Mercer University
VMI
Mercer Baseball Takes Down VMI, 7-2, in Series Opener
5/1/2015 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
LEXINGTON, Va. – The Mercer University baseball team improved to 10-2 on Friday nights this season with a 7-2 victory over VMI in the series opener at Gray-Minor Stadium.
Mercer (27-18, 12-6) scored five runs in the first two innings and never looked back, continuing its night game dominance with the 13th win in its 14 games under the lights.
Starter Eric Nyquist was a big reason for the strong performance to open the series, settling in after a two-run first to toss six straight scoreless frames. The senior held VMI (15-24, 8-8 SoCon) to just three hits over his final six innings to record his team-leading sixth victory of the year.
The Bears' offense reached double figures in the hits column for the fourth straight contest, finishing with 11 hits on the night. Devin Bonin, Kyle Lewis, Charlie Madden and Jackson Ware each posted two hits to lead the team.
Mercer jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning, as Lewis blasted his 11th home run of the season over the center field wall. The SoCon Player of the Year candidate pushed his league-leading batting average to .395 with a 2-for-4 performance at the plate.
The Keydets answered in the bottom half of the inning, as their first three batters reached base before scoring two runs for a 2-1 advantage. However, the Bears essentially put the game away in the second, plating four runs on the strength of three hits and four walks in the frame.
Nate Moorhouse started the second-inning fireworks, driving in Trey Truitt to knot the game at 2-2. Mercer kept the rally going with two outs, as a run-scoring single by Matt Meeder and a RBI double from Devin Bonin grew the lead to 4-2. Two batters later, Danny Edgeworth would draw a bases-loaded walk to push the Bears' advantage to 5-2.
Mercer added an insurance run in the fifth, as Moorhouse plated his second run of the game with a RBI single to right field that scored Truitt for a 6-2 lead. The Bears pushed another run across in the sixth, taking advantage of a balk with the bases loaded to push their lead to 7-2.
Austin Lord and Ben Lumsden combined for three strikeouts in two scoreless innings to close out the win.
The Bears will continue their final SoCon road series of the season tomorrow afternoon, as they take on VMI at Gray-Minor Stadium. First pitch is set for 4 p.m.
