Saturday, April 15
Lexington, Va.
12 p.m.
Mercer University
32-6, 11-1
17
at
5
VMI
17-19, 4-8
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | Runs R | Hits H | Errors E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mercer | 2 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 17 | 21 | 1 |
| VMI | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 8 | 1 |
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Coulter, Kevin (4-2)
L: Barbery (0-6)
Batting:
2B: Hagan, Ryan 2 ; Hanson, Alex 1 ; Thomas, JT 2
HR: Hagan, Ryan 1 ; Thomas, JT 1 ; Ware, Jackson 1 ; Bening, Hunter 1
RBI: Hagan, Ryan 4 ; Hanson, Alex 2 ; Thomas, JT 6 ; Madden, Charlie 1 ; Ware, Jackson 1 ; Bening, Hunter 2 ; Crotty, Alex 1
SF: Hagan, Ryan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Hagan, Ryan 4 ; Hanson, Alex 2 ; Cornell, Conrad 1 ; Thomas, JT 1 ; Edgeworth, Danny 1 ; Ware, Jackson 2 ; Bening, Hunter 1 ; Upton, Ben 1 ; Truitt, Trey 2 ; Crotty, Alex 1 ; Posas, David 1
SB: Hanson, Alex 1
CS: Crotty, Alex 1
Batting:
2B: Diodato 1
3B: Tharp 1
RBI: Fleischer 2 ; Diodato 2
SH: Hatten 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Jaye 1 ; Tharp 1 ; Huggins 1 ; Dunlevy 1 ; Diodato 1
SB: Jaye 1 ; Dunlevy 1
HBP: Dunlevy 1
Game Leaders
Players Mentioned
INF
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RHP
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Photo by: Bill Hirsh
Bears Sweep VMI with 21-Hit Effort
4/15/2017 3:27:00 PM | Baseball
Offensive explosion leads to third straight SoCon series sweep
LEXINGTON, Va. – Four home runs and a season-best 21 hits propelled Mercer to its third consecutive Southern Conference sweep and a 17-5 win over VMI Saturday afternoon at Gray-Minor Stadium.
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The contest ended after eight innings due to the SoCon's run rule on travel days.
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Winners of 11 straight, the Bears (32-6, 11-1 SoCon) scored in all but one inning, including a seven-run spot in the third that helped them overcome an early 4-2 deficit. Every positional starter notched at least one hit while Ryan Hagan (4-for-5), JT Thomas (4-for-5) and Alex Crotty (3-for-4) all had three or more.
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Kevin Coulter earned the win and moved to 4-2 on the year, going 5.2 innings. The sophomore struck out five and issued only one walk as he allowed two earned runs. Josh Knies, Carter Varga, Christian Vann and Andrew Kane combined for a final 2.1 scoreless innings while striking out five total.
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Offensive firepower was the deciding factor for the third straight game of the series. Mercer plated two runs on five hits in the first inning, led by three straight hits from Hagan, Alex Hanson and Thomas. Charlie Madden added a RBI single. Six straight hits in the third led to the seven-run output while Hunter Bening and Thomas both belted two-run home runs.
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Jackson Ware and Hagan joined the power display with blasts in the fifth and sixth innings.
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PLAYER OF THE GAME
Ryan Hagan and JT Thomas were a two-man wrecking ball Saturday, combining for eight hits, 10 RBIs, four doubles, two home runs and five runs scored. The four hits and runs scored by Hagan were career-highs while Thomas notched his fourth four-hit game and third six-RBI performance of the year.
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STAT OF THE GAME
The Bears plated two runs in the first inning, giving them eight total in the opening frame over during the three-game series.
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COACH GIBSON'S TAKE
"Sometimes you need a big offensive performance in game three of a series and that's what we got out of our team today. We got out early once again and Ryan Hagan and JT Thomas provided some big hits for us.
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"This is a tough league to sweep in, but we had great pitching from Kevin Coulter and company and were able to get away from VMI early to get the win."
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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), @Mercer.Baseball (Instagram) and Mercer Bears (Snapchat) or visit the official home of Mercer Athletics at MercerBears.com.
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The contest ended after eight innings due to the SoCon's run rule on travel days.
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Winners of 11 straight, the Bears (32-6, 11-1 SoCon) scored in all but one inning, including a seven-run spot in the third that helped them overcome an early 4-2 deficit. Every positional starter notched at least one hit while Ryan Hagan (4-for-5), JT Thomas (4-for-5) and Alex Crotty (3-for-4) all had three or more.
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Kevin Coulter earned the win and moved to 4-2 on the year, going 5.2 innings. The sophomore struck out five and issued only one walk as he allowed two earned runs. Josh Knies, Carter Varga, Christian Vann and Andrew Kane combined for a final 2.1 scoreless innings while striking out five total.
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Offensive firepower was the deciding factor for the third straight game of the series. Mercer plated two runs on five hits in the first inning, led by three straight hits from Hagan, Alex Hanson and Thomas. Charlie Madden added a RBI single. Six straight hits in the third led to the seven-run output while Hunter Bening and Thomas both belted two-run home runs.
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Jackson Ware and Hagan joined the power display with blasts in the fifth and sixth innings.
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PLAYER OF THE GAME
Ryan Hagan and JT Thomas were a two-man wrecking ball Saturday, combining for eight hits, 10 RBIs, four doubles, two home runs and five runs scored. The four hits and runs scored by Hagan were career-highs while Thomas notched his fourth four-hit game and third six-RBI performance of the year.
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STAT OF THE GAME
The Bears plated two runs in the first inning, giving them eight total in the opening frame over during the three-game series.
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COACH GIBSON'S TAKE
"Sometimes you need a big offensive performance in game three of a series and that's what we got out of our team today. We got out early once again and Ryan Hagan and JT Thomas provided some big hits for us.
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"This is a tough league to sweep in, but we had great pitching from Kevin Coulter and company and were able to get away from VMI early to get the win."
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PITCHER'S OF RECORD
- Win: Kevin Coulter, Mercer (4-2)
- Loss: Brandon Barbery, VMI (0-6)
- Mercer: 32-6 (11-1 SoCon)
- VMI: 17-19 (4-8 SoCon)
- Mercer: At Georgia Tech (6 p.m., Tuesday, April 18 in Atlanta, Ga.)
- VMI: At VCU (6 p.m., Tuesday, April 18 in Richmond, Va.)
- The Bears are 15-3 on the road. Their last road loss was March 4 at Austin Peay.
- Win streaks of eight and 11 games bookending two straight losses March 26 and 28 have pushed Mercer to an 18-2 record in its last 20 games played.
- Mercer has won 16 straight weekend series dating back to a sweep of ETSU April 8-10, 2016 in Johnson City, Tennessee.
- The last time Mercer swept three consecutive series was a stretch spanning the end of the 2013 season (May 16-18, 2013) and the start of the 2014 season (Feb. 15-16 and Feb. 21-13, 2014).
- Hagan, Hanson and Thomas all picked up first-inning hits in all three games of the series. They scored seven of Mercer's eight first-inning runs in the series.
- Crotty's three hits were a career-high.
- Hanson, Ware and Trey Truitt all pitched in two-hit performances.
For complete coverage of Mercer Baseball, please follow the Bears on social media at @MercerBaseball (Twitter), /MercerBaseball (Facebook), @Mercer.Baseball (Instagram) and Mercer Bears (Snapchat) or visit the official home of Mercer Athletics at MercerBears.com.
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