Mercer’s Logan Shepherd stays red‑hot…Keep on rock’n
There is a school of thought that losing midweek games carries little weight in the grand scheme of a season. In reality, midweeks are often invaluable. They give coaches the opportunity to evaluate pitching depth, experiment with bullpen strategy, and assess overall roster balance in game conditions.
As a conference, the SoCon finished the midweek slate 2–6, bringing its cumulative non‑conference record to 20–13 (.606).
Record vs Other Conferences
| Conference | Record |
|---|---|
| ACC | 0–2 |
| Atlantic 10 | 3–1 |
| Big South | 0–1 |
| Coastal Atlantic | 1–0 |
| Conference USA | 1–2 |
| MAAC | 3–0 |
| Missouri Valley | 2–1 |
| NEC | 7–0 |
| SEC | 0–5 |
| Sun Belt | 3–1 |
The Winner: Mercer Makes an 8-0 Statement
Mercer 8, Georgia State 0
It’s way too early to say this, but I’m going to go ahead and say it: at this moment, Mercer looks like the best team in the SoCon, and Logan Shepherd looks like the conference’s best player.
Georgia State, which finished 2025 with an RPI of 182 out of the Sun Belt (rated the seventh‑best conference), was thoroughly outclassed. Shepherd set the tone immediately, sending the first pitch he saw over the right‑field fence for a solo home run. He later extended the lead with an RBI groundout in the second inning.
Chris Katz pushed the advantage to three with an RBI single. In the third, RBI doubles from Titan Kamaka and Devyn McEachron expanded the lead to five, and Braydon Kersey added another RBI groundout. Shepherd then mashed a two‑run homer—his fourth—to make it 8–0.
Shepherd went 2‑for‑4 with two home runs, four RBI, and two runs scored, continuing a torrid start to his Macon career. The junior transfer from Tacoma Community College now has four home runs in as many games since arriving in town. Credit the Bears’ staff for lookin’ real hard and going the distance to land the power‑hitting first baseman. Recruiting out of the portal just keeps gettin’ tougher every day — sometimes stretching from Phoenix, Arizona all the way to Tacoma, Philadelphia, Atlanta, L.A., Northern California where the girls are warm — all so he could be with the team in Macon, yeah.
McEachron finished 2‑for‑4 with an RBI and a double, while Kamaka added a double and an RBI of his own. Even more impressive, Mercer opted for a bullpen day, using 10 pitchers in a strategic midweek twist by Craig Gibson, and Johnny Wholestaff combined to yield a shutout. The approach worked flawlessly and showcased the team’s pitching depth.
The Split: UNC Greensboro
UNC Greensboro 4, Davidson 7 (Loss)
Davidson, ranked 177 in RPI out of the Atlantic 10 (rated 13th), handed the Spartans a disappointing defeat. After being swept in three non‑competitive games by Kentucky the previous weekend, UNC Greensboro desperately needed momentum. Losing to a misguided Davidson program that prioritizes studies and GPA over batting practice and ERA was not a good look. But seriously, there is no shame in losing to the Virginias and Alabamas of the world, but if the SoCon wants to hold on to, or improve upon, its 8 RPI rating, it has to win games against the Davidsons and the USC Upstates. The way Mercer is slapping around the Sun Belt is how it should be done.
UNC Greensboro 4, North Carolina A&T 3 (Win)
The Spartans rebounded with a tight 4–3 win over North Carolina A&T. That victory, highlighted in the UNCG baseball recap Miles’ Gem and Elite Outfield Defense Power UNC Greensboro Past NC A&T, stabilized the week.
Moral Victories:
Samford 2, Alabama 3
A full house at Joe Lee Griffin Field delivered a true big‑game atmosphere, even if much of the crowd arrived in tobacco‑ and mustard‑stained crimson sweatshirts, topped with matching, ratty ball caps. Credit to the Bulldog students who showed up in force—it’s a welcome sight to see SoCon students turning out for baseball in those numbers. Samford boasts a beautiful ballpark and a promising team.
The teams were scoreless through six and a half innings, locked in a tight, tension-filled duel. Samford seized the momentum and carried a 2–0 lead into the eighth, only for Alabama to respond with a sacrifice fly and a Peyton Steele two-run homer to surge ahead 3–2—a lead they would not relinquish. When their coaches refrain from sharing insider information about the starting pitcher with their degenerate gambling friends, Alabama is a perennial tournament team, boasting a 2025 RPI of 15. There is no shame in a one-run loss to a top-half SEC program, and Samford proved it can compete at that level.
VMI 2, Virginia 5
Virginia, out of the ACC, finished 66th in RPI, wasted no time, striking for three runs in the first inning. VMI’s bullpen answered admirably, surrendering just one earned run over the next seven frames and keeping the Keydets within reach. It marked VMI’s first loss of 2026, but they competed throughout. If there is such a thing as a quality loss, this would qualify.
ETSU 5, Virginia Tech 7
Virginia Tech, ranked 56th in RPI out of the nation’s second‑best conference, erased ETSU’s early 3–0 lead with two runs in the third and five more in the fourth. ETSU brought the go‑ahead run to the plate with two outs in the ninth before ultimately falling short. Competitive, but not complete.
ETSU finished 2025 with an RPI of 45. They lost a significant amount in the offseason, but so did most programs across the country. If you want to argue this was a slight upset by the Hokies, that case is there to be made.
Wofford 2, South Carolina 8
South Carolina (75 RPI in 2025) broke a 1–1 tie with two runs in the fourth and controlled the game from there. Wofford never applied sustained pressure beyond the early innings, though the Terriers competed hard throughout. The game felt closer than the final score suggested.
DNP: The Citadel
The Citadel did not play a midweek game, but even inactivity outperformed Western Carolina’s result.
Yeesh: Western Carolina 0, USC Upstate 17
USC Upstate, 91 in RPI in 2025 out of the Big South (rated 23rd), dominated. There was little positive to extract beyond Noah Quarless’ continued excellence both at the plate and in pitch framing—and the safe bus ride home.
Ranking the SoCon’s Midweeks
- Mercer
- Samford
- UNC Greensboro
- ETSU
- VMI
- Wofford
- The Citadel
- Western Carolina
Mercer stands alone at the top after a dominant shutout and explosive offensive showing. Samford earns the second spot for competing toe‑to‑toe with an SEC power. UNC Greensboro’s split places them in the middle.
The Point After
The SoCon’s 2–6 showing underscores the challenge of stepping up in class, yet Mercer’s dominance and Samford’s near miss signal real upside at the top of the league. If the conference can turn competitive losses into signature wins, the cumulative 20–13 non‑conference mark will feel more like a launching point than a ceiling.
