Baseball Falls to Georgia State, 4-3

Tuesday, March 8

Atlanta, Ga.

6 p.m.

Mercer University

9-4

Georgia State

7-5

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Mercer	0	0	1	0	2	0	0	0	0	3	5	0
Georgia State	2	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	X	4	7	2

3/8/2016 6:00:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

DECATUR, Ga. – The Mercer University baseball team fell to Georgia State, 4-3, on Tuesday night at the Georgia State Baseball Complex.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Georgia State grabbed a 2-0 lead right out of the gate, as Jarrett Hood's double down the right field line plated a pair. Mercer cut the lead in half in the top of the third, when Kyle Lewis blasted a RBI double off the wall in straight-away center field to make it a 2-1 contest.

The Panthers pushed their lead to 4-1 with two runs in the bottom of the third, before the Bears answered with two runs in the top of the fifth. Lewis opened the inning with his second double of the game, before scoring on a fielding error. Trey Truitt plated the second run with a sacrifice fly to pull within one, 4-3.

Both pitching staffs buckled down over the final four innings though, as neither team was able to push across a run. The Bears had the bases loaded in the top of the ninth with only one out, but a line drive double play would kill the rally and hand Georgia State the victory.

KEY TO THE GAME
Mercer was held to a season-low five hits in the game, but opportunities were still there thanks to 12 walks. However, the Bears were unable to capitalize as they stranded 15 runners in the contest.

PLAYER OF THE GAME
Lewis reached base in all five of his plate appearances on Tuesday, finishing 2-for-3 with two walks while also reaching on an error. Both of the junior's hits went for extra bases, as the two doubles helped him record his eighth multiple-hit games this season.

COACH GIBSON'S TAKE
"I thought we had a great group effort on the mound tonight. Our pitchers are starting to put together back-to-back good outings. I thought Kyle Bialousz, Conard Broom, Taylor Lobus and Austin Lord were really good and to hold these guys to four runs in their own ballpark was great. However, offensively Lewis came ready to play but besides that we left 15 guys on base. It's hard to beat anyone when you do that. We still had a chance to win late, but we didn't get a bunt down and some poor base running hurt us. You just have no margin for error when you only get five hits."

MERCER NOTABLES

The Bears are now 65-48 all-time against Georgia State.
The Orange and Black's bullpen came through on Tuesday, hanging five straight zeros on the scoreboard to close out the game. Mercer limited the Panthers to just four hits over the final five innings while striking out six.
Mercer came into the game leading the country with 84 walks and kept that rolling with another 12 free passes tonight including seven through the first five innings.
The Bears were held without a home run for the first time since the season opener on Feb. 19.
Conard Broom had his most successful outing of the season, holding Georgia State scoreless on three hits in a career-high three innings of work with four strikeouts.
Kyle Bialouz, Taylor Lobus and Austin Lord each had a scoreless appearance for the Bears, combining to give up just one hit over the final 2.2 innings.
Jackson Ware led Mercer with a career-high three walks, while Lewis, Charlie Madden and Truitt each had two.