Friday, March 23, 2007

DeLand, Fla. - Stetson (18-7) and Mercer (17-8) look like the two top teams in the Atlantic Sun. The pair square off in Deland this weekend with the winner getting the early front-runner label.

Both teams have played some quality preconference foes. Stetson has taken series from LSU, Louisville, Southern Illinois, and North Florida and have single wins over teams like Notre Dame, South Florida, and Michigan State. They are coming off a 4-3 victory over Florida Tuesday evening and have won eight of their last ten games.

"So far we're pleased with the way the season has gone given the quality of schedule we'd played," said Stetson coach Pete Dunn. "On the other side, I think we've given away some games we should have won. That's the coach in me being greedy but there is still room for improvement."

Adam Tindle (.407/ 0/15) and Braedyn Pruitt (.375/4/25) lead the Hatter offense while Corey Kluber (4-0/2.48), Chris Ingoglia (3-2/4.35), Robbie Donovan (1-1/1.78), and Robbie Elsemiller (1-0/0.84/9 svs) lead the pitching staff.

Meanwhile, Mercer just had their seven game winning streak snapped with a 9-3 loss at Georgia. The Bears do have a series win over Miami and a perfect 3-0 record in the conference. The Bear offense is led by John Dortch (.373/1/9) and Josh Thompson (.362/6/26) while Brantley New (3-2/3.86), Boone Webster (5-1/2.45), Justin Boyette (3-2/2.91), and Corey Gearrin (2-0/0.44/7 svs) lead the Bear staff.

"I am pleased with the start we are off to and that we were able to start of 3-0 in league play," said Mercer head coach Craig Gibson. "We have some quality wins so far and for the most part we have been ready to play each game."

All of that shapes up for a fun series at Melching Field.

"We are excited to go down there and try to put ourselves in a postion to win," Gibson said. "They are playing well and coming off a nice mid-week win over Florida. We need Brantley New to give us a lift on Friday night."

"This is the biggest series of the year for us," Dunn said. "They are in first place and playing well and we know they are a quality team. They're going to challenge for the championship and we're going to have to play to our capability.

"Of course, I told the team every weekend is the most important series from here on out.

"If we can play a 3-game series as well as we played against Florida last night," Dunn said, "I like our chances."

Courtesy of Mark Etheridge - SEBaseball.com Publisher