Mercer University
Jacksonville
French, Odom Lead Mercer to 2-1 Win over Jacksonville
5/26/2011 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Mercer baseball team took another huge step towards defending its Atlantic Sun Conference crown with a 2-1 win over Jacksonville on Day Two of the A-Sun Championship at Dugan Field.
With two of the most explosive offenses in the country on display on Wednesday night, the beginning of the game was dominated by both teams' starting pitchers. Mercer's Justice French and Jacksonville's Tony Mollica both started the contest throwing three-straight scoreless innings.
With the score 0-0 going into the bottom of the fourth, it would be the A-Sun Player of the Year who stepped to the dish and broke the scoreless tie. Sophomore Adam Brett Walker hit a solo home run to left field off French to give Jacksonville a 1-0 lead.
That is the way things stayed going into the top of the sixth when Mercer took advantage of some Jacksonville miscues. With runners on first and second, a wild pitch and a throwing error by the Jacksonville catcher allowed Thomas Carroll to come around for the Bears first run of the game. One batter later, freshman DJ Johnson hit an RBI single over the head of a drawn in third baseman to give Mercer its first lead of the game, 2-1.
French pitched into the seventh before being lifted in what was a gutsy performance by the senior. The Suwanee, Ga. native went 6.1 innings and allowed one earned run on nine hits to go along with five strikeouts.
J.T. Odom relieved French and once again was untouchable for the Bears. The St. Mary's, Ga. native threw 2.1 innings of spotless relief to earn his seventh save of the season. For the Championship, Odom has now pitched 4.2 innings and has yet to allow a hit.
Junior Billy Burns and senior Joe Winker each had two hits for Mercer in the win.
Mercer now moves on in the winners' bracket where it faces off against Belmont, who is also 2-0 thus far in the 2011 A-Sun Championship. Game time is set for 12 noon ET at Dugan Field.
