Saturday, May 26
Greenville, S.C.
8:20 p.m.
Mercer University
38-21
10
vs
2
Western Carolina
11-47
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Western Carolina
0
0
0
0
0
0
2
0
0
2
10
5
Mercer
1
0
2
1
1
4
1
0
X
10
7
1
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Burks, Chase (6-5)
L: Purus (3-13)
Batting:
2B: Blaquiere 1
RBI: L. Robinson 1 ; Sparks 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Prater 1 ; Blaquiere 1
SB: Koehler 1
HBP: Sparks 1
Batting:
2B: Michie, Brandon 1 ; Truitt, Trey 1
RBI: Yeager, RJ 1 ; Truitt, Trey 2 ; Ware, Jackson 1 ; Bassett, Le 1
SH: Ware, Jackson 1 ; Crotty, Alex 1 ; Cornell, Conrad 1
SF: Yeager, RJ 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Hanson, Alex 2 ; Michie, Brandon 4 ; Truitt, Trey 1 ; Thomas, JT 2 ; Crotty, Alex 1
SB: Hanson, Alex 2 ; Michie, Brandon 1
HBP: Hanson, Alex 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
4
R
4
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
2
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
1
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
RHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
OF
/ BaseballIF
/ Baseball
OF
/ BaseballOF
/ Baseball
Photo by: Gerrit Van Genderen
Burks Leads Mercer to SoCon Championship Title Game
5/27/2018 12:07:00 AM | Baseball
Mercer bests Catamounts, gets rematch with #2 Samford in SoCon Title Game
GREENVILLE, S.C. – Chase Burks tossed eight innings and fifth-seeded Mercer earned a berth into the Southern Conference Championship title game with a 10-2 win over No. 9 Western Carolina on Saturday night at Fluor Field.
The Bears (38-21) bested Western Carolina (11-47) for the second time in three days and staved off elimination to reach the championship round of the SoCon Tournament for the third time in four years. Mercer will face No. 2 Samford in the title game at noon Sunday; the Bulldogs defeated Mercer, 10-3, earlier on Saturday. Mercer must defeat Samford twice Sunday to earn the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Burks (6-5) was in command all night, allowing just two runs while scattering eight hits and notching nine strikeouts. The senior right-hander held Western Carolina scoreless through 6.2 frames before the Catamounts plated both of their runs on four consecutive hits in the seventh. He rolled a pair of double plays in the seventh and eighth innings.
Mercer drew first blood when Brandon Michie – who stroked a two-out double to right field – scored on a fielding error at third base in the bottom of the first inning. The fielding error would prove to be a trend for the Catamounts, who committed five total errors. After Alex Hanson scored on consecutive wild pitches following being hit by a pitch and stealing second base, Michie crossed the plate for a second time on a sacrifice bunt by Jackson Ware in the third. JT Thomas then made it a 4-0 game when he scored on the Catamounts' third error in the third frame.
A two-out, two-run double down the left-field line by Trey Truitt in the sixth gave Mercer an 8-0 advantage. After Western Carolina tallied a pair of runs in the top of the seventh, Mercer earned one back on a sacrifice fly by RJ Yeager in the home half.
Stat of the Game
Mercer outscored the Catamounts 25-2 in a pair of SoCon Tournament wins. Since Western Carolina defeated Mercer on April 20, the Bears won four straight games by a 41-3 run differential.
Player of the Game
Chase Burks dialed in for a career-defining performance when Mercer needed it most. The senior muscled his way through a career-long eight innings and came one strikeout shy of tying his career-best in that category.
Postgame Quotes
Craig Gibson on Chase Burks' performance:
"Chase saved his best for last – at least his last start at [Fluor Field]. You can't say enough about him; over 120 pitches thrown and he saved our bullpen and allowed us to be able to regroup for [Sunday's] title game against Samford. We had the right guy on the mound. He delivered for us."
Gibson on the flow of the game:
"We put plenty of balls in play and had some 'right guy at the right time' moments throughout the game. I think our speed really caused [Western Carolina] to rush some things."
Gibson on facing Samford in the SoCon title game on Sunday:
"It's going to take a complete team effort [Sunday]. We've got to pitch great, defend well and be offensive against a team that has played really well against us all season. We've got our hands full, but we're in the championship round and that says a lot about the group we have here at Mercer."
