Sunday, May 27
Greenville, S.C.
12 p.m.
Mercer University
38-22
4
vs
14
Samford
36-24
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Mercer
0
1
0
1
1
0
1
4
12
2
Samford
0
1
0
0
11
0
2
14
14
1
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Jack Rude (1-1)
L: Cox, Austin (7-4)
Batting:
2B: Michie, Brandon 2 ; Crotty, Alex 1
HR: Bassett, Le 1
RBI: Michie, Brandon 1 ; Bassett, Le 1 ; Thomas, JT 1 ; Crotty, Alex 1
SH: Yeager, RJ 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Hanson, Alex 1 ; Michie, Brandon 1 ; Bassett, Le 2
Batting:
2B: Troy Dixon 1 ; Brooks Carlson 1
HR: Branden Fryman 1
RBI: Branden Fryman 3 ; Troy Dixon 1 ; Brooks Carlson 2 ; Connor Burns 1 ; Anthony Mulrine 1 ; Austin Edens 1 ; Taylor Garris 2 ; Max Pinto 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Branden Fryman 2 ; Troy Dixon 2 ; Brooks Carlson 1 ; Ayrton Schafer 1 ; Connor Burns 1 ; Anthony Mulrine 2 ; Austin Edens 1 ; Taylor Garris 1 ; Max Pinto 3
HBP: Anthony Mulrine 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
AB
4
R
0
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
2
H
2
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
IF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
LHP
/ Baseball
C
/ Baseball
OF
/ BaseballIF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
LHP
/ Baseball
Photo by: Southern Conference
Mercer Defeated in SoCon Championship Title Game
5/27/2018 3:43:00 PM | Baseball
Samford takes tournament title with 14-4 victory
GREENVILLE, S.C. – Fifth-seeded Mercer was defeated by No. 2 Samford, 14-4, in seven innings in the Southern Conference Championship title game Sunday afternoon at Fluor Field.
The Bears (38-22) finished as the tournament runner-up following three wins over a five-day stretch to reach the championship round for the third time in four years. Samford (36-24) earned the SoCon's automatic bid to a NCAA Regional with the victory. The Bulldogs were the lone team to best Mercer in tournament action.
Trailing 3-1 entering the bottom of the fifth inning, Samford rallied and pulled away from Mercer with an 11-run, eight-hit frame. The Bulldogs knocked out Mercer starter Austin Cox in the process, as he surrendered four consecutive hits that allowed Samford to knot the game, 3-3. Cox was relieved by Robert Broom, who walked the lone batter he faced before he was forced to leave the game by the umpiring crew due to reoccurring issues with a blister on his throwing hand.
Christian Vann became Mercer's third of four pitchers to see the mound in the fifth inning and was tagged for four runs on two hits before giving way to Nick Spear, who closed out the game with two innings of work. Branden Fryman hit a two-run home run off of Spear in the bottom of the seventh to end the game in a mercy-rule.
Mercer struck first with a RBI double down the left-field line by Alex Crotty that scored Le Bassett from third base in the second inning. Bassett added another punch in the fourth with a 412-foot solo home run to right field. The solo shot – Bassett's second home run of the tournament and 17th of the season – gave Mercer a 2-1 advantage. The Bears then made it a two-run game, 3-1, with a double off the right-field wall by Brandon Michie that scored Alex Hanson in the top of the fifth before Samford's emphatic rally.
Postgame Quotes
Craig Gibson's opening statement:
"It was a tough [game] and we left everything on the field. [Samford] is a really good club…they've beat us six times in a row now. I can't thank our senior class and some [draft-eligible] juniors enough for the contributions they've made to this program. That senior class is one of the winningest classes in school history.
"We made it to the championship round; we gave ourselves a chance but we just ran into a team that was better than us."
Gibson on the game plan going into Sunday's championship:
"We wanted to play one inning at a time and I thought we played really well early on and held a lead going into the bottom of the fifth. Austin Cox gave us a great effort…[Robert] Broom was out there with a bloody finger working for us…[Christian] Vann was coming back on short rest…[Nick] Spear was pretty good.
"We'll be better moving forward and will put ourselves back into a position to succeed. We've raised the bar in this league and each school has really improved. We have a championship program and we'll get back to it."
