MACON, Ga. –The Mercer baseball team concluded its annual Orange and Black World Series this past weekend, signifying the end of the fall baseball season.
The split-squad matchup, tied at 1-1 after the first two games, went down to the wire after the White team took game three, 4-3, and the Grey team took game four, 4-1. It would be the White team, however, that would pull out the series win with an 8-1 blowout win in the fifth and deciding game.
In game three, the White team got on the board early and often to start things off. In the top off the first, the White squad put together four-straight two-out singles to go up 2-0. The scoring would not stop there, however, as sophomore
Jacob Tanis blasted a two-run homerun to extend the White team’s lead up to 4-0.
The Grey team attempted to rally in the bottom of the fourth, scoring three runs off White team starter
Scott Patterson. A pair of RBI doubles by senior
Tyler McCarty and freshman
Austin Barrett and an RBI single by sophomore
Sean Olenek made the score 4-3.
That would be as close as they would come, however, as junior
J.T. Odom came in for the White team and shut the door. Odom pitched the final three innings of the game and allowed just three hits to secure the game three victory and a 2-1 series lead for the White team.
Game four featured a dominant pitching performance for the Grey team, allowing them to tie the series up at 2-2. Sophomore
Brandon Love pitched five innings of shutout baseball, allowing just two hits while striking out five.
Love got all the offensive support he would need from his teammates in the very first inning. The Grey team battered White team starter
Tyler Beesley to the tune of four first inning runs. A two-RBI double by McCarty and a pair of RBI groundouts by Olenek and junior
John Moreland gave the Grey team an early 4-0 lead.
The White team avoided the shutout thanks to a solo home run by junior
Joe Winker in the seventh inning to cap the scoring for the game, at 4-1.
The fifth and final game of the series featured both team’s aces in junior
Justice French and senior
Lath Guyer. It would be French and the White team’s day in the end, however, as they dominated play en route to a 3-2 series win.
The White team scored the first seven runs of the contest, in support of French who pitched four innings of three-hit ball with no runs allowed. The White team struck first in the top of the third, when senior
Michael Langley drilled a two-RBI single to right field to make the score 2-0.
The fifth inning is where the game was ultimately decided thanks due to some defensive miscues by the Grey team. Three errors and an RBI single by junior Jimmy McMahon pushed the White team’s lead up to 7-0.
The Grey team received a late RBI sac-fly by Olenek to make the score 8-1, but it would not matter as the White team recorded the final four outs of the game to win the series.
“I thought we had a very competitive series that went five games and was very exciting to be a part of,” head coach
Craig Gibson said. “I think the series gave us a good idea of what we have going into the spring and all the guys are all excited and ready to work hard during our offseason.”
With the series now completed, the players will begin individual workouts and participate in the team’s strength and conditioning program. The coaches will also wrap up their recruiting efforts with the early-signing period deadline coming up on Nov. 11.