Mercer University
Liberty
Mercer Uses Long Ball to Sweep Doubleheader Against Liberty
2/19/2011 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
MACON, Ga. – The Mercer baseball team hit an amazing 10 home runs en route to a doubleheader sweep of Liberty on Saturday afternoon at Claude Smith Field.
Mercer (3-0) won game one 7-2 and coasted to a 17-5 victory over Liberty (0-3) in game two.
The most home runs the Bears hit in a game last season was five, but in game two of today's doubleheader the Orange and Black hit an astounding eight home runs.
Senior Joe Winker led the offensive barrage with three home runs, followed by freshman Derrick Workman who smashed two long balls of his own. Senior John Moreland, juniors Jacob Tanis and Billy Burns and sophomores Evan Boyd and Travis Benn each tallied one home run apiece on the afternoon.
In game one, junior Brandon Love got the start and was the recipient of some early run support. Mercer jumped out to a 5-0 lead after two innings and Love would do the rest from there. The Augusta, Ga. native threw five innings and allowed two earned runs on five hits while striking out eight to pick up the win.
Game two was dominated by the Mercer offense, which rattled off 17 runs on 19 hits in the contest. The Bears jumped out to an even faster start offensively in game two, scoring nine runs over the first two innings of play. Winker homered twice during that span, the second of which made the score 9-1 in favor of the home team.
Freshman Brandon Barker got the start in game two and lasted 4.1 innings after giving up three earned runs on eight hits. Sophomore David Teasley picked up the victory, his second of the season, by getting the final two outs in the fifth.
The Mercer bullpen wrapped up the game from that point forward, using the combination of seniors Russell Moses, Tyler Beesley and J.T. Odom and junior Colby Collins to secure the win.
Winker finished the day a combined 6-for-9 with four runs scored and seven RBI while Burns reached base five times on the afternoon and scored three runs.
Mercer and Liberty conclude their four-game weekend series on Sunday afternoon. Game time is scheduled for 1 p.m. at Claude Smith Field.
