Baseeball Sweeps Kennesaw State with Sunday's 11-5 Win

Sunday, March 20

Macon, Ga.

1 pm

Mercer University

Kennesaw St.

Baseeball Sweeps Kennesaw State with Sunday's 11-5 Win

3/20/2016 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

MACON, Ga. – The Mercer University baseball team completed its sweep of Kennesaw State with an 11-5 win on Sunday afternoon at Claude Smith Field.

HOW IT HAPPENED
After Kevin Coulter put Kennesaw State down in order to start the game, the Bears' offense got off to a quick start as well. Mercer put its first three runners aboard, as back-to-back singles from Trey Truitt and Ryan Hagan and a walk by Kyle Lewis loaded the bases. Danny Edgeworth took advantage, driving in the game's first run with a sacrifice fly to right to score Truitt for a 1-0 lead.

The Bears added a second run in the third, as Hagan drove in Truitt, who reached on a double, with a RBI single up the middle for a 2-0 lead. Kennesaw State cut the deficit to one, 2-1, on Taylor Allum's sacrifice fly in the top of the fourth.

Mercer pushed its lead to 4-1 in the bottom of the fourth, as Blaise Lezynski hit the first home run of his Mercer career, a two-run jack to right center. However, the Owls bounced back in the top of the sixth, scoring three runs with two outs including a two-run homer from Austin Upshaw to tie the game at 4-4.

The Bears regained the lead with three runs over the next two innings, as Charlie Madden drove in a pair with a double down the left field line in the sixth before Truitt made it a 7-4 game with a solo home run in the seventh. KSU came up with another two-out hit to pull within two, 7-5, but Conard Broom came through with a big strikeout to end the inning and leave the bases loaded.

Mercer took advantage of three errors in the bottom of the seventh to add four big insurance runs, as the Bears completed the sweep with an 11-5 win.

KEY TO THE GAME
The top of Mercer's lineup was lethal in Sunday's series finale, as the Bears' top three hitters reach base a combined 11 times while recording seven of the team's 10 hits. Hagan and Truitt tied for a team-leading three hits to go along with one walk each, while Lewis finished with one hit and two walks on the day.

PLAYER OF THE GAME
Truitt highlighted a number of big performers for the Bears, as the sophomore notched his 11th multiple hit outing of the year with three hits while also adding a career-high three runs. He finished 3-for-4 with two extra base hits, including his fifth home run of the season.

COACH GIBSON'S TAKE
"I'm really pleased with this weekend, especially after taking a few tough losses and coming back to win three in a row. I'm really happy about Kevin Coulter as well, we challenged him to get us into the sixth and he did it today. He's going to be a great arm here."

"Our lineup is starting to click and looks like putting Truitt up at the top is the right move at this moment. Other guys are starting to go as well. Charlie (Madden) has been really good as has Hagan and Lewis. Ben (Upton) and Blaise (Lezynski) also hit some balls hard, so when you get multiple guys having good at-bats you're going to score some runs. Hopefully we can carry this momentum into Tuesday night's game."

MERCER NOTABLES

Mercer is now 10-4 at home this season.
The Bears are now 23-15 all-time against Kennesaw State.
Mercer reached double-digit hits for the 12th time this season, finishing with 10 on the day. The Orange and Black are now 9-3 when compiling 10 or more hits this year.
The Bears eclipsed 10 runs for the fourth time in their last five games with 11 on the day. Mercer has scored double-figure runs in nine contests this season.
The Orange and Black drew seven walks in the contest, pushing their nation-leading total to 131 this season.
Coulter finished his day with six strong innings to pick up his team-leading third win of the year, as the freshman gave up four runs on just four hits.
Broom made his NCAA-leading 14th appearance of the year, tossing 1.1 perfect innings with a pair of strikeouts.
Conrad Cornell worked a scoreless ninth to close out the game.
Hagan added to his team-leading hitting streak, finishing 3-for-4 to push the streak to 11 games. He reached base four times for the third time in his last four contests, while recording his 10th multiple-hit performance.
Madden drove in a pair of runs for the third time in his last four games, as his two-run double was his third two-bagger of the year.
Lezynski needed just one swing to plate a season-high two runs, as hit his first home run as a Mercer Bear in the fourth inning.
Lewis stretched his hitting streak to 10 games, finishing 1-for-3 at the dish to go along with two walks.