Mercer University
S.C. Upstate
Baseball Sweeps Doubleheader at USC Upstate
5/15/2011 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Senior Joe Winker hit a two-run home run in the ninth inning of game two to give the Mercer baseball team a doubleheader sweep over USC Upstate on Sunday afternoon at Harley Park.
Mercer (33-17, 15-11 A-Sun) won game one 11-3 and took a tightly contested game two by a score of 5-3 over USC Upstate (17-35, 8-17 A-Sun).
In game one, Mercer struck first in the top of the second thanks to some clutch two-out hitting by freshman Derrick Workman. With runners on first and second, the Acworth, Ga. native sliced an RBI double down the left field line to give the Bears an early 1-0 lead.
USC Upstate jumped in front just minutes later in the bottom half of the frame when sophomore Tyler Miller hit a solo home run and freshman Anthony Vacca hit an RBI single to left to put the home team up 2-1.
The Bears tied the game back up at 2-2 in the top of the third when a throwing error allowed Winker to score from third base.
The back-and-forth affair continued in the bottom of the fourth when sophomore Gaither Bumgardner hit an RBI single up the middle to put the Spartans back in front, 3-2.
The Orange and Black came right back to return the favor in the top of the fifth when junior Jacob Tanis lined an RBI single to right to tie the game up once again, at 3-3.
That is the way things stayed until the top of the seventh when Workman once again came through with a clutch two-out hit. After freshman DJ Johnson walked to load the bases Workman stepped up and ripped a two-RBI single up the middle to put the visitors back in front, 5-3.
The Bears added six more insurance runs in the top of the eighth, highlighted by an RBI single by Workman, to make the score 11-3 and put the game out of reach.
Sophomore David Teasley picked up the win after allowing just one earned run over 6.1 innings of outstanding relief.
In game two, the Bears jumped out to an early lead thanks to a pair of runs in the top of the first. An RBI single by Tanis and an RBI groundout by freshman Austin Barrett put Mercer in front 2-0.
The Orange and Black tacked on another run in the third to go up 3-0 after another RBI single by Tanis.
That is the way things stayed with Mercer's Justice French and Upstate's David Roseboom matching zeros over the next two innings.
The Spartans cut into the Bears lead in the bottom of the sixth, however, using an RBI single by Bumgardner and an RBI groundout by Austin Liput to make the score 3-2.
That ended the day for French who put together another quality start, allowing just one earned run on seven hits in 6.2 innings.
The home team came all the way back in the bottom of the eighth when Liput tripled to right to tie the game up at 3-3.
Facing adversity, it would be a fifth-year senior who came through with a clutch two-out in the top of the ninth to secure the doubleheader sweep for the Bears. Winker came up to bat with a runner on first and crushed a monster home run, his 11th of the season, to give Mercer a 5-3 lead.
Senior J.T. Odom then proceeded to record the final three outs in the ninth to pick up his second win of the season.
Tanis finished the day going 5-for-8 with four RBI and two runs scored while Workman finished the doubleheader off going 5-for-9 with three RBI.
Mercer returns to the field on Tuesday evening when it returns home to host in-state rival Georgia State. Game time is scheduled for 6 p.m. at Claude Smith Field.
