Wild Finish Lifts Baseball Past Furman, 8-7, in Series Opener

Friday, April 22

Macon, Ga.

6 pm

Mercer University

24-15, 9-4

Furman

15-23, 4-6

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Furman	0	2	1	1	0	0	0	3	0	7	7	0
Mercer	0	0	0	7	0	0	0	0	1	8	12	2

Wild Finish Lifts Baseball Past Furman, 8-7, in Series Opener

4/22/2016 8:30:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

MACON, Ga. – The Mercer University baseball team recorded a wild 8-7 defeat of Furman on Friday night at Claude Smith Field, as Ryan Hagan scored the game's winning run on a wild pitch for the Bears' third straight win.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Furman raced out to an early lead in the series opener, as Deon Sanders kicked off the scoring with a two-run shot in the top of the second. The Paladins added a run in both the third and fourth innings for a 4-0 advantage, but the Bears turned the momentum in the bottom of the fourth.

Mercer used six straight two-out hits in the fourth to explode for seven runs in the frame. Adam Moore started the rally with a two-out RBI single, before scoring on Matt Meeder's double to left center. Trey Truitt plated Meeder with a single through the left side and would score as well on Kyle Lewis' single to center. Charlie Madden wrapped up the scoring with the inning's sixth straight hit, a towering three-run home run to left center for a 7-4 advantage.

However, the Paladins took advantage of two costly errors in the top of the eighth to knot the contest, 7-7, with three runs. After Conard Broom put Furman down in order in the top of the ninth, Mercer came through with the heroics though as the Paladins' second wild pitch of the inning allowed the Bears to walk-off with the win.

KEY TO THE GAME
As they have done all season, the Orange and Black used a huge inning to key the victory. The Bears scored seven of their eight runs in one inning, marking the sixth time this season that the team has scored seven or more runs in one frame.

PLAYER OF THE GAME
Ryan Askew went seven innings for the third straight game, as he fell just short of his fifth straight quality start after giving up four runs on six hits. The junior, who held Furman scoreless over his final three frames, struck out six batters, while only allowing two of the six hits to leave the infield.

COACH GIBSON'S TAKE
"I'm really proud of Ryan Askew and of course Conard Broom, who got four big strikeouts to close out the game. We just found a way to come out on top though. They are a good club and I knew they would be with Coach Smith, but I was very impressed with their starter who was as good as advertised. "

"The fourth inning was huge for us. Give our guys credit, the second and third times at the plate we started getting better swings off (Will) Gaddis and then Charlie (Madden) hit a ball out of the park. It was a great Friday night game and we are expecting two more good ones this weekend."

NOTABLES

Mercer has now won 11 of the last 14 contests between the two programs, while improving to 16-5 in the all-time series.
The Orange and Black recorded 12 hits in the contest to reach double-figures for the 19th time this season.
Broom improved to 4-1 on the year, after holding Furman hitless in two innings with four strikeouts.
Lezynski reached in each of his first three at-bats, notching a pair of singles to go along with a double for his sixth multiple-hit performance of the year.
Meeder reached safely in his first three trips to the plate, finishing 2-for-3 with a walk. He now has eight multiple-hit performances this season.
Truitt notched recorded a multiple-hit effort for the second straight game and the 16th time this season, going 2-for-3 to go along with two walks.
Madden's home run was his eighth of the season, helping him tally his 11th contest with multiple RBIs in 2016.
Lewis' RBI single in the fourth stretched his on-base streak to 48 games, before adding a lead-off single in the ninth for his team-leading 20th multiple-hit game of the year.

RECORDS UPDATE
Mercer moves to 24-15 overall and 9-4 in the SoCon, while Furman fell to 15-23 overall and 4-6 in league play.

UP NEXT
The Bears continue their series with Furman on Saturday, April 23, with first pitch at 2 p.m., as Miss America 2016 Betty Cantrell will be performing the National Anthem prior to the game.