Mercer University
Auburn
Mercer Baseball Falls to Auburn in NCAA Tallahassee Regional Elimination Game
5/30/2015 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The Mercer University baseball team fell to Auburn, 1-0, in the NCAA Regional elimination game on Saturday afternoon at Dick Howser Stadium.
Mercer (35-23) saw its season come to an end with its second straight one-run loss, wrapping up a year that saw the 2015 Bears become the first team in program history to claim conference regular-season and tournament titles in the same year.
"It was another exciting and hard fought game this afternoon," said head coach Craig Gibson. "Our guys played really well and put themselves in position to move on with a win, but unfortunately Auburn was one run better today. I'm really proud of our group, especially the seniors, who continued to battle all season and added several great moments to our program's history."
Pitching and defense were on display early in the contest, as the two teams combined for five straight scoreless innings to open the contest. Mercer had opportunities with five hits during that stretch though, but several key defensive stops by the Tigers erased any chances of scoring the game's first run.
Auburn broke through in the bottom of the sixth, putting together three hits in the inning before scoring the game's only run on Logan's sacrifice fly to center field.
Mercer nearly responded in the top of the seventh, as it loaded the bases thanks to a pair of walks from Matt Meeder and Kyle Lewis and a two-out hit by Devin Bonin. However, Danny Edgeworth's line drive on the first pitch of his at-bat was hit right at the shortstop for the final out of the inning.
The Bears put runners on in the eighth and ninth, but Auburn's Keegan Thompson closed the door on the Tigers' victory.
Morgan Pittman was tagged with the loss, despite another fantastic performance. The senior left-hander, who tossed 3.2 innings in last night's contest, battled on short rest, giving up just one run on three hits over the course of 3.1 innings of work. Pittman finished the tournament with just one run in seven innings on the mound.
Eric Nyquist also put together an impressive performance for the Bears, as he opened the game with three scoreless innings before being replaced by Pittman in the fourth. Nyquist surrendered just two hits in the contest to extend his scoreless innings streak to 15.
Mercer put together seven hits in the game, six of which came in two-out situations. Bonin and Charlie Madden led the way with two hits each, as the Bears were held without a run for just the second time this season. Lewis (single, walk) and Nate Moorhouse (walk, hit-by-pitch) also reached base twice for Mercer.
The loss also ends the career of a senior class that put together one of the best four-year stretches in program history. The group became the first class to make two NCAA Regional appearances, while also claiming two conference regular season titles, one conference tournament crowns and a total of 154 victories.
