Mercer University
Virginia Tech
Mercer's Late Rally Falls Short in 5-4 Loss to Virginia Tech
2/15/2015 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
MACON, Ga. – The Mercer University baseball team came up 90 feet short in its late-game rally, falling to Virginia Tech, 5-4, in the series finale on Sunday afternoon at Claude Smith Field.
Trailing by three runs heading into the bottom of the eighth, the Mercer (1-2) offense came to life. Nate Moorhouse started the rally with a RBI double down the right field line, before Charlie Madden plated Kyle Lewis to trim the deficit to one, 5-4.
After Dimitri Kourtis pitched a scoreless ninth for the Bears' defense, the team looked poised to complete the comeback thanks to Danny Edgeworth's lead-off double to right field. Matt Meeder's sacrifice bunt moved Edgeworth to third with one out, but Mercer was unable to push across the tying run as the Hokies (2-1) claimed the series.
"I'm proud of the way our guys fought back after falling behind early and gave us a chance to tie it late," said Mercer head coach Craig Gibson. "Our pitching was really good after the first inning and we played well overall, but we need to be a little better offensively. We didn't give ourselves a chance to score until late in the game and it's hard to beat good teams when you aren't giving yourself run-producing opportunities throughout the contest."
The Bears' pitching staff settled in after giving up four runs in the first two innings, surrendering just one score over the final seven frames. Kourtis tossed four scoreless innings in his season debut, allowing just two hits while striking out four on the day. Morgan Pittman allowed just one run on one hit in two innings of work, while D.J. Johnson was tagged with the loss after giving up four runs in three innings.
Mercer's offense struggled in the series finale, managing just five hits with three of those coming in the final two innings. Lewis led the team with his second multi-hit performance of the year, while Edgeworth, Howard Joe and Moorhouse each had one on the day.
The Hokies came out swinging in the first inning with hits in each of their first four at-bats, including Erik Payne's three-run blast to left field for an early 3-0 advantage. Virginia Tech added another run in the second on Saige Jenco's solo shot for a 4-0 lead.
Mercer got on the board in the bottom of the third, as Lewis smacked the 0-2 pitch over the wall in left field to trim the deficit to three, 4-1. The Bears made it a two-run game in the fourth on Joe's score, as the sophomore took advantage of three wild pitches in the inning to work his way around the bases.
Virginia Tech scored what proved to be the decisive run in the top of the fifth, as Kyle Wernicki's blooper to left field turned into a RBI triple after the Bears' diving attempt came up short.
"We get a chance to rebound against a good Georgia State team on Tuesday," Gibson added. "We have a lot of young guys that are playing with great effort and gaining experience right now, so good things are going to come."
Mercer returns to action on Tuesday, February 17, when it hosts Georgia State for a 5 p.m. contest at Claude Smith Field.
