Baseball Repeats as SoCon Regular Season Champs with 9-1 Win Over UNCG

Saturday, May 21

Greensboro, NC

1 pm

Mercer University

35-21, 16-8

UNC Greensboro

37-19, 15-9

Mercer

UNCG

Baseball Repeats as SoCon Regular Season Champs with 9-1 Win Over UNCG

5/20/2016 5:00:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

GREENSBORO, N.C. – The Mercer University baseball team defeated UNCG, 9-1, on Friday afternoon to claim its second straight Southern Conference regular season title. The Bears' win was their 35th of the season and marked the seventh straight year that the program has reached the milestone.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Mercer scored two runs right out of the gate, as Blaise Lezynski started the two-run rally with a RBI double down the right field line. Charlie Madden followed with a sacrifice fly, scoring Kyle Lewis for a 2-0 advantage.

The Bears tacked on three more runs in the top of the third. Madden's single up the middle scored Lewis to kick off the rally, before a run-scoring double by Hunter Bening and a RBI from Jackson Ware pushed the lead to 5-0.

The Spartans broke up starter Kevin Coulter's shutout bid in the bottom half of the inning, as L.J. Kalawaia's RBI made it a 5-1 contest.

Hunter Bening grew Mercer's lead to 7-1 in the top of the fifth, blasting a two-run shot into the trees in left field. Madden drove in two more runs in the top of the eighth for a 9-1 lead, which proved to be plenty of run support for Coulter.

KEY TO THE GAME
Mercer controlled the game from the start thanks to an impressive effort in all facets. The Bears' pitching staff continued its domination of the league's top offense, holding UNCG to two or less runs for the third time this weekend. Meanwhile, the Bears offense scored multiple runs in four innings on their way to the convincing win.

PLAYER OF THE GAME
Coulter saved the best game of his career for when it counted, as the freshman held the Spartans' high-scoring offense to just one run in a career-high eight innings of action. The Buford, Ga., native scattered seven hits during that stretch, recording his team-leading seventh win of the year.

COACH GIBSON'S TAKE
"It all started with the pitching today, Kevin was unbelievable. We made a decision as a staff to hold him off after we won the opening game of the series and it worked for us. He is an awesome competitor and you can't say enough about our pitching staff as a whole for coming into this environment and shut down one of the top offenses in the country."

"Their guys were great last night, but we were better today offensively. I can't say enough about what Coach Jarrett and his staff have done this season, they are well coached and will be a team that is going to be battling for a tournament title next week."

"This was a great series win for us and it means a lot going into next week. We get to the play the winner of the play-in game, so that helps us against their pitching but you still have to win four games. We have certainly played well the past 15 games and had the best season, but there is a lot of parity in this league and it should be a very competitive tournament next week."

"Getting to 35 wins again means a lot. Achieving that mark year after year shows consistency and the ability to recruit and develop the right players."

NOTABLES

The Orange and Black now have six regular season conference titles, while winning back-to-back crowns for the first time in program history. They are just the 13th program to win consecutive SoCon regular season titles.
The Bears reached double-figures in the hits column for the 32nd time this season, totaling 10 on the day to improve to 25-7 when doing so.
Madden drove in a run in each of his first two trips to the plate, finishing with a perfect 3-for-3 on the day to go along with four RBIs. He now has 11 multiple-hit performances and 15 multiple RBI efforts in 2016.
Lezynski had his second multiple-hit of the weekend and the 11th for the season, going 2-for-3 at the plate with one RBI.
Bening's fifth homer of the season highlighted a 2-for-5 day with three RBIs that gave him 12 contests with multiple hits and seven games with two or more RBIs this season.
Lewis drew three walks in the contest to become the program's single-season record holder with 61 walks on the year.

RECORDS UPDATE
Mercer improves to 35-21 overall and 16-8 in the Southern Conference, while UNCG moves to 37-19 overall and 15-9 in league play.

UP NEXT
The Bears will head to Greenville, S.C. next week for their second trip to the Southern Conference Championship. Mercer will open up play on Wednesday, May 25, as the No. 1 seed with the team's opponent and start time to be announced later this weekend.