Mercer University
19-14, 0
East Tenn. St.
15-15, 0
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Runs R | Hits H | Errors E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mercer | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 12 | 12 | 0 |
| East Tennessee State | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 10 | 2 |
Seven Run Eighth Inning Lifts Mercer Past ETSU, 12-9
4/9/2016 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – The Mercer University baseball team used a seven-run eighth inning to rally past East Tennessee State, 12-9, for a series-clinching victory on Saturday afternoon at Thomas Stadium.
HOW IT HAPPENED
ETSU scored the first two runs of the game in the third, but Mercer answered with three runs of its own in the fourth thanks to the long ball. Kyle Lewis started the rally with a solo home run, before Charlie Madden pushed the Bears top, 3-2, with a two-run shot to left field.
The Buccaneers went back on top with two more runs in the bottom of the fourth, but Ryan Hagan's RBI double tied it at 4-4. However, ETSU answered with four straight runs over the fifth and sixth innings for an 8-4 advantage.
Mercer flipped the momentum in the eighth though, exploding for seven runs to grab an 11-8 lead. Blaise Lezynski started the fireworks with a RBI double off the wall, before scoring himself on Jose Hernandez's pinch-hit single. Trey Truitt pushed the Bears in front on the next pitch, taking the first pitch of his at-bat off the scoreboard in left for a one-run advantage. Lewis added to the scoring with a RBI triple, before crossing the plate himself on Steven Taylor's sacrifice fly.
ETSU got one run back in the bottom of the eighth on Kevin Phillip's solo home run, but the Bears would manufacture a run in the ninth return the lead to three, 12-9, on Matt Meeder's successful suicide squeeze. Austin Lord closed the door on a potential comeback attempt by the Bucs, recording the final three outs for his team-leading fourth save of the season.
KEY TO THE GAME
After scoring just four runs through the first seven innings, Mercer exploded for eight runs over the final two frames. The Bears tallied five hits and two walks during that stretch while taking advantage of two errors to overcome the four-run deficit.
PLAYER OF THE GAME
Lewis had another big game for the Bears, as he reached four times to push his on-base streak to 32 games after going 2-for-3 at the plate with a pair of walks. Both of his hits went for extra bases, as he homered for the 13th time this season, while also notching his first triple of the year.
NOTABLES
- The series-clinching victory handed the Orange and Black their seventh series win of the year, as they are now one win away from their fourth sweep.
- Mercer reached double-figures in the runs column for the 13th time this season, improving to 11-2 in those situations.
- The Bears finished with 12 hits in the contest for their 15th game with double-digit hits.
- Austin Cox tossed a scoreless seventh inning for his second win of the year, as he struck out two in the frame.
- Madden notched his second straight multiple-RBI performance and ninth of the year thanks to his two-run blast in the fourth. He finished 2-for-5 for his sixth game with two or more hits.
- Truitt's go-ahead homer run was his ninth of the season, a new career-high. He now has six games with multiple RBIs after driving in three runs in the contest.
- Lezynski had his fifth multiple-hit outing of the year, finishing 2-for-4 including his big RBI double to help key the eighth inning rally.
RECORDS UPDATE
Mercer moves to 19-13 overall and 5-3 in the SoCon, while ETSU falls to 15-15 overall and 3-5 in league play.
UP NEXT
The Bears will look for the sweep of ETSU, as they wrap up the series on Sunday, Apr. 10, with a 1 p.m. first pitch at Thomas Stadium.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Cox, Austin (2-1)
L: Peyton Taylor (3-2)
S: Lord, Austin (4)
Batting:
2B: Edgeworth, Danny 1 ; Hagan, Ryan 1 ; Madden, Charlie 1 ; Lezynski, Blaise 2
3B: Lewis, Kyle 1
HR: Truitt, Trey 1 ; Lewis, Kyle 1 ; Madden, Charlie 1
RBI: Truitt, Trey 3 ; Lewis, Kyle 2 ; Hagan, Ryan 1 ; Taylor, Steven 1 ; Madden, Charlie 2 ; Lezynski, Blaise 1 ; Meeder, Matt 1 ; Hernandez, Jose 1
SH: Edgeworth, Danny 1 ; Lezynski, Blaise 1 ; Meeder, Matt 1 ; Lord, Austin 1
SF: Taylor, Steven 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Truitt, Trey 1 ; Edgeworth, Danny 1 ; Lewis, Kyle 3 ; Upton, Ben 2 ; Madden, Charlie 2 ; Lezynski, Blaise 1 ; Meeder, Matt 1 ; Hernandez, Jose 1
Batting:
2B: Aaron Maher 1
HR: Hagen Owenby 1 ; Kevin Phillips 1 ; Caleb Longley 1
RBI: Robby McCabe 2 ; Hagen Owenby 2 ; Kevin Phillips 1 ; Aaron Maher 1 ; Caleb Longley 1 ; Jeremy Taylor 1
SH: Jeremy Taylor 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Hagen Owenby 1 ; Kevin Phillips 2 ; Aaron Maher 1 ; Lance Mays 1 ; Caleb Longley 2 ; Blake Rowlett 2
SB: Robby McCabe 1 ; Kevin Phillips 1 ; Seth Cunningham 1
HBP: Caleb Longley 2
