Mercer University
Western Caro.
Late-Inning Rally Lifts Baseball Past WCU, 11-8, in Series Opener
4/10/2015 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
MACON, Ga. – The Mercer University baseball team used a three-run eighth inning to claim an 11-8 victory over two-time defending SoCon champion Western Carolina in the series opener on Friday night at Claude Smith Field.
"It was a great game with two of the better teams in the league battling," said head coach Craig Gibson. "They put a lot of pressure on you, but we responded and got a great effort by our seniors out of the bullpen. Morgan Pittman was phenomenal and we were able to put some hits together to win the opener, but we have to be ready for challenging second game tomorrow."
Mercer (21-14, 8-2 SoCon) scored five runs over its final two innings to rally for its SoCon-leading eighth conference victory of the year in a game that featured a combined 19 runs and six lead changes. The Bears' lineup was able to answer each Western Carolina surge with timely hits, but it was senior reliever Morgan Pittman that stole the show in the win.
The left-hander struck out a career-high 11 batters in 5.2 innings of relief, limiting the Catamounts to two hits and one unearned run during that stretch to help Mercer climb out of an early hole. Behind Pittman's efforts, the Bears' bullpen gave up just two runs over the final 7.2 frames to aid the rally.
Ben Lumsden got the final four outs of the contest for his first victory of the season, fanning two batters in the ninth to help Mercer record a season-high 15 strikeouts.
The Bears' offense reached double-digits in the hits column for the seventh time in their 10 SoCon contests, finishing with 12 in the game. Matt Meeder matched a career-high with three hits to pace Mercer, while Kyle Lewis and Jackson Ware each had two hits on the night.
Western Carolina (14-15, 6-4 SoCon) wasted no time putting a pair of runs on the scoreboard, taking advantage of a first-inning error to extend the frame and grab a 2-0 lead on RBI hits from Jacob Hoyle and Brett Pope.
Mercer rallied with two runs of its own in the home half, after getting back-to-back hits by Meeder and Devin Bonin to lead off the frame. The two would score would moments later on a wild pitch and an ensuing throwing error to knot the contest at 2-2.
The Catamounts continued to roll in the second frame though, putting their first three batters aboard to set up Preseason SoCon Player of the Year Jacob Hoyle's grand slam that handed WCU a 6-2 advantage.
The Bears would pick away at the lead though, using solo home runs from Trey Truitt and Charlie Madden to cut the deficit to two, 6-4, after four innings of play. Mercer continued the rally in the fifth, tying the game with a pair of runs. Ware drove in Lewis with a single through the right side, before Nate Moorhouse plated Danny Edgeworth to knot the contest at 6-6.
Western Carolina jumped back out in front in the seventh thanks to a run-scoring infield single by Brett Pope. However, the Bears would grab their first lead of the game in the home half. Ware drove in his second run of the game to tie the contest, before Howard Joe's single to center field allowed Ware to cross the plate for an 8-7 advantage.
After the Catamounts tied the game in the eighth, Mercer turned to Lewis for more late-game heroics. The sophomore, who hit a walk-off home run against ETSU earlier this season, put the Bears on top for good with a run-scoring single up the middle.
Mercer added a pair of insurance runs later in the inning, as Edgeworth drove in Lewis with a triple to center field before scoring on a wild pitch moments later.
The Bears will continue their series with Western Carolina tomorrow, April 11, as the two teams will face off at 2 p.m. at Claude Smith Field.
