Sunday, March 18
Macon, Ga.
1 p.m.
Mercer University
16-4
5
vs
4
Eastern Kentucky
7-14
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Eastern Kentucky
2
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
1
4
9
0
Mercer
1
1
2
0
0
0
1
0
X
5
6
1
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Broom, Robert (3-0)
L: COLLINS, Casey (0-2)
S: Spear, Nick (4)
Batting:
HR: BOTSOE, Chris 1 ; HOLDERBACH, Alex 1
RBI: BOTSOE, Chris 1 ; HOLDERBACH, Alex 1 ; LEWIS, Jake 1
Base Running:
RUNS: NIXON, Cornell 1 ; BOTSOE, Chris 2 ; HOLDERBACH, Alex 1
SB: NIXON, Cornell 2 ; KERR, Ryland 1
PO: JOHNSON, Will 1
Batting:
2B: Ammons, Jordan 1
HR: Lingo, Drew 1
RBI: Truitt, Trey 2 ; Yeager, RJ 2 ; Lingo, Drew 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Posas, David 1 ; Thomas, JT 3 ; Lingo, Drew 1
SB: Truitt, Trey 1
CS: Hanson, Alex 1
HBP: Posas, David 1 ; Ware, Jackson 1 ; Yeager, RJ 1
Game Leaders
AB
4
R
0
H
2
RBI
2
AB
2
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
RHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballIF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
Mercer Sweeps Colonels with 5-4 Win Sunday
3/18/2018 5:35:00 PM | Baseball
Three Bears log eight innings out of the bullpen
MACON, Ga. – Mercer hung on for a 5-4 win over Eastern Kentucky on Sunday at OrthoGeorgia Park to complete the weekend sweep of the Colonels.
Three Bears tossed a combined eight innings out of the bullpen, holding Eastern Kentucky (7-14) to just two late runs as Robert Broom (3-0) earned the win and Nick Spear notched his fourth save. Mercer (16-5) scored four of its five runs over the first three innings of play en route to its second weekend series sweep and fourth series victory of the season.
Back-to-back home runs by Chris Botsoe and Alex Holderbach gave Eastern Kentucky an early two-run lead in the first inning. Sawyer Gipson-Long started on the mound for Mercer, but was quickly relieved after one frame by Kevin Coulter, who tossed a pair of hitless innings to bridge the gap to Broom, who stifled the Colonels for one run on five hits over four innings.
Trey Truitt continued to provide a dangerous bat in the heart of Mercer's lineup with two RBI singles in the first and third innings. Drew Lingo added a solo home run in the second while RJ Yeager was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the fourth and added a pivotal infield single in the seventh that scored JT Thomas for Mercer's fifth run.
Spear made it interesting in the top of the ninth as he walked the bases loaded with two outs and allowed an infield single, but he escaped the jam with a fly out to right field.
Coach Gibson's Take
Opening statement:
"I thought we played well today and it is always a great feeling to earn a weekend series sweep," said head coach Craig Gibson. "Offensively, I think we had some chances that we didn't quite capitalize on well enough, but our pitching did the job today.
"Our starter [Gipson-Long] gave up a couple runs early but our bullpen with [Robert] Broom and [Nick] Spear] at the end was outstanding. We won the close game; usually in a three-game series there's at least one close one and we were able to come out on top today."
On the well-rounded performance over the weekend series:
"That's the sign of a good team. We're averaging over nine runs per game, but today Eastern Kentucky's pitching staff did a really good job and we needed our pitchers to step it up. They responded well to that task."
Player of the Game
Robert Broom quieted the Colonels' lineup from the fourth to eighth innings Sunday and provided Mercer enough time to notch a key fifth run offensively in the seventh. The junior sidewinder went at least three innings for the fifth time this season and for the fourth straight appearance.
