Baseball Defeats Kennesaw State, 9-6, to Clinch Series

Saturday, March 19

Kennesaw, GA

2 pm

Mercer University

Kennesaw St.

Baseball Defeats Kennesaw State, 9-6, to Clinch Series

3/19/2016 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

KENNESAW, Ga. – The Mercer University baseball team once again rallied in the eighth inning, as the Bears recorded a 9-6 victory over Kennesaw State on Saturday afternoon at Stillwell Stadium.

HOW IT HAPPENED
BOT 1^ST – Kennesaw State put four of its first five hitters aboard in the first inning, grabbing a 2-0 advantage after RBI singles from Allum and Helms.
TOP 2^ND – The Bears cut into the lead in the second thanks to an error, as Danny Edgeworth crossed the plate on the mishap to make it a 2-1 game.
TOP 3^RD – Mercer kept it rolling in the third, putting together five hits in the frame including back-to-back RBI singles with two outs from Charlie Madden and Ben Upton to jump in front, 4-2.
TOP 5^th – Blaise Lezynski pushed the Orange and Black's lead to 5-2 with a RBI single to center.
BOT 5^TH – Kennesaw State stopped the bleeding in its half of the fifth, pushing across two runs on two-out singles by Griffin Helms and Alex Liquori to claw within one, 5-4.
TOP 6^TH – Kyle Lewis manufactured a run in the sixth to push the Bears' lead back to two, 6-4. He recorded his third hit of the game to lead off the frame, before stealing second, advancing to third on a throwing error and then scoring on a wild pitch.
BOT 6^TH – Jordan Getzelman pulled the Owls within one, 6-5, once again with a solo shot to right field.
BOT 7^TH – The Owls tied the game in the bottom of the seventh, 6-6, on Brennan Morgan's RBI single.
TOP 8^TH – Mercer went back in front with three runs in the eighth, despite only notching one hit in the frame. Trey Truitt started the rally with a lead-off double, before crossing the plate later in the inning on Edgeworth's RBI groundout. The Bears kept the scoring going, drawing four straight walks, including two with the bases loaded to take a 9-6 advantage.

KEY TO THE GAME
Mercer, which came into the weekend leading the nation in walks, used the free pass to rally in the eighth inning for the second straight game. The Bears had five walks in the eighth, including a pair with the bases loaded to add two big insurance runs late in the game.

PLAYER OF THE GAME
Madden had his second multiple-hit performance of the weekend, finishing 2-for-4 at the plate including a key two-run single in the third inning that put the Bears on top. He also drew a two-out walk in the decisive eighth inning. Madden now has five multiple-RBI contests.

COACH GIBSON'S TAKE
"It was great to win the series on Saturday. I thought Taylor Lobus pitched really well today as did the bullpen from (Austin) Lord to Connor Herd to (Conard) Broom. I'm really proud of Austin Cox for battling back after a rough mid-week start. He looked like the guy that we thought we had and he is going to a great pitcher for us going forward."

"Ever since we moved Truitt to the top of the order, it seems like they are starting go a little bit. We were able to get string some hits together and had the one big inning early that was due to multiple two-out hits. To do that and put up another zero defensively, that's how you win baseball games. Hopefully we can carry that momentum over to tomorrow, and then to Georgia and the start of conference play next week."

MERCER NOTABLES

The Bears are now 23-15 all-time against Kennesaw State.
Mercer reached double-digit hits for the 11th time this season, finishing with 14 on the day. The Orange and Black are now 8-3 when compiling 10 or more hits this year.
The Bears saw their streak of three straight games with 10 or more runs come to an end, as they fell just one run short.
Lewis reached base five times on Saturday, going 3-for-3 at the plate with a pair of walk while scoring three times as well. The junior now has 11 multiple-hit performances this season
Upton had the second multiple-hit effort of the season, going 2-for-4 with a pair of RBIs, tying a career-high.
Truitt's two hits gives him 10 multiple-hit hit performances this season, as the sophomore has accrued all of those over the last 18 games.
Taylor Lobus made his first career start on Saturday, giving up four runs on seven hits in four innings of work.
Connor Herd earned his first win of the season, giving up one run one hit in 1.1 innings of action while adding two strikeouts.
Austin Cox was credited with the save, the first of his career, after holding KSU scoreless over 1.2 innings of action.