Friday, April 20
Cullowhee, N.C.
5 p.m.
Mercer University
26-14, 6-7
4
at
8
Western Carolina
4-32, 2-11
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Mercer
1
1
0
0
0
0
0
1
1
4
5
3
Western Carolina
3
0
0
1
1
0
2
1
X
8
11
4
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Walter (1-5)
L: Cox, Austin (6-2)
Batting:
RBI: Posas, David 1 ; Thomas, JT 1 ; Ware, Jackson 1
SF: Thomas, JT 1 ; Ware, Jackson 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Hanson, Alex 1 ; Posas, David 1 ; Ware, Jackson 1 ; Dockus, Kyle 1
SB: Hanson, Alex 1 ; Ammons, Jordan 1
CS: Truitt, Trey 1
Batting:
HR: C. Robinson 1
RBI: Prater 1 ; Bigbie 1 ; Holcomb 2 ; Koehler 1 ; Sparks 1 ; C. Robinson 1
SH: Blaquiere 1 ; Koehler 1
SF: Koehler 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Prater 1 ; Blaquiere 2 ; Bigbie 3 ; Sparks 1 ; C. Robinson 1
SB: Sparks 1
Game Leaders
AB
5
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
5
R
1
H
1
RBI
1
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
OF
/ Baseball
LHP
/ BaseballOF
/ BaseballOF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
Photo by: Gerrit Van Genderen
Mercer Falls to Catamounts in Series Opener
4/20/2018 8:00:00 PM | Baseball
Austin Cox strikes out eight in Bears’ sixth straight loss
CULLOWHEE, N.C. – Austin Cox struck out eight batters but struggled in the opening frame and received little run support as Mercer dropped its series opener to Western Carolina, 8-4, Friday afternoon at Childress Field.
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The Bears (26-14, 6-7 Southern Conference) lost their sixth straight contest and dropped below .500 in conference play for the first time since joining the SoCon in 2015. Western Carolina (4-32, 2-11) snapped a 14-game losing streak with its first series-opening win of the season.
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Mercer appeared to have momentum when Alex Hanson opened the game with a leadoff single and stolen base before scoring on an eventual sacrifice fly by JT Thomas two at bats later. The Catamounts would respond, however, with three runs on four hits in the home half of the first inning against Cox (6-2), who took the loss.
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Cox settled in and retired eight consecutive batters through the third inning before Western Carolina added two more runs over the fourth and fifth frames and settled in against the quiet Mercer bats. The junior left-hander made it through the sixth before Mercer turned to the bullpen.
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Jackson Ware played a role in two of Mercer's three runs; he scored on a throwing error in the top of the second after a leadoff walk and added his 30th RBI of the season with a sacrifice fly in the eighth. Mercer added one run in the ninth on David Posas' RBI single, which scored Hanson after his second hit of the game.
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Coach Gibson's Take
"We fell behind early; it's tough enough on the road but when you get into an early hole, it gets really difficult," said head coach Craig Gibson. "Our bats were silent until about the seventh or eighth inning.
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"We're not playing well in any single area of the game right now, so errors and mistakes hurt us and are magnified. We need to be more offensive, we need to pitch a little bit better and we need to coach better. If we do those things, hopefully the results will be better."
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Records Update
» Mercer: 26-14 (6-7 SoCon)
» Western Carolina: (4-32, 2-11 SoCon)
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Pitchers of Record
» Win: Chase Walter (1-5)
» Loss: Austin Cox (6-2)
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Notables
» Friday's loss was just Mercer's fourth this season when scoring first (17-4).
» Mercer stole multiple bases for the 14th time this season (Alex Hanson, Jordan Ammons).
» Ware is the fourth Bear to reach the 30-RBI mark through 40 games played.
» Hanson has reached base in 63 of the last 65 games. He went 2-for-5 for his 18th multi-hit game of the season.
» Cox struck out at least eight batters for the seventh time this season.
» Nick Spear made his team-leading 22nd appearance of the season.
» Mercer has lost five straight games to Western Carolina dating back to the 2016 SoCon Tournament.
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Follow the Bears
For complete coverage of Mercer Baseball, please follow the Bears on social media at @MercerBaseball (Twitter), /MercerBaseball (Facebook) and @Mercer.Baseball (Instagram) or visit the official home of Mercer Athletics at MercerBears.com.
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The Bears (26-14, 6-7 Southern Conference) lost their sixth straight contest and dropped below .500 in conference play for the first time since joining the SoCon in 2015. Western Carolina (4-32, 2-11) snapped a 14-game losing streak with its first series-opening win of the season.
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Mercer appeared to have momentum when Alex Hanson opened the game with a leadoff single and stolen base before scoring on an eventual sacrifice fly by JT Thomas two at bats later. The Catamounts would respond, however, with three runs on four hits in the home half of the first inning against Cox (6-2), who took the loss.
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Cox settled in and retired eight consecutive batters through the third inning before Western Carolina added two more runs over the fourth and fifth frames and settled in against the quiet Mercer bats. The junior left-hander made it through the sixth before Mercer turned to the bullpen.
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Jackson Ware played a role in two of Mercer's three runs; he scored on a throwing error in the top of the second after a leadoff walk and added his 30th RBI of the season with a sacrifice fly in the eighth. Mercer added one run in the ninth on David Posas' RBI single, which scored Hanson after his second hit of the game.
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Coach Gibson's Take
"We fell behind early; it's tough enough on the road but when you get into an early hole, it gets really difficult," said head coach Craig Gibson. "Our bats were silent until about the seventh or eighth inning.
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"We're not playing well in any single area of the game right now, so errors and mistakes hurt us and are magnified. We need to be more offensive, we need to pitch a little bit better and we need to coach better. If we do those things, hopefully the results will be better."
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Records Update
» Mercer: 26-14 (6-7 SoCon)
» Western Carolina: (4-32, 2-11 SoCon)
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Pitchers of Record
» Win: Chase Walter (1-5)
» Loss: Austin Cox (6-2)
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Notables
» Friday's loss was just Mercer's fourth this season when scoring first (17-4).
» Mercer stole multiple bases for the 14th time this season (Alex Hanson, Jordan Ammons).
» Ware is the fourth Bear to reach the 30-RBI mark through 40 games played.
» Hanson has reached base in 63 of the last 65 games. He went 2-for-5 for his 18th multi-hit game of the season.
» Cox struck out at least eight batters for the seventh time this season.
» Nick Spear made his team-leading 22nd appearance of the season.
» Mercer has lost five straight games to Western Carolina dating back to the 2016 SoCon Tournament.
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Follow the Bears
For complete coverage of Mercer Baseball, please follow the Bears on social media at @MercerBaseball (Twitter), /MercerBaseball (Facebook) and @Mercer.Baseball (Instagram) or visit the official home of Mercer Athletics at MercerBears.com.
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