Sunday, March 19
Greenville, N.C.
1 p.m.
Mercer University
17-4
8
at
2
East Carolina
13-7
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Mercer
5
1
0
0
0
0
1
0
1
8
13
2
East Carolina
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
2
2
11
1
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Burks, Chase (1-0)
L: WOLFE, Jacob (2-1)
Batting:
3B: Edgeworth, Danny 1
HR: Thomas, JT 1 ; Bening, Hunter 1
RBI: Thomas, JT 2 ; Madden, Charlie 1 ; Edgeworth, Danny 3 ; Bening, Hunter 2
SH: Hanson, Alex 1 ; Madden, Charlie 2 ; Edgeworth, Danny 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Hagan, Ryan 1 ; Thomas, JT 3 ; Ware, Jackson 1 ; Edgeworth, Danny 1 ; Bening, Hunter 1 ; Crotty, Alex 1
SB: Hagan, Ryan 1
PO: Thomas, JT 1
Batting:
2B: YORGEN, Charlie 1
RBI: YORGEN, Charlie 1 ; BROWN, Turner 1
Base Running:
RUNS: HARMAN, Bryce 1 ; LLOYD, Brady 1
HBP: MOORE, Zack 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
5
R
1
H
3
RBI
0
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
3
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
2
Players Mentioned
INF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballINF
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
C
/ BaseballOF
/ Baseball
Burks’ Career Day Leads Mercer to Sweep at #8 ECU
3/19/2017 3:55:00 PM | Baseball
Bears strike early offensively, ride Burks to 8-2 win
GREENVILLE, N.C. – Junior right-hander Chase Burks had a career day on the mound to help Mercer defeat #8 East Carolina, 8-2, en route to a series sweep of the Pirates Sunday at Clark-LeClair Stadium.
Burks (1-0) was in control from the beginning, logging career-highs with seven innings pitched and seven strikeouts to hold the Pirates (13-7) scoreless. ECU entered Sunday's contest averaging seven runs per game and only got on the board with a late pair of runs in the ninth. In addition to the strikeouts, Burks rolled a pair of double plays including a 4-6-3 that helped the Bears escape a bases-loaded one-out jam in the second inning.
Mercer (17-4) wasted no time getting started offensively, plating five runs on four hits in the top of the first inning against ECU lefty Jacob Wolfe. Charlie Madden scored Ryan Hagan on a suicide squeeze bunt and was followed up by three straight hits from Jackson Ware (single), Danny Edgeworth (two-run triple) and Hunter Bening (two-run home run).
The Bears added one run in the second, seventh and ninth innings on a second suicide squeeze bunt from Edgeworth and the hot bat of JT Thomas (RBI-single, solo home run).
PLAYER OF THE GAME
Burks brought his A-game to Greenville for the series finale and mowed down the host Pirates over seven innings of work for his first career victory.
STAT OF THE GAME
Mercer scored five runs in the first inning after failing to score in the opening frame during both of Friday's games. Through 21 games this season, Mercer has outscored its opposition 33-15 in the first inning.
COACH GIBSON'S TAKE
"This was a great weekend for us, capped by a solid Sunday win today. I thought Chase Burks was outstanding in his second start for us. Offensively, we got off to a good start by jumping on them and adding a run or two later. I'm really proud of the guys to beat a great ball club in East Carolina.
"Burks was effective, got ahead and threw strikes for us today. His junior college teammate JT Thomas was great for us as well hitting in the middle of the lineup.
"We're off to a good start and want to get all nine guys rolling at the same time. To face a little adversity and come out on top is good for our team heading into a full week ahead."
PITCHER'S OF RECORD
For complete coverage of Mercer Baseball, please follow the Bears on social media at @MercerBaseball (Twitter), /MercerBaseball (Facebook) and @Mercer.Baseball (Instagram) or visit the official home of Mercer Athletics at MercerBears.com.
Burks (1-0) was in control from the beginning, logging career-highs with seven innings pitched and seven strikeouts to hold the Pirates (13-7) scoreless. ECU entered Sunday's contest averaging seven runs per game and only got on the board with a late pair of runs in the ninth. In addition to the strikeouts, Burks rolled a pair of double plays including a 4-6-3 that helped the Bears escape a bases-loaded one-out jam in the second inning.
Mercer (17-4) wasted no time getting started offensively, plating five runs on four hits in the top of the first inning against ECU lefty Jacob Wolfe. Charlie Madden scored Ryan Hagan on a suicide squeeze bunt and was followed up by three straight hits from Jackson Ware (single), Danny Edgeworth (two-run triple) and Hunter Bening (two-run home run).
The Bears added one run in the second, seventh and ninth innings on a second suicide squeeze bunt from Edgeworth and the hot bat of JT Thomas (RBI-single, solo home run).
PLAYER OF THE GAME
Burks brought his A-game to Greenville for the series finale and mowed down the host Pirates over seven innings of work for his first career victory.
STAT OF THE GAME
Mercer scored five runs in the first inning after failing to score in the opening frame during both of Friday's games. Through 21 games this season, Mercer has outscored its opposition 33-15 in the first inning.
COACH GIBSON'S TAKE
"This was a great weekend for us, capped by a solid Sunday win today. I thought Chase Burks was outstanding in his second start for us. Offensively, we got off to a good start by jumping on them and adding a run or two later. I'm really proud of the guys to beat a great ball club in East Carolina.
"Burks was effective, got ahead and threw strikes for us today. His junior college teammate JT Thomas was great for us as well hitting in the middle of the lineup.
"We're off to a good start and want to get all nine guys rolling at the same time. To face a little adversity and come out on top is good for our team heading into a full week ahead."
PITCHER'S OF RECORD
- Win: Chase Burks, Mercer (1-0)
- Loss: Jacob Wolfe, ECU (2-1)
- Mercer: 17-4
- ECU: 13-7
- Mercer: Hosts Florida A&M, 6 p.m., March 21 at OrthoGeorgia Park (Macon, Ga.)
- ECU: At Elon, 6 p.m., March 21 (Elon, N.C.)
- JT Thomas notched his second four-hit game of the series Sunday, going 4-for-5 with two RBIs and a solo home run. He was 8-for-11 with three home runs, eight RBIs and seven runs scored in the three-game series.
- The last time ECU was swept in a non-conference home series was against No. 2 Virginia on Feb. 13-14, 2015.
- Mercer's 17-4 start is its best during the Craig Gibson era and second all-time to only the 1969 Bears, who went 19-3.
- The three-game weekend sweep is Mercer's third of the season. The Bears have now claimed 13 straight series dating back to April 8-10, 2016 against ETSU.
- Ware, Madden and Thomas all extended their on-base streaks, giving Mercer four players with at least 10-game streaks.
- Bening went 2-for-4 to extend his hit streak to a career-best seven games.
For complete coverage of Mercer Baseball, please follow the Bears on social media at @MercerBaseball (Twitter), /MercerBaseball (Facebook) and @Mercer.Baseball (Instagram) or visit the official home of Mercer Athletics at MercerBears.com.
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