Mercer University
Ga. Southern
Baseball Falls to Georgia Southern, 8-5
4/13/2016 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
STATESBORO, Ga. – The Mercer University baseball team fell to Georgia Southern, 8-5, on Wednesday night at J.I. Clements Stadium.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Mercer grabbed a 1-0 lead in the top of the second, thanks to four walks in the inning including Trey Truitt's free pass with the bases loaded. Georgia Southern answered in the bottom of the third thanks to its two-out hitting. All three of the Eagle's hits in the frame came with two outs, resulting in three runs for a two-run advantage, 3-1.
GSU pushed its lead to 4-1 in the sixth with another two-out RBI, but the Bears used a little two-out hitting of their own in the seventh to tie the game. After Mercer loaded the bases, Matt Meeder came through with a big two-out double down the right field line to plate three for a 4-4 tie.
However, the Eagles responded in the bottom of the frame, putting their first four runners aboard en route to a five-hit, three-run inning for a 7-4 advantage. GSU added an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth for an 8-5 lead, before the Bears rallied in the ninth.
Mercer cut the deficit to three, 8-5, in the final inning, as Ryan Hagan scored on a throwing error following Jackson Ware's single. However, the Bears would leave the bases loaded to strand the tying run at first and snap a three-game winning streak.
KEY TO THE GAME
The Bears struggled to get off the field with two outs, as Georgia Southern tallied six hits with .545 hitting in those situations. On the flip side, Mercer was limited to .231 hitting in the same scenario, although four of the team's five runs did come with two outs.
PLAYER OF THE GAME
Meeder reached in base in four of his five plate appearances on Wednesday, but no at-bat was bigger than his three-run double in the seventh. The junior finished 1-for-2 with three walks, while recording his third multiple-RBI effort of the year.
NOTABLES
- Mercer lost to Georgia Southern for just the third time in the last eight match-ups while falling to 117-46-2 in the all-time series.
- The Bears lead the country in walks and increased that nation-leading total on Wednesday, drawing 10 on the night to reach double-digits for the seventh time this season.
- Lewis reached base three times to extend his on-base streak to 34 games this season and a total of 42 straight games since 2015. The junior finished 2-for-4 at the plate for his team-leading 18th multiple-hit performance of the year.
- Austin Lord was tagged with the loss, his first of the season, after being credited with four earned runs in two innings of action.
RECORDS UPDATE
Mercer falls to 20-14 on the year, while Georgia Southern moves to 19-14 overall.
UP NEXT
The Bears return home this weekend, as they host VMI at Claude Smith Field for a three-game Southern Conference series. The action kicks off on Friday, April 15 with first pitch set for 6 p.m.
