Thursday, April 18
Lexington, Va.
3 p.m.
Mercer University
18-20-1, 0
2
at
1
VMI
10-28, 0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Mercer
0
0
0
2
0
0
0
0
0
2
6
1
VMI
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
5
1
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Gipson-Long, Sawyer (4-3)
L: Jacob Menders (2-4)
S: Smith, Scott (2)
Batting:
HR: Johnson, Kel 1
RBI: Johnson, Kel 2
Base Running:
RUNS: DiSpigna, Angelo 1 ; Johnson, Kel 1
HBP: DiSpigna, Angelo 1 ; Knight, Bill 1
Batting:
2B: Jon Clines 1 ; Cody Warner 1
RBI: Callen Nuccio 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Cody Warner 1
CS: Josh Hollifield 1
Game Leaders
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
2
dh/c
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
RHP
/ Baseball
IF
/ BaseballIF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballOF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballC/OF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
Photo by: Daniel Gibbons
Pitching Staff Leads Mercer to Doubleheader Sweep
4/18/2019 9:29:00 PM | Baseball
Bears defeat VMI, 2-1 and 3-0, on the road
LEXINGTON, Va. – Five Mercer pitchers held VMI to one run over 18 innings as the Bears swept a Southern Conference doubleheader with 2-1 and 3-0 wins at Gray-Minor Stadium on Thursday.
The pair of wins clinched Mercer's (19-20, 7-7 SoCon) second SoCon series victory of the season and moved its win streak to four games. Sawyer Gipson-Long and Kevin Coulter both tossed six innings apiece to earn the wins on the mound while Kel Johnson, Angelo DiSpigna and Collin Price drove in all five Mercer runs on respective home runs.
Game 1: Mercer 2, VMI 1
Mercer relied on a two-run home run by Kel Johnson and a combined effort on the mound from Sawyer Gipson-Long and Scott Smith to take down the Keydets, 2-1, in the series opener. Gipson-Long struck out six batters and allowed one run on four hits while Smith – who earned his second save of the year – surrendered just one hit over the final three frames.
VMI struck first, taking a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third on an RBI single. Mercer swiftly responded, however, as Johnson blasted his 15th home run of the year to put the Bears ahead, 2-1, in the top of the fourth. Gipson-Long and Smith did not allow a Keydet past second base after the third inning.
Game 2: Mercer 3, VMI 0
Kevin Coulter (4-2) carried Mercer's momentum over from game one on the mound, tossing six scoreless innings while striking out four batters in game two. The senior earned his fourth win by scattering five hits and issuing just one walk.
A solo home run by Angelo DiSpigna in the fourth inning was the contest's only run over the first eight innings played. Fellow freshman Collin Price tacked on another pair in the top of the ninth with a two-run shot to left field.
Coulter was relieved by Andrew Kane, who recorded two outs in the seventh before Nick Spear took over for the final 2.1 frames. Spear fanned two Keydets and did not allow a hit on the way to earning his second save this season.
Records Update
» Mercer: 19-20 (7-7 SoCon)
» VMI: 10-29 (5-9 SoCon)
Notables
» Johnson extended his reached base streak to 38 games.
» DiSpigna's home run was his seventh this season. He is tied with RJ Yeager for the second most on the team, trailing only Johnson (15).
» Price hit his third home run of the year and second in three games. He has reached base in 14 consecutive games played.
» Coulter dropped his earned run average to 2.65. He has tossed a team-best 54.1 innings.
» Gipson-Long made his first weekend series start since March 8.
» Kyle Dockus reached base four times over the two games and stole his 15th base of the year.
» Spear's save was the 15th of his career.
Up Next
Mercer and VMI will conclude their three-game series at 4 p.m. Friday at Gray-Minor 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
The pair of wins clinched Mercer's (19-20, 7-7 SoCon) second SoCon series victory of the season and moved its win streak to four games. Sawyer Gipson-Long and Kevin Coulter both tossed six innings apiece to earn the wins on the mound while Kel Johnson, Angelo DiSpigna and Collin Price drove in all five Mercer runs on respective home runs.
Game 1: Mercer 2, VMI 1
Mercer relied on a two-run home run by Kel Johnson and a combined effort on the mound from Sawyer Gipson-Long and Scott Smith to take down the Keydets, 2-1, in the series opener. Gipson-Long struck out six batters and allowed one run on four hits while Smith – who earned his second save of the year – surrendered just one hit over the final three frames.
VMI struck first, taking a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third on an RBI single. Mercer swiftly responded, however, as Johnson blasted his 15th home run of the year to put the Bears ahead, 2-1, in the top of the fourth. Gipson-Long and Smith did not allow a Keydet past second base after the third inning.
Game 2: Mercer 3, VMI 0
Kevin Coulter (4-2) carried Mercer's momentum over from game one on the mound, tossing six scoreless innings while striking out four batters in game two. The senior earned his fourth win by scattering five hits and issuing just one walk.
A solo home run by Angelo DiSpigna in the fourth inning was the contest's only run over the first eight innings played. Fellow freshman Collin Price tacked on another pair in the top of the ninth with a two-run shot to left field.
Coulter was relieved by Andrew Kane, who recorded two outs in the seventh before Nick Spear took over for the final 2.1 frames. Spear fanned two Keydets and did not allow a hit on the way to earning his second save this season.
Records Update
» Mercer: 19-20 (7-7 SoCon)
» VMI: 10-29 (5-9 SoCon)
Notables
» Johnson extended his reached base streak to 38 games.
» DiSpigna's home run was his seventh this season. He is tied with RJ Yeager for the second most on the team, trailing only Johnson (15).
» Price hit his third home run of the year and second in three games. He has reached base in 14 consecutive games played.
» Coulter dropped his earned run average to 2.65. He has tossed a team-best 54.1 innings.
» Gipson-Long made his first weekend series start since March 8.
» Kyle Dockus reached base four times over the two games and stole his 15th base of the year.
» Spear's save was the 15th of his career.
Up Next
Mercer and VMI will conclude their three-game series at 4 p.m. Friday at Gray-Minor 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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