PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania baseball team ventures south this weekend to take on Mercer in a three-game series in Macon, Ga.

The weekend slate marks the first meeting between the two programs in their respective histories. First pitch on Friday is scheduled for 6 p.m. from OrthoGeorgia Park. Saturday's matchup will start at 2 p.m. and the series concludes with a 1 p.m. first pitch on Sunday.

Penn dropped its first three games of the 2026 season at then-No. 24 Texas A&M but put together strong performances at Blue Bell Park. The Red and Blue took the Aggies down to the wire in game one and Saturday's contest went 11 innings.

GAME 4-6: Penn (0-3, 0-0 Ivy) at Mercer (8-1, 0-0 SOCON)
February 27-March 1 | OrthoGeorgia Park | Macon, Ga.
Live Stats Game 1, Game 2, Game 3
 
Co-Pitcher of the Week!
Quakers' left-handed pitcher Marty Coyne was a standout performer over the series in College Station, earning him Ivy League Co-Pitcher of the Week honors. The junior got the starting nod in game two and pitched 5.0 shutout innings in his 2026 debut. Coyne recorded a career-high nine strikeouts and allowed only four hits and a walk against 21 batters.

Catching Runners
Ernie Echevarria caught three Aggies trying to steal over the three-game series, including two in the season opener on Feb. 20. He's already a third of the way to equaling his 2025 season total (9).

At the Plate
*Freshman second baseman Jay Secretarski had a solid start to his collegiate career as the only member of the Red and Blue to record a hit in all three games against nationally ranked Texas A&M. He currently ranks second on the team in batting average (.300) and was one of two Quakers to cross home plate over the weekend.

*Gavin Collins sits third for the Quakers in batting average, hitting .231. The outfielder had a big day at the plate in the second game of the weekend going 3-for-5. His first hit of the contest was an RBI single that sent Secretarski home, which gave Penn a 1-0 lead that held for six innings.

*Sophomore infielder Michael Powell is pacing Penn from the batter's box with a .333 batting average. The Alexandria, Va. native earned starts at third base in the final two games of the weekend and went 1-for-3 at the plate in both.

*Gavin Degnan (2), Nick Spaventa (2) and Davis Baker (2) were the only other Quakers to log hits in Texas.

On the Mound
*Penn's pitching was the highlight of the series against the Aggies, particularly in games one and two. The Red and Blue held the hosts scoreless until the bottom of the ninth inning of both games.

*Senior right-hander Jake Moss started on the hill in game one and threw 4.1 innings with four strikeouts and no runs conceded. Co-captain Thomas Shurtleff relieved him but was eventually charged with the loss despite allowing just two hits in four innings.

*Coyne was a force to be reckoned with in Saturday's extra-inning affair. The Hockessin, Del. native logged a career-high nine strikeouts in five innings and let up just four hits along the way.

*Freshmen Luke Pokrovsky, Ben Moulin and Nick Newburn all made their collegiate debuts on the mound during the season-opening series.  

Scouting the Bears
Mercer enters the series with an 8-1 record after taking two games against Troy in a three-game series two weekends ago. The Bears dominated Georgia State (8-0) on Feb. 18, before sweeping fellow Ivy League foe Columbia last weekend. Mercer handed Florida A&M two midweek losses on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The hosts posted a 35-25 record during 2025 and a 12-9 finish in the Southern Conference. Mercer collected wins against Wofford (8-6) and The Citadel (4-2) in the conference tournament, prior to falling to second-seeded Samford (5-1) in the semifinal round.
 
Six Bears were named preseason all-conference selections, and they were picked to finish second in the Southern Conference. Redshirt freshman Garrett Lambert and sophomore reliever Collin Ewaldsen were recognized as preseason first-team honorees, while Jess Ackerman, Braydon Kersey, Titan Kamaka and Brant Baughcum claimed second-team status. 

Through nine games, four hitters are batting with averages over .350, including Kamaka (.444), Logan Shepherd (.394), Chris Katz (.389) and Michael Graziano (.381). Shepherd has rung up a team-leading four home runs to begin the year, followed by three from Katz.

From the bump, junior right-hander Miguel Hugas (2-0, 2.70) and Ackerman (2-0, 4.50) have each earned two wins through nine games. The pairing has pitched a combined 18 innings so far this season, allowing only seven runs between them. Ackerman paces the Bears in strikeouts with 10, while reliever Ismael Borrero (9) and Ewaldsen (9) are right on his tail.

The Bears enter the series with a pitching staff ERA of 4.56 over 77.0 innings. Starters Hugas, Ackerman, Lambert (0-0, 5.87), Jackson Gaspard (0-1, 5.40), Caleb Hughes (0-1, 12.00) and Kersey (0-0, 3.00) have allowed 24 runs this season and the entire staff has struck out 93 batters.

Follow the Action
This weekend's three-game series will not be streamed due to competing athletic events at Mercer. Live stats will be available throughout the weekend.

For the latest on Penn baseball, follow @PennBaseball on X (formerly Twitter), @Penn_Baseball on Instagram, and on the web at PennAthletics.com.