Mercer University
Auburn
Baseball Drops Hard Fought Series Finale at Auburn, 6-5
3/9/2014 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
AUBURN, Ala. – The Mercer baseball team saw its late inning rally go to the wayside as senior Ryan Tella delivered a walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth to give Auburn a 6-5 win on Sunday afternoon at Plainsman Park.
Mercer (12-5) has not been swept in a three-game series since dropping all three games of its series at Lipscomb in March of 2012.
As was the case in the first two games of the series, Auburn was able to jump out to an early lead with a run in the bottom of the first inning. A solo home run by Damek Tomscha off Mercer starter Eric Nyquist gave the Tigers a 1-0 advantage.
The Bears bats finally got going with a little help from the Tigers in the top of the fifth inning. A pair of Auburn errors followed by a two-RBI single by freshman Matt Meeder gave Mercer its first lead of the weekend, at 2-1.
The Tigers bounced back against Nyquist with three runs in the bottom of the sixth thanks to a sacrifice bunt, an RBI single and a bases loaded hit by pitch to jump back in front by a score of 4-2.
With the score 5-2 in the ninth and with almost all hope lost, Mercer dug deep and found a way to rally against Auburn closer Terrance Dedrick. An RBI double by freshman Danny Edgeworth, an RBI single from senior Derrick Workman and a perfect safety squeeze bunt delivered by senior Sasha LaGarde pushed three runs across in the frame to tie things up at 5-5.
The rally didn't last, however, as Auburn loaded the bases on a hit, a walk and a hit by pitch before Tella slapped his game-winning single through the left side in th ebottom of the ninth to send the home team off with a 6-5 win.
Mercer finally returns home next time out when it begins a two-game mid-week series against Butler on March 11. First pitch of Tuesday's game is scheduled for 6 p.m. at Claude Smith Field.
