Mercer University
Florida A&M
Baseball Rolls to 10-2 Victory over Florida A&M
2/24/2015 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
MACON, Ga. – The Mercer University baseball team scored eight of its 10 runs in the first two innings to run away with a 10-2 victory over Florida A&M on Tuesday night at Claude Smith Field.
"This was one of the better games that we have played all year," said head coach Craig Gibson. "We had great starting pitching tonight and our relievers carried that performance to the finish. Of course offensively, we were able to put some hits together to jump out to an early lead and pick up our best team win of the year."
Mercer (5-4) reached double-figure hits for the fourth-straight game, tallying 12 on the night to go along with a season-high eight walks. Four Bears had multi-hit performances in the contest, led by Devin Bonin's 3-for-4 performance at the plate. Trey Truitt finished 2-for-3 with a team-leading 3 RBI, while Danny Edgeworth and Kyle Lewis each had two hits.
The early offense provided more than enough run support for Bears' starter Grant Papelian, who gave up just four hits in five scoreless innings on the mound to pick up his first victory of the season. Mercer also picked up two shutout frames from Austin Lord and a scoreless ninth from Cam Wesolowski.
Mercer was the first to score for the fourth consecutive game, using a pair of RBI hits to plate three runs in the opening frame. Bonin kicked off the scoring for the Bears with a two-run single to left field, before Truitt plated Howard Joe, who has reached base in each of his last nine games, with a single of his own to hand Mercer an early 3-0 advantage.
The Bears added to their tally in the bottom of the second with a five-run outburst. Lewis started the fireworks with a solo shot to right field for his second home run of the year. Mercer continued the assault three batters later, as Edgeworth plated Nate Moorhouse with a single to right field. An error by FAMU and a two-run single by Truitt pushed the lead to 8-0 after two frames.
Florida A&M (1-5) took advantage of a Mercer error in the sixth to break up the shutout bid, plating two runs to cut into the deficit, 8-2. However, the Bears pushed their lead back to eight, 10-2, with a pair of runs in the home half of the eighth, as Tyler Homer and Lewis each drove in runs.
Due to inclement weather that is expected in Macon, tomorrow's series finale against Florida A&M has been rescheduled to April 22 at 4 p.m. The Bears will continue play this weekend, when they host Belmont for a three-game series at Claude Smith Field. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Friday, February 27.
