Friday, April 14
Lexington, Va.
6 p.m.
Mercer University
31-6, 10-1
9
at
6
VMI
17-18, 4-7
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Runs R | Hits H | Errors E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mercer | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 14 | 0 |
| VMI | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 9 | 1 |
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Graveno, Zach (6-0)
L: Winder (5-3)
S: Spear, Nick (6)
Batting:
2B: Hagan, Ryan 1 ; Bening, Hunter 1
HR: Thomas, JT 1 ; Edgeworth, Danny 1 ; Bening, Hunter 1
RBI: Hagan, Ryan 1 ; Thomas, JT 3 ; Edgeworth, Danny 2 ; Madden, Charlie 1 ; Ware, Jackson 1 ; Bening, Hunter 1
SH: Hanson, Alex 1 ; Edgeworth, Danny 1 ; Ware, Jackson 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Hagan, Ryan 2 ; Thomas, JT 3 ; Edgeworth, Danny 2 ; Bening, Hunter 2
SB: Hagan, Ryan 1 ; Hanson, Alex 1 ; Edgeworth, Danny 1
CS: Hanson, Alex 1 ; Edgeworth, Danny 1
HBP: Hagan, Ryan 1 ; Thomas, JT 1
Batting:
2B: Maddox 1 ; Tharp 1 ; Dunlevy 1
HR: Tharp 1
RBI: Maddox 1 ; Tharp 4 ; Huggins 1
SF: Tharp 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Jaye 1 ; Fleischer 2 ; Maddox 1 ; Tharp 1 ; Diodato 1
SB: Huggins 1
Game Leaders
Players Mentioned
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Mercer Clinches Series, Pushes Win Streak to 10 Games
4/14/2017 9:54:00 PM | Baseball
Three Bears home runs highlight 14-hit effort
LEXINGTON, Va. – A go-ahead home run by JT Thomas and three consecutive strikeouts with the tying run in scoring position vaulted Mercer to a 9-6 series-clinching win over VMI Friday night at Gray-Minor Stadium.
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With the game tied, 6-6, Thomas left the yard on a two-run blast to give Mercer its final lead of the night. VMI (17-18, 4-7 Southern Conference) would put two runners in scoring position with no outs in the following half frame, but Josh Knies and Nick Spear combined for three straight strikeouts to eliminate the threat.
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The win was Mercer's (31-6, 10-1 SoCon) 10th straight win – eighth in conference play – as it maintained the national lead in wins.
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Spear earned his sixth save as he pumped out seven strikeouts, including five in a row against the first five batters he faced. Zach Graveno tossed 2.1 innings of one-hit ball to improve to 6-0 after relieving Austin Cox in the fourth.
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Early firepower from the Mercer lineup started the game off in eventful fashion, as five Bears tagged VMI starter Josh Winder with hits en route to three first-inning runs. RBI singles by JT Thomas and Charlie Madden preceded a suicide squeeze bunt from Jackson Ware in the frame.
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Danny Edgeworth later deposited his sixth home run of the year, a two-run shot, over the center field wall for a 5-2 Mercer lead in the third. Ryan Hagan (RBI single) and Hunter Bening (solo home run) put runs on the board as well. The eight runs and 11 hits surrendered to the Bears were both season-highs for Winder.
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Saturday's series finale will be moved up to noon due to the threat of inclement weather in the Lexington, Virginia area in the afternoon.
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PLAYER OF THE GAME
Nick Spear was dynamite out of the bullpen en route to a season-high seven strikeouts. The sophomore went 2.2 frames to close out the contest.
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STAT OF THE GAME
Mercer did not go down on strikes once against VMI's Winder, who entered the game averaging 9.4 strikeouts per start.
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COACH GIBSON'S TAKE
"We were really good offensively tonight against one of the best arms in the league in Josh Winder. Our guy, Austin Cox, met the challenge early on and you can't say enough about our bullpen. Graveno was great, Josh Knies had a big strike out and we ended it with a special guy in Nick Spear.
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"We were hunting fastballs against Winder. Coach Stewart had a good plan for the guys and they took quality approaches, which helped us get ahead early."
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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.
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With the game tied, 6-6, Thomas left the yard on a two-run blast to give Mercer its final lead of the night. VMI (17-18, 4-7 Southern Conference) would put two runners in scoring position with no outs in the following half frame, but Josh Knies and Nick Spear combined for three straight strikeouts to eliminate the threat.
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The win was Mercer's (31-6, 10-1 SoCon) 10th straight win – eighth in conference play – as it maintained the national lead in wins.
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Spear earned his sixth save as he pumped out seven strikeouts, including five in a row against the first five batters he faced. Zach Graveno tossed 2.1 innings of one-hit ball to improve to 6-0 after relieving Austin Cox in the fourth.
Â
Early firepower from the Mercer lineup started the game off in eventful fashion, as five Bears tagged VMI starter Josh Winder with hits en route to three first-inning runs. RBI singles by JT Thomas and Charlie Madden preceded a suicide squeeze bunt from Jackson Ware in the frame.
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Danny Edgeworth later deposited his sixth home run of the year, a two-run shot, over the center field wall for a 5-2 Mercer lead in the third. Ryan Hagan (RBI single) and Hunter Bening (solo home run) put runs on the board as well. The eight runs and 11 hits surrendered to the Bears were both season-highs for Winder.
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Saturday's series finale will be moved up to noon due to the threat of inclement weather in the Lexington, Virginia area in the afternoon.
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PLAYER OF THE GAME
Nick Spear was dynamite out of the bullpen en route to a season-high seven strikeouts. The sophomore went 2.2 frames to close out the contest.
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STAT OF THE GAME
Mercer did not go down on strikes once against VMI's Winder, who entered the game averaging 9.4 strikeouts per start.
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COACH GIBSON'S TAKE
"We were really good offensively tonight against one of the best arms in the league in Josh Winder. Our guy, Austin Cox, met the challenge early on and you can't say enough about our bullpen. Graveno was great, Josh Knies had a big strike out and we ended it with a special guy in Nick Spear.
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"We were hunting fastballs against Winder. Coach Stewart had a good plan for the guys and they took quality approaches, which helped us get ahead early."
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PITCHER'S OF RECORD
- Win: Zach Graveno, Mercer (6-0)
- Loss: Josh Winder, VMI (5-4)
- Save: Nick Spear, Mercer (6)
- Mercer: 31-6 (10-1 SoCon)
- VMI: 17-18 (4-7 SoCon)
- Mercer: At VMI (Noon, Saturday, April 15 in Lexington, Va.)
- VMI: Hosts Mercer (Noon, Saturday, April 15 in Lexington, Va.)
- The Bears are 14-3 on the road.
- Mercer tagged VMI's Winder with his first earned runs in the last 16 innings, dating back to March 24. The three-run first inning was also the first time Winder has allowed multiple earned runs in the same frame since March 10.
- Mercer stole three bases, including one apiece by Ryan Hagan (20) and Alex Hanson (17).
- Danny Edgeworth was a perfect 3-for-3 with two runs scored, two RBIs, one walk and a stolen base.
- Jackson Ware's suicide squeeze bunt in the first was his nation-leading 18th sacrifice bunt.
- Hagan's three-hit performance pushes his batting average in SoCon games to .405, a team-best.
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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