FSU baseball looks for sixth straight win hosting the Mercer Bears

No. 5 FSU baseball (30-5, 10-5 ACC) has won five consecutive games and will look to continue their momentum when they host the Mercer Bears Tuesday night at Dick Howser Stadium. Mercer (18-16, 3-6 Southern Conference) has lost their last two games and is 5-7 on the road this season. The Bears bring a .279 batting average and .392 on-base percentage into the contest. They strike out 23 percent of their at-bats and have hit 48 home runs, 57 doubles, and five triples. Mercer pitchers bring a 5.16 ERA and have struck out 244 batters in 296.2 innings. They have walked 118 batters. and opposing hitters hit .295 and have hit 31 home runs against them. Defensively, Mercer brings an outstanding .981 field percentage into the contest.

FSU is undefeated in midweek action this season and has won in a variety of ways. They've slugged teams to death offensively and had games where the pitching shut down opposing offenses while the offense didn't score many runs. FSU has gotten solid midweek starts from a variety of guys, and I'm not sure who'll get the nod Tuesday night. However, the bullpen has been outstanding in these, and that'll likely come into play against Mercer. It's a simple formula to win. The pitchers must be in the strike zone, play solid defense, and have good at-bats offensively. Mercer is a scrappy team that's played in a lot of close games. They have a knack for being competitive, although they are not an offensive juggernaut. Can FSU keep the focus they've had nearly all season? They have gotten contributions from a ton of guys in different spots. However, the offense hasn't had the best focus in the midweek games(aside from against Florida). I'll be looking to see if they have good at-bats against an inferior opponent they might look past with a big road series on deck against Wake Forest this weekend. The game will begin at 6 p.m. and will air on the ACCNX channel.