Baseball Defeats Western Carolina, 9-8, in Extra Innings

Saturday, April 30

Cullowhee, NC

2 pm

Mercer University

Western Caro.

Baseball Defeats Western Carolina, 9-8, in Extra Innings

4/30/2016 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

CULLOWHEE, N.C. – The Mercer University baseball team evened the series with Western Carolina, surviving a wild ending for a 9-8 victory in extra innings on Saturday afternoon at Hennon Stadium.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Mercer grabbed a 2-0 lead with a pair of runs in the second, as Blaise Lezynski started off the frame with a solo shot to right center before Trey Truitt added a sacrifice fly later in the inning. The Catamounts tied the game in the fifth though, as Bryson Bowman's two-run double knotted the contest at 2-2.

The Bears went back in front in the sixth on Truitt's RBI double, but WCU answered in the bottom half with a pair of runs to grab its first lead of the game, 4-3.

Mercer continued the see-saw battle with a run in the seventh, as Hunter Bening's sacrifice fly tied the game at 4-4. The Orange and Black broke through with four runs in the eighth, as RBI singles by Danny Edgeworth and Kyle Lewis, a sac fly by Lezynski and a wild pitch that allowed Lewis to score gave them an 8-4 advantage.

However, WCU answered with three runs in the bottom of the eighth, before Bowman's solo shot in the ninth sent the game into extra innings. Mercer's offense came through in the 10th though, as Jackson Ware drew a bases-loaded walk to plate the game's winning run. Austin Cox got the final out of the game to wrap up the win, picking up his third save of the year.

KEY TO THE GAME
Mercer, which leads the nation in home runs, turned to small ball to manufacture runs down the stretch. The Bears laid down four sacrifice bunts and had three sacrifice flys while also adding three bunt singles.

PLAYER OF THE GAME
Truitt reached base in his first four trips to the plate, finishing 3-for-4 with two doubles, a bunt single, a walk and a pair of RBIs. His two doubles on the day pushes his season total to 11, the third Bear to reach double-figures on the year. He now has nine games this season with multiple RBIs and six contests with three hits.

NOTABLES

Mercer now leads the all-time series between the two programs 4-3, having won two of the last three contests in Cullowhee.
The Bears are now 2-1 when the game goes to extra innings.
The Orange and Black finished with 14 hits on Saturday, reaching double-figures for the 23rd time this season. The Bears are now 18-5 when reaching the mark.
Mercer nearly reached double-digit walks for the second straight game, drawing nine in the contest.
Connor Herd had another strong outing for the Bears, giving up just two runs on just one hit with three strikeouts in 4.2 innings of action.
Kevin Coulter recorded the win to push his team-leading total to five victories this season.
Josh Knies recorded the first two outs of the ninth to set up Cox's save.
Lezynski's homer in the second was his third of the season.
Bening recorded his 10th multiple-hit effort of the year, finishing 2-for-3 with a pair of runs and a RBI.
Lewis continued to reach base on a regular basis in the second game of the series, reaching base five times with two singles and three walks. He has 48 total walks this season, six this weekend, and 23 multiple-hit efforts.
Ryan Hagan reached base five times as well, drawing three walks and notching two hits for his 21st multiple-hit effort of the year.