Saturday, April 20
Lexington, Va.
1 p.m.
Mercer University
20-20, 0
15
at
6
VMI
10-30, 0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Mercer
0
0
0
0
0
5
2
4
4
15
15
0
VMI
0
0
1
0
4
0
0
1
0
6
7
4
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Spear, Nick (1-0)
L: Derek Tremblay (0-3)
Batting:
2B: DiSpigna, Angelo 1 ; Johnson, Kel 1 ; Yeager, RJ 2 ; Knight, Bill 1
HR: Johnson, Kel 1 ; Crotty, Alex 1
RBI: DiSpigna, Angelo 1 ; Johnson, Kel 4 ; Yeager, RJ 3 ; Price, Collin 1 ; Knight, Bill 2 ; Crotty, Alex 3
SH: Dockus, Kyle 1
SF: Knight, Bill 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Dockus, Kyle 2 ; DiSpigna, Angelo 3 ; Johnson, Kel 2 ; Posas, David 1 ; Yeager, RJ 4 ; Price, Collin 1 ; Crotty, Alex 1 ; Austin, Trevor 1
Batting:
2B: Callen Nuccio 1 ; Ryan Hatten 1 ; Don Goodes 1
HR: Jake Huggins 1
RBI: Callen Nuccio 1 ; Jake Huggins 4
SH: Ryan Smoot 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Callen Nuccio 1 ; Jake Huggins 1 ; Ryan Hatten 1 ; Don Goodes 2 ; Ryan Smoot 1
Game Leaders
AB
5
R
2
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
3
H
2
RBI
1
AB
4
R
2
H
2
RBI
4
Players Mentioned
RHP
/ Baseball
C
/ BaseballIF
/ Baseball
LHP
/ BaseballOF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
3B
/ Baseball
C/OF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
Photo by: Daniel Gibbons
Bears Batter Keydets, Earn Series Sweep
4/20/2019 6:54:00 PM | Baseball
Mercer plates 15 runs over final four innings
LEXINGTON, Va. – Mercer scored 15 runs over the final four innings and defeated VMI, 15-6, to earn a Southern Conference sweep at Gray-Minor Stadium on Saturday.
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After going hitless over the first five innings of play, Mercer cranked out 15 hits in the latter half of the contest. The Bears (20-20, 8-7 SoCon) got back to .500 overall for the first time since March 23 and notched their fourth consecutive conference victory.
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Trailing 5-0 entering the sixth inning, the Bears came alive with a five-run frame that knotted the game. RJ Yeager and Collin Price doubled and singled in consecutive at bats to drive in a pair after Angelo DiSpigna and Kel Johnson walked earlier in the inning. A sacrifice fly from Bill Knight cut VMI's lead to 5-3 before Alex Crotty tied the game with a two-run home run.
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Two VMI fielding errors in the seventh led to Mercer's first lead of the game, 7-5. The Bears never looked back from there on, scoring four runs in both the eighth and ninth innings. Kel Johnson unloaded his 16th home run of the season in the eighth and added a two-run double in the ninth. Yeager, DiSpigna and Bill Knight also tallied RBI doubles over the final two frames.
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VMI controlled the contest until the sixth inning. The Keydets struck first with a one-run double by Callen Nuccio in the bottom of the third and added to its lead in the fifth with a grand slam by Jake Huggins. All five runs came against Mercer left-hander Tanner Hall, who had allowed just three runs over his last 23 innings pitched in SoCon play.
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Will Bowdoin, Nick Spear and Andrew Kane handled the relief efforts on the mound. Spear earned his first win of the year with 2.1 innings tossed.
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Records Update
» Mercer: 20-20 (8-7 SoCon)
» VMI: 10-30 (5-10 SoCon)
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Pitchers of Record
» Win: Nick Spear (1-0)
» Loss: Derek Tremblay (0-3)
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Notables
» Kel Johnson extended his reached base streak to 39 games. He reached base four times with two hits and two walks and added four RBI.
» RJ Yeager scored four times and went 2-for-5 with three RBI and a walk.
» Alex Crotty drove in three runs and hit his first home run of the season.
» Seven different Bears had two-hit performances.
» Tanner Hall struck out six batters over five innings pitched.
» The Bears have won six straight games against VMI.
» Craig Gibson improved to 19-5 as a head coach against the Keydets.
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Up Next
Mercer will face Florida A&M for the fourth time this season at 5 p.m. Tuesday, April 23 in Tallahassee.
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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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After going hitless over the first five innings of play, Mercer cranked out 15 hits in the latter half of the contest. The Bears (20-20, 8-7 SoCon) got back to .500 overall for the first time since March 23 and notched their fourth consecutive conference victory.
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Trailing 5-0 entering the sixth inning, the Bears came alive with a five-run frame that knotted the game. RJ Yeager and Collin Price doubled and singled in consecutive at bats to drive in a pair after Angelo DiSpigna and Kel Johnson walked earlier in the inning. A sacrifice fly from Bill Knight cut VMI's lead to 5-3 before Alex Crotty tied the game with a two-run home run.
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Two VMI fielding errors in the seventh led to Mercer's first lead of the game, 7-5. The Bears never looked back from there on, scoring four runs in both the eighth and ninth innings. Kel Johnson unloaded his 16th home run of the season in the eighth and added a two-run double in the ninth. Yeager, DiSpigna and Bill Knight also tallied RBI doubles over the final two frames.
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VMI controlled the contest until the sixth inning. The Keydets struck first with a one-run double by Callen Nuccio in the bottom of the third and added to its lead in the fifth with a grand slam by Jake Huggins. All five runs came against Mercer left-hander Tanner Hall, who had allowed just three runs over his last 23 innings pitched in SoCon play.
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Will Bowdoin, Nick Spear and Andrew Kane handled the relief efforts on the mound. Spear earned his first win of the year with 2.1 innings tossed.
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Records Update
» Mercer: 20-20 (8-7 SoCon)
» VMI: 10-30 (5-10 SoCon)
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Pitchers of Record
» Win: Nick Spear (1-0)
» Loss: Derek Tremblay (0-3)
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Notables
» Kel Johnson extended his reached base streak to 39 games. He reached base four times with two hits and two walks and added four RBI.
» RJ Yeager scored four times and went 2-for-5 with three RBI and a walk.
» Alex Crotty drove in three runs and hit his first home run of the season.
» Seven different Bears had two-hit performances.
» Tanner Hall struck out six batters over five innings pitched.
» The Bears have won six straight games against VMI.
» Craig Gibson improved to 19-5 as a head coach against the Keydets.
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Up Next
Mercer will face Florida A&M for the fourth time this season at 5 p.m. Tuesday, April 23 in Tallahassee.
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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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