Mercer University
Jacksonville
Randall Dominant in 5-0 Mercer Win at Jacksonville
4/28/2012 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Redshirt junior David Randall continued the theme of strong starting pitching for the Mercer baseball team in a convincing 5-0 win at Jacksonville on Saturday afternoon at John Sessions Stadium.
Randall threw a career-best seven shutout innings on 116 pitches while also tying his season-high with eight strikeouts to lift Mercer (28-18, 9-11 A-Sun) to its fourth-straight win.
After the Bears failed to take advantage of scoring opportunities in the first and second innings against Jacksonville starter Alex McRae, they broke through in a big way in the top of the third. An RBI single by redshirt sophomore Austin Barrett and a two-run home run by junior Travis Benn, his seventh of the season, lifted Mercer to a 3-0 lead.
Randall cruised through the first four innings limiting Jacksonville to just two hits, but found himself in a jam in the bottom of the fifth. The Dolphins had the bases loaded with one out, but the Lawrenceville, Ga. native induced clean-up hitter Chris Anderson to ground into a 6-4-3 double play to end the frame and keep Mercer in front, 3-0.
The Orange and Black continued to add to their lead in the top of the seventh thanks once again to the long ball. Redshirt sophomore Nick Backlund crushed a two-run home run, his team-leading 12th of the season, well over the left field fence to increase Mercer's advantage up to 5-0.
After Randall departed, junior David Teasley and freshman Eric Nyquist each threw a scoreless inning of relief to close out the ballgame.
Junior Evan Boyd led Mercer at the plate, going 3-for-5 with a run scored in the win.
Mercer concludes its three-game weekend series with Jacksonville tomorrow afternoon. Game time is scheduled for 1 p.m. at John Sessions Stadium.
