six conference wins while Ben Petschke's three conference saves lead the league.
 
The Bears knocked off Georgia Tech 7-6 in a rain-shortened contest their last time out. It marked Mercer's fourth win in a row, having swept Wofford in Spartanburg last weekend to remain atop the SoCon standings.
 
Treyson Hughes leads the Bears in both batting average (.383) and RBI (49) while Jozsef Rohrbacher(17), Eric Toth (16), and Ty Dalley (15) have all slugged 15 or more homers.
 
Josh Farmer and Ryan Lobus both lead the team with five wins while Wesley Franklin has logged a team-high eight saves.
 
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