Pitchers of Record
» Win: Robert Broom (3-0)
» Loss: Casey Collins (0-2)
» Save: Nick Spear (4)
Record Update
» Mercer: 16-5
» Eastern Kentucky: 7-14
Up Next
» Mercer: At Georgia Tech (6 p.m. Wednesday, March 21 in Atlanta, Ga.)
» Eastern Kentucky: Vs. Northern Kentucky (5 p.m. Tuesday, March 20 in Lexington, Ky.)
Notables
» Mercer is 5-3 all-time against Eastern Kentucky.
» Truitt and Yeager extended their career-long hit streaks to 13 and 10 games, respectively.
» JT Thomas scored three over Mercer's five runs; he drew three walks in an 0-for-1 day at the plate.
» Mercer allowed Eastern Kentucky's leadoff batter to reach base in six different innings, but only allowed the Colonels to score once in such occasions.
» Truitt finished the weekend sweep with 11 RBI, six runs scored, eight hits, three home runs and five extra base hits.
Follow the Bears
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.
Three Bears tossed a combined eight innings out of the bullpen, holding Eastern Kentucky (7-14) to just two late runs as Robert Broom (3-0) earned the win and Nick Spear notched his fourth save. Mercer (16-5) scored four of its five runs over the first three innings of play en route to its second weekend series sweep and fourth series victory of the season.
Back-to-back home runs by Chris Botsoe and Alex Holderbach gave Eastern Kentucky an early two-run lead in the first inning. Sawyer Gipson-Long started on the mound for Mercer, but was quickly relieved after one frame by Kevin Coulter, who tossed a pair of hitless innings to bridge the gap to Broom, who stifled the Colonels for one run on five hits over four innings.
Trey Truitt continued to provide a dangerous bat in the heart of Mercer's lineup with two RBI singles in the first and third innings. Drew Lingo added a solo home run in the second while RJ Yeager was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the fourth and added a pivotal infield single in the seventh that scored JT Thomas for Mercer's fifth run.
Spear made it interesting in the top of the ninth as he walked the bases loaded with two outs and allowed an infield single, but he escaped the jam with a fly out to right field.
Coach Gibson's Take
Opening statement:
"I thought we played well today and it is always a great feeling to earn a weekend series sweep," said head coach Craig Gibson. "Offensively, I think we had some chances that we didn't quite capitalize on well enough, but our pitching did the job today.
"Our starter [Gipson-Long] gave up a couple runs early but our bullpen with [Robert] Broom and [Nick] Spear] at the end was outstanding. We won the close game; usually in a three-game series there's at least one close one and we were able to come out on top today."
On the well-rounded performance over the weekend series:
"That's the sign of a good team. We're averaging over nine runs per game, but today Eastern Kentucky's pitching staff did a really good job and we needed our pitchers to step it up. They responded well to that task."
Player of the Game
Robert Broom quieted the Colonels' lineup from the fourth to eighth innings Sunday and provided Mercer enough time to notch a key fifth run offensively in the seventh. The junior sidewinder went at least three innings for the fifth time this season and for the fourth straight appearance.
Pitchers of Record
» Win: Robert Broom (3-0)
» Loss: Casey Collins (0-2)
» Save: Nick Spear (4)
Record Update
» Mercer: 16-5
» Eastern Kentucky: 7-14
Up Next
» Mercer: At Georgia Tech (6 p.m. Wednesday, March 21 in Atlanta, Ga.)
» Eastern Kentucky: Vs. Northern Kentucky (5 p.m. Tuesday, March 20 in Lexington, Ky.)
Notables
» Mercer is 5-3 all-time against Eastern Kentucky.
» Truitt and Yeager extended their career-long hit streaks to 13 and 10 games, respectively.
» JT Thomas scored three over Mercer's five runs; he drew three walks in an 0-for-1 day at the plate.
» Mercer allowed Eastern Kentucky's leadoff batter to reach base in six different innings, but only allowed the Colonels to score once in such occasions.
» Truitt finished the weekend sweep with 11 RBI, six runs scored, eight hits, three home runs and five extra base hits.
Follow the Bears
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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