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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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"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."
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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."
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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.
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Pitchers of Record
» Win: Robert Broom (3-0)
» Loss: Casey Collins (0-2)
» Save: Nick Spear (4)
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Record Update
» Mercer: 16-5
» Eastern Kentucky: 7-14
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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.)
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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.
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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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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.
Â
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.
Â
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.
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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.
Â
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.
Â
"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."
Â
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."
Â
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.
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Pitchers of Record
» Win: Robert Broom (3-0)
» Loss: Casey Collins (0-2)
» Save: Nick Spear (4)
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Record Update
» Mercer: 16-5
» Eastern Kentucky: 7-14
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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.)
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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.
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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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