Friday, March 1
Tallahassee, Fla.
6 p.m.
Mercer University
8-2
5
at
9
Florida State
8-0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Mercer
0
1
2
0
0
0
0
0
2
5
8
0
Florida State
3
1
0
0
0
1
0
4
X
9
12
0
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Drew Parrish (2-0)
L: Gipson-Long, Sawyer (2-1)
Batting:
2B: Dockus, Kyle 1 ; Wilkinson, Garrett 1
RBI: Wilkinson, Garrett 2 ; Yeager, RJ 2 ; Price, Collin 1
SH: Wilkinson, Garrett 1 ; Austin, Trevor 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Dockus, Kyle 2 ; Johnson, Kel 1 ; Price, Collin 1 ; Miller, Zach 1
HBP: Yeager, RJ 1
Batting:
2B: Elijah Cabell 1 ; Robby Martin 1 ; Nico Baldor 1
3B: Nander De Sedas 1
HR: Cooper Swanson 1
RBI: Mike Salvatore 1 ; Elijah Cabell 1 ; Robby Martin 3 ; Nico Baldor 1 ; Cooper Swanson 2 ; J.C. Flowers 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Reese Albert 1 ; Drew Mendoza 2 ; Elijah Cabell 2 ; Robby Martin 2 ; Cooper Swanson 1 ; Nander De Sedas 1
SB: J.C. Flowers 1
HBP: Jonathan Foster 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
4
R
1
H
3
RBI
1
AB
5
R
2
H
2
RBI
0
lf/rf
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
2
Players Mentioned
IF
/ BaseballIF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
3B
/ Baseball
OF
/ BaseballC/OF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballOF
/ Baseball
Photo by: Daniel Gibbons
Bears Drop Series Opener to #11 Florida State
3/1/2019 10:57:00 PM | Baseball
Collin Price goes 3-for-4 in 9-5 loss
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Mercer surrendered four runs in the eighth inning and dropped a series opener, 9-5, to No. 11 Florida State at Dick Howser Stadium on Friday night.
Trailing 5-3 entering the bottom of the eighth, Mercer gave up two RBI doubles and a two-run home run in consecutive at bats as the Seminoles (8-0) pulled away late. A two-run double by Garrett Wilkinson in the top of the ninth cut FSU's lead to four.
Mercer (8-2) found itself in an early hole after the Seminoles took a three-run lead in the first. Two, two-out walks issued by Sawyer Gipson-Long opened the door for FSU, which tallied three straight hits to plate the three runs.
Kel Johnson led off the second with a walk and scored Mercer's first run on an RBI single by Collin Price. FSU would get the run back in the home half of the second, however, after a leadoff triple. The Bears put together a two-run, three-hit frame in the third that was keyed by a two-RBI single by RJ Yeager. Zach Miller (walk) and Kyle Dockus (single) advanced into scoring position on a sacrifice bunt by Wilkinson before Yeager drove them both home.
Gipson-Long continued to struggle with two outs in the third, surrendering a pair of singles and walking the bases loaded before he was relieved by Scott Smith, who needed just one pitch to escape the jam. Smith fanned four batters over three hitless innings of work, keeping Mercer in the one-run game.
Smith's first sign of trouble came in the bottom of the sixth when he walked two batters with two outs. He was replaced by Nick Spear, who walked the first batter he faced and then surrendered an RBI infield single that made it a 5-3 contest in favor of the Seminoles.
Yeager and Johnson drew one-out walks in the eighth inning to put the go-ahead run at the plate for Mercer, but Bill Knight went down swinging as a pinch hitter and Angelo DiSpigna was called out on strikes to end the threat.
Coach Gibson's Take
"We held our own over seven innings against a good ball club on the road tonight and a lot of guys showed plenty of fight throughout," said head coach Craig Gibson. "If you take away a couple miscues and a few of their big hits in the eighth, it could have been a different story.
"Collin Price had a really great night in a tough environment, Angelo [DiSpigna] struck the ball well and we know what we'll get out of guys like RJ [Yeager], Kel [Johnson] and Garrett [Wilkinson]. We'll need to be more offensive in this environment the rest of the weekend, but we'll build off of this loss."
