Mercer University
Kennesaw St.
Bears Hang on for 6-4 A-Sun Championship Opening Round Win over Owls
5/25/2011 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Mercer baseball team hung on late for a huge 6-4 win over Kennesaw State in the opening round of the Atlantic Sun Championship on Wednesday evening at Dugan Field.
Mercer improved to 37-18 on the season and combined with their 38 victories last season set a new program record for the most wins in back-to-back seasons in program history with 75 combined victories.
Mercer wasted no time jumping out to an early advantage against Kennesaw State starter Josh Carr. After a lead-off single by junior Billy Burns, senior Joe Winker crushed a two-run home run to right field to give Mercer an early 2-0 advantage.
Kennesaw State rallied back in the bottom of the third, however, scoring three runs in the frame. A sacrifice fly by senior Sean McClurken capped the inning and gave the Owls a 3-2 advantage.
After a scoreless fourth inning for both clubs, the Bears re-took the lead with three runs in the top of the fifth. An RBI single by senior Thomas Carroll, a wild pitch and a passed ball put Mercer back in front, 5-3.
The Bears increased their lead in the top of the seventh when senior John Moreland hit an RBI single to left field to make the score 6-3.
Love used the Bears run support to settle down on the mound, retiring eight of the final 11 batters of his outing before being lifted. For the game, Love went 6.2 innings and allowed four earned runs on nine hits to go along with four strikeouts.
Senior J.T. Odom relieved Love in the seventh and went to work against the Kennesaw State offense. The St. Mary's, Ga. native threw 2.1 innings of scoreless relief to finish off the win and pick up his sixth save of the season.
Freshman Austin Barrett led the Bears with three hits and two runs scored while Winker finished 2-for-5 with two RBI and two runs scored.
Mercer now moves on to the next round of the A-Sun Championship where it faces off against No. 2 seeded Jacksonville in the winners bracket. Game time is set for 8 p.m. ET at Dugan Field.
