Mercer University
Bethune-Cookman
Baseball Surges Past Bethune-Cookman, 8-3
2/21/2015 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The Mercer University baseball team used a pair of big innings to pull away from Bethune-Cookman for an 8-3 victory on Saturday afternoon at Jackie Robinson Ballpark.
"I'm proud of our guys for coming up with some key two-out hits this afternoon," said head coach Craig Gibson. "Howard Joe had a great day and several other guys are really starting to put things together at the plate."
Mercer (3-4) put itself in position for a series sweep on Sunday with its second-straight victory, as its 10 hits handed the team its second double-digit performance in as many days.
The Bears had nine players reached base in the contest, including seven individuals with at least one hit. Joe and Matt Meeder paced the Orange and Black with two hits apiece.
Mercer got on the board early, as lead-off man Kyle Lewis scored the game's first run on a wild pitch. Bethune-Cookman (0-6) answered in the home half of the inning to tie the game, but Joe's solo shot in the second frame put the Bears back on top, 2-1.
After back-to-back scoreless innings from starting pitcher Connor Herd, the Bears broke the game open with a four-run fourth inning. Devin Bonin kicked off the scoring, which all came with two outs, with a RBI single to center field to plate Danny Edgeworth. Tyler Homer followed that with his second run-scoring double of the year, before Trey Truitt pushed the lead to 6-1 with a two-run double to left field.
The Wildcats took advantage of a two-out error to trim the deficit to three, 6-3, with a pair of runs in the bottom half, however, Mercer would answer once again.
Joe drove in two more runs in the top of the fifth to grow the Bears' lead to five, 8-3, as he plated Edgeworth and Nate Moorhouse with a double to left field.
That proved to be all the help Mercer's pitching staff would need, as Herd combined with Mitchell Wade, Morgan Pittman and Ben Lumsden to shutout the Wildcats over their final five innings.
Herd picked up his first collegiate victory, after giving up three runs, one earned, in 5.1 innings. Wade tossed 1.2 perfect frames, while Pittman and Lumsden each pitched a scoreless inning to close out the game.
"Connor Herd had another strong outing and it was good to see him record his first collegiate victory," added Gibson. "Our bullpen has been great all weekend and our defense got better today. Overall, the road has been good to us, but we want to pick up the win tomorrow and get back to .500 before coming back home."
Mercer closes out its series with Bethune-Cookman on Sunday afternoon, as first pitch is set for 1 p.m. at Jackie Robinson Ballpark.