Player of the Game
Graduate senior right-hander Scott Smith kept the Seminoles' bats quiet over three innings of relief. Smith did not allow a hit and struck out four of the 12 batters he faced.
Records Update
» Mercer: 8-2
» #11 Florida State: 8-0
Pitchers of Record
» Win: Drew Parrish (2-0)
» Loss: Sawyer Gipson-Long (2-1)
Notables
» After tallying only two hits in his first six games, Collin Price has seven hits in his last three games.
» Scott Smith's three innings pitched were a season high.
» Mercer fell to 0-3 against Florida State under Craig Gibson.
» Kyle Dockus extended his hit streak to six games with a 2-for-5 effort.
» Seven Mercer pitchers saw action on the mound, including three freshmen.
Up Next
» Mercer: At #11 Florida State ((2 p.m. Saturday, March 2 at Dick Howser Stadium)
» #11 Florida State: Hosts Mercer (2 p.m. Saturday, March 2 at Dick Howser Stadium)
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.
Trailing 5-3 entering the bottom of the eighth, Mercer gave up two RBI doubles and a two-run home run in consecutive at bats as the Seminoles (8-0) pulled away late. A two-run double by Garrett Wilkinson in the top of the ninth cut FSU's lead to four.
Mercer (8-2) found itself in an early hole after the Seminoles took a three-run lead in the first. Two, two-out walks issued by Sawyer Gipson-Long opened the door for FSU, which tallied three straight hits to plate the three runs.
Kel Johnson led off the second with a walk and scored Mercer's first run on an RBI single by Collin Price. FSU would get the run back in the home half of the second, however, after a leadoff triple. The Bears put together a two-run, three-hit frame in the third that was keyed by a two-RBI single by RJ Yeager. Zach Miller (walk) and Kyle Dockus (single) advanced into scoring position on a sacrifice bunt by Wilkinson before Yeager drove them both home.
Gipson-Long continued to struggle with two outs in the third, surrendering a pair of singles and walking the bases loaded before he was relieved by Scott Smith, who needed just one pitch to escape the jam. Smith fanned four batters over three hitless innings of work, keeping Mercer in the one-run game.
Smith's first sign of trouble came in the bottom of the sixth when he walked two batters with two outs. He was replaced by Nick Spear, who walked the first batter he faced and then surrendered an RBI infield single that made it a 5-3 contest in favor of the Seminoles.
Yeager and Johnson drew one-out walks in the eighth inning to put the go-ahead run at the plate for Mercer, but Bill Knight went down swinging as a pinch hitter and Angelo DiSpigna was called out on strikes to end the threat.
Coach Gibson's Take
"We held our own over seven innings against a good ball club on the road tonight and a lot of guys showed plenty of fight throughout," said head coach Craig Gibson. "If you take away a couple miscues and a few of their big hits in the eighth, it could have been a different story.
"Collin Price had a really great night in a tough environment, Angelo [DiSpigna] struck the ball well and we know what we'll get out of guys like RJ [Yeager], Kel [Johnson] and Garrett [Wilkinson]. We'll need to be more offensive in this environment the rest of the weekend, but we'll build off of this loss."
Player of the Game
Graduate senior right-hander Scott Smith kept the Seminoles' bats quiet over three innings of relief. Smith did not allow a hit and struck out four of the 12 batters he faced.
Records Update
» Mercer: 8-2
» #11 Florida State: 8-0
Pitchers of Record
» Win: Drew Parrish (2-0)
» Loss: Sawyer Gipson-Long (2-1)
Notables
» After tallying only two hits in his first six games, Collin Price has seven hits in his last three games.
» Scott Smith's three innings pitched were a season high.
» Mercer fell to 0-3 against Florida State under Craig Gibson.
» Kyle Dockus extended his hit streak to six games with a 2-for-5 effort.
» Seven Mercer pitchers saw action on the mound, including three freshmen.
Up Next
» Mercer: At #11 Florida State ((2 p.m. Saturday, March 2 at Dick Howser Stadium)
» #11 Florida State: Hosts Mercer (2 p.m. Saturday, March 2 at Dick Howser Stadium)
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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