Thursday, May 17
Macon, Ga.
7 p.m.
Mercer University
35-19, 0
4
vs
5
The Citadel
18-33, 0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
The Citadel
0
2
0
2
0
1
0
0
0
5
9
0
Mercer
0
1
1
0
0
0
0
0
2
4
7
1
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Thomas Byelick (3-6)
L: Burks, Chase (5-5)
S: Jordan Buster (3)
Batting:
RBI: William Kinney 1 ; Clay Martin 3
SH: Jonathan Sabo 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Ryan McCarthy 2 ; Adam Colon 2 ; Clay Martin 1
HBP: William Kinney 1
Batting:
2B: Truitt, Trey 1 ; Ware, Jackson 1 ; Bassett, Le 1 ; Crotty, Alex 1
HR: Hanson, Alex 1 ; Thomas, JT 1
RBI: Hanson, Alex 1 ; Bassett, Le 1 ; Thomas, JT 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Hanson, Alex 1 ; Ware, Jackson 1 ; Crotty, Alex 1 ; Thomas, JT 1
SB: Taylor, Steven 1
CS: Truitt, Trey 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
1
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
IF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
C
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballOF
/ Baseball
LHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
IF
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
Mercer Falls to Bulldogs for Doubleheader Split
5/17/2018 11:04:00 PM | Baseball
Bears toss nine strikeouts in loss to The Citadel
MACON, Ga. – JT Thomas hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the ninth but Mercer was unable to muster a comeback in a 5-4 series-tying loss to The Citadel in the back end of a doubleheader Thursday at OrthoGeorgia Park.
The loss came after Mercer (35-19, 11-12 Southern Conference) bested The Citadel (18-33, 7-16) in a series-opening win earlier in the afternoon. Mercer mustered just five hits through the first eight innings of play before staging a comeback in the final frame.
Alex Crotty doubled down the left-field line to lead off the home half of the ninth before Thomas launched his eighth home run of the season into the night sky, cutting The Citadel's lead to one run (5-4). The Bears would go down in consecutive at bats afterward, however, ending the rally.
The Citadel got on the board with a two-run single by Clay Martin in the second inning off of Mercer starter Chase Burks. Le Bassett stayed hot at the plate with RBI double in the bottom of the second and was followed by a solo home run from Alex Hanson in the third to tie the game, 2-2. Burks ran into trouble again in the fourth when The Citadel plated another pair of runs on two hits and a throwing error.
Burks (5-5) tossed five innings and took the loss despite allowing just three earned runs and totaling four strikeouts. Five Bears made appearances on the mound over the final four innings; Kevin Coulter, Sawyer Gipson-Long and Nick Spear allowed just one combined hit over the seventh through ninth frames.
The Bulldogs added what would prove to be a pivotal run in the sixth as Caleb Mitchell hit a batter with the bases loaded before ending the frame on a strikeout.
Postgame Quotes
Coach Gibson's opening statement:
"Our performance in the second game today is an example of where we are in the [SoCon] right now," said head coach Craig Gibson. "I thought our starting pitching from [Chase] Burks was good, but later in the game we walk and hit consecutive batters in a key situation and that proves to be the difference in the ball game.
"We also misplayed a ball in left field…just to be honest, we have to play smarter moving forward. When you're not offensive, there isn't much margin for error. These mistakes are why we split today's doubleheader. I'm disappointed we didn't play better on the back end today but hopefully we clean it up [Friday]."
Records Update
» Mercer: 35-19 (11-12 SoCon)
» The Citadel: 18-33 (7-16 SoCon)
Pitchers of Record
» Win: Thomas Byelick (3-6)
» Loss: Chase Burks (5-5)
» Save: Jacob Buster (3)
Up Next
» Mercer: Hosts The Citadel (6 p.m. Friday, May 18 in Macon, Ga.)
» The Citadel: At Mercer (6 p.m. Friday, May 18 in Macon, Ga.)
Notables
» The loss snapped a five-game win streak for Mercer against The Citadel.
» Alex Hanson reached base safely for the 75th time in the last 79 games played.
» Hanson's home run was his second in as many games Thursday.
» Jackson Ware extended his career-long reached base streak to 20 games.
» Ware has four straight multi-hit games. He doubled three times Thursday, including once in the loss.
» Le Bassett extended his season-long hit streak to 13 games.
» Steven Taylor stole his first base of the season.
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.
The loss came after Mercer (35-19, 11-12 Southern Conference) bested The Citadel (18-33, 7-16) in a series-opening win earlier in the afternoon. Mercer mustered just five hits through the first eight innings of play before staging a comeback in the final frame.
Alex Crotty doubled down the left-field line to lead off the home half of the ninth before Thomas launched his eighth home run of the season into the night sky, cutting The Citadel's lead to one run (5-4). The Bears would go down in consecutive at bats afterward, however, ending the rally.
The Citadel got on the board with a two-run single by Clay Martin in the second inning off of Mercer starter Chase Burks. Le Bassett stayed hot at the plate with RBI double in the bottom of the second and was followed by a solo home run from Alex Hanson in the third to tie the game, 2-2. Burks ran into trouble again in the fourth when The Citadel plated another pair of runs on two hits and a throwing error.
Burks (5-5) tossed five innings and took the loss despite allowing just three earned runs and totaling four strikeouts. Five Bears made appearances on the mound over the final four innings; Kevin Coulter, Sawyer Gipson-Long and Nick Spear allowed just one combined hit over the seventh through ninth frames.
The Bulldogs added what would prove to be a pivotal run in the sixth as Caleb Mitchell hit a batter with the bases loaded before ending the frame on a strikeout.
Postgame Quotes
Coach Gibson's opening statement:
"Our performance in the second game today is an example of where we are in the [SoCon] right now," said head coach Craig Gibson. "I thought our starting pitching from [Chase] Burks was good, but later in the game we walk and hit consecutive batters in a key situation and that proves to be the difference in the ball game.
"We also misplayed a ball in left field…just to be honest, we have to play smarter moving forward. When you're not offensive, there isn't much margin for error. These mistakes are why we split today's doubleheader. I'm disappointed we didn't play better on the back end today but hopefully we clean it up [Friday]."
Records Update
» Mercer: 35-19 (11-12 SoCon)
» The Citadel: 18-33 (7-16 SoCon)
Pitchers of Record
» Win: Thomas Byelick (3-6)
» Loss: Chase Burks (5-5)
» Save: Jacob Buster (3)
Up Next
» Mercer: Hosts The Citadel (6 p.m. Friday, May 18 in Macon, Ga.)
» The Citadel: At Mercer (6 p.m. Friday, May 18 in Macon, Ga.)
Notables
» The loss snapped a five-game win streak for Mercer against The Citadel.
» Alex Hanson reached base safely for the 75th time in the last 79 games played.
» Hanson's home run was his second in as many games Thursday.
» Jackson Ware extended his career-long reached base streak to 20 games.
» Ware has four straight multi-hit games. He doubled three times Thursday, including once in the loss.
» Le Bassett extended his season-long hit streak to 13 games.
» Steven Taylor stole his first base of the season.
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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