Records Update
» Mercer: 38-21
» Western Carolina: 11-47
Pitchers of Record
» Win: Chase Burks (6-5)
» Loss: Taylor Purus (3-13)
Up Next
» Mercer: vs. #2 Samford in SoCon Championship (12 p.m. Sunday, May 27 at Fluor Field)
» Western Carolina: Eliminated from SoCon Tournament
Notables
» Mercer improved to 3-2 against Western Carolina in the SoCon Tournament.
» Mercer is 11-5 all-time at the SoCon Tournament.
» Mercer reached the championship round of the SoCon Tournament for the third time in four years.
» The Bears extended their program record for most runs in a conference tournament to 47 runs.
» Michie scored a career-high four runs and went 2-for-4.
» Jackson Ware extended his career-long reached base streak to 25 games.
» Alex Hanson reached base safely for the 80th time in the last 84 games.
» Burks earned the win in both of his starts against Western Carolina this season. He has allowed just three runs over 13 innings with 12 strikeouts.
» Kevin Coulter made his first appearance of the tournament, tossing the final inning.
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 Bears (38-21) bested Western Carolina (11-47) for the second time in three days and staved off elimination to reach the championship round of the SoCon Tournament for the third time in four years. Mercer will face No. 2 Samford in the title game at noon Sunday; the Bulldogs defeated Mercer, 10-3, earlier on Saturday. Mercer must defeat Samford twice Sunday to earn the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Burks (6-5) was in command all night, allowing just two runs while scattering eight hits and notching nine strikeouts. The senior right-hander held Western Carolina scoreless through 6.2 frames before the Catamounts plated both of their runs on four consecutive hits in the seventh. He rolled a pair of double plays in the seventh and eighth innings.
Mercer drew first blood when Brandon Michie – who stroked a two-out double to right field – scored on a fielding error at third base in the bottom of the first inning. The fielding error would prove to be a trend for the Catamounts, who committed five total errors. After Alex Hanson scored on consecutive wild pitches following being hit by a pitch and stealing second base, Michie crossed the plate for a second time on a sacrifice bunt by Jackson Ware in the third. JT Thomas then made it a 4-0 game when he scored on the Catamounts' third error in the third frame.
A two-out, two-run double down the left-field line by Trey Truitt in the sixth gave Mercer an 8-0 advantage. After Western Carolina tallied a pair of runs in the top of the seventh, Mercer earned one back on a sacrifice fly by RJ Yeager in the home half.
Stat of the Game
Mercer outscored the Catamounts 25-2 in a pair of SoCon Tournament wins. Since Western Carolina defeated Mercer on April 20, the Bears won four straight games by a 41-3 run differential.
Player of the Game
Chase Burks dialed in for a career-defining performance when Mercer needed it most. The senior muscled his way through a career-long eight innings and came one strikeout shy of tying his career-best in that category.
Postgame Quotes
Craig Gibson on Chase Burks' performance:
"Chase saved his best for last – at least his last start at [Fluor Field]. You can't say enough about him; over 120 pitches thrown and he saved our bullpen and allowed us to be able to regroup for [Sunday's] title game against Samford. We had the right guy on the mound. He delivered for us."
Gibson on the flow of the game:
"We put plenty of balls in play and had some 'right guy at the right time' moments throughout the game. I think our speed really caused [Western Carolina] to rush some things."
Gibson on facing Samford in the SoCon title game on Sunday:
"It's going to take a complete team effort [Sunday]. We've got to pitch great, defend well and be offensive against a team that has played really well against us all season. We've got our hands full, but we're in the championship round and that says a lot about the group we have here at Mercer."
Records Update
» Mercer: 38-21
» Western Carolina: 11-47
Pitchers of Record
» Win: Chase Burks (6-5)
» Loss: Taylor Purus (3-13)
Up Next
» Mercer: vs. #2 Samford in SoCon Championship (12 p.m. Sunday, May 27 at Fluor Field)
» Western Carolina: Eliminated from SoCon Tournament
Notables
» Mercer improved to 3-2 against Western Carolina in the SoCon Tournament.
» Mercer is 11-5 all-time at the SoCon Tournament.
» Mercer reached the championship round of the SoCon Tournament for the third time in four years.
» The Bears extended their program record for most runs in a conference tournament to 47 runs.
» Michie scored a career-high four runs and went 2-for-4.
» Jackson Ware extended his career-long reached base streak to 25 games.
» Alex Hanson reached base safely for the 80th time in the last 84 games.
» Burks earned the win in both of his starts against Western Carolina this season. He has allowed just three runs over 13 innings with 12 strikeouts.
» Kevin Coulter made his first appearance of the tournament, tossing the final inning.
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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