Records Update
» Mercer: 38-22
» Samford: 36-24
Pitchers of Record
» Win: Jack Rude (1-1)
» Loss: Austin Cox (7-4)
Notables
» Mercer has scored 51 runs at this year's tournament, a new program record for the most in a conference tournament. The former record was 35, set at the 2015 SoCon Tournament in Charleston.
» Mercer is 11-6 all-time at the SoCon Tournament.
» The Bears have lost six straight games to Samford dating back to an elimination-game loss at the 2017 SoCon Tournament.
» Le Bassett reached to 60-RBI mark with his solo home run. He is one of two SoCon players with 60 or more runs batted in, joining UNCG's Andrew Moritz (61).
» Alex Hanson ended his college career having reached base safely in 81 of the last 85 games. He also reached safely in 56 of 60 games this season.
» Four Bears tallied two-hit performances, including Mercer's pair of freshmen, Bassett and RJ Yeager.
» Nick Spear tallied four strikeouts in two innings of work.
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 (38-22) finished as the tournament runner-up following three wins over a five-day stretch to reach the championship round for the third time in four years. Samford (36-24) earned the SoCon's automatic bid to a NCAA Regional with the victory. The Bulldogs were the lone team to best Mercer in tournament action.
Trailing 3-1 entering the bottom of the fifth inning, Samford rallied and pulled away from Mercer with an 11-run, eight-hit frame. The Bulldogs knocked out Mercer starter Austin Cox in the process, as he surrendered four consecutive hits that allowed Samford to knot the game, 3-3. Cox was relieved by Robert Broom, who walked the lone batter he faced before he was forced to leave the game by the umpiring crew due to reoccurring issues with a blister on his throwing hand.
Christian Vann became Mercer's third of four pitchers to see the mound in the fifth inning and was tagged for four runs on two hits before giving way to Nick Spear, who closed out the game with two innings of work. Branden Fryman hit a two-run home run off of Spear in the bottom of the seventh to end the game in a mercy-rule.
Mercer struck first with a RBI double down the left-field line by Alex Crotty that scored Le Bassett from third base in the second inning. Bassett added another punch in the fourth with a 412-foot solo home run to right field. The solo shot – Bassett's second home run of the tournament and 17th of the season – gave Mercer a 2-1 advantage. The Bears then made it a two-run game, 3-1, with a double off the right-field wall by Brandon Michie that scored Alex Hanson in the top of the fifth before Samford's emphatic rally.
Postgame Quotes
Craig Gibson's opening statement:
"It was a tough [game] and we left everything on the field. [Samford] is a really good club…they've beat us six times in a row now. I can't thank our senior class and some [draft-eligible] juniors enough for the contributions they've made to this program. That senior class is one of the winningest classes in school history.
"We made it to the championship round; we gave ourselves a chance but we just ran into a team that was better than us."
Gibson on the game plan going into Sunday's championship:
"We wanted to play one inning at a time and I thought we played really well early on and held a lead going into the bottom of the fifth. Austin Cox gave us a great effort…[Robert] Broom was out there with a bloody finger working for us…[Christian] Vann was coming back on short rest…[Nick] Spear was pretty good.
"We'll be better moving forward and will put ourselves back into a position to succeed. We've raised the bar in this league and each school has really improved. We have a championship program and we'll get back to it."
Records Update
» Mercer: 38-22
» Samford: 36-24
Pitchers of Record
» Win: Jack Rude (1-1)
» Loss: Austin Cox (7-4)
Notables
» Mercer has scored 51 runs at this year's tournament, a new program record for the most in a conference tournament. The former record was 35, set at the 2015 SoCon Tournament in Charleston.
» Mercer is 11-6 all-time at the SoCon Tournament.
» The Bears have lost six straight games to Samford dating back to an elimination-game loss at the 2017 SoCon Tournament.
» Le Bassett reached to 60-RBI mark with his solo home run. He is one of two SoCon players with 60 or more runs batted in, joining UNCG's Andrew Moritz (61).
» Alex Hanson ended his college career having reached base safely in 81 of the last 85 games. He also reached safely in 56 of 60 games this season.
» Four Bears tallied two-hit performances, including Mercer's pair of freshmen, Bassett and RJ Yeager.
» Nick Spear tallied four strikeouts in two innings of work.
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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