Mercer Earns Fourth Straight with Comeback Win

Tuesday, February 18

Tallahassee, Fla.

5 p.m.

Mercer University

4-0

Florida A&M

1-1

Mercer

Florida A&M

Photo by: Ben Murray

Mercer Earns Fourth Straight with Comeback Win

2/18/2020 9:18:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

Mercer improved to 4-0 on the season with its first road win

By: Stephen Waldman

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The Mercer baseball team maintained its unblemished record on the 2020 season with a come-from-behind 7-5 win over Florida A&M on the road Tuesday evening.

Mercer pushed across the game's first run before the Rattlers had a chance to step up to the plate. Colby Thomas and Angelo DiSpigna led off the game with back-to-back hits for the Bears before a fly out to deep right field allowed Thomas to advance 90 feet. Bill Knight handed the visitors the lead by driving a ball through the right side and allowing Thomas to score easily from third.

The Rattlers responded with three runs in the home half of the first to take the lead. The highlight of the inning for FAMU came when Jared Weber came up with runners on the corners and hit an RBI double to center field to tie the game. The home side added two more runs in the following inning to extend its lead to 5-1.

The Bears' bats came to life in the following inning that started with a DiSpigna single and one of Brandon Michie's two doubles on the evening. Designated hitter Le Bassett plated both runners with a one-out base hit to make it a 5-3 game. RJ Yeager and Collin Price reached base in the next two at-bats for Mercer as the bases were once again loaded. Kyle Dockus came through with a clutch two-out infield hit to trim the deficit to one, 5-4.

Mercer was threatening in each of the next four innings by getting the game-tying run in scoring position every time, but was not able to push that run across. Garrett Mathes was stellar in relief for the Bears over that section of the game as he held FAMU off the board for 4.1 innings. The Tallahassee, Fla., native enjoyed being back in his hometown as he allowed just one hit and one walk while striking out five.

Mercer drew even in the top of the eighth when Trevor Austin drove in pinch runner Mick Moody and took the lead the following inning. Jordan Ammons stepped to the plate with one out and runners on first and second when he worked a 2-2 count. The Minneapolis, Minn., native laced the next pitch inside the third-base bag and rolled it into the left field corner. DiSpigna and Michie both came around to score on the play as Ammons cruised into second base with the go-ahead double.

Luke Sutko sealed the victory for the Bears by keeping the Rattlers off the board in the bottom of the ninth.

Player of the Game
Garrett Mathes was instrumental is slowing down the Florida A&M offense. The Tallahassee, Fla., native entered the game with runners on first and second facing a 5-4 deficit. He needed just one pitch to induce a groundout to third to get out of the inning. Mathes retired seven straight hitters from the fourth through sixth innings with five strikeouts to his credit.

Notables
» Mercer recorded a season-high 17 hits in the game.
» The Bears have allowed fewer than 10 hits in each of their four wins this season.
» Brandon Michie, Angelo DiSpigna and Trevor Austin produced the first three-hit games of the season for the Bears.
» Michie legged out a pair of doubles to move into the team lead with three on the season.
» Garrett Mathes has not allowed a run in 6.1 innings of work this season while striking out 11.
» Colby Thomas, DiSpigna and Michie have recorded a hit in all four games this year.
» Luke Sutko earned his first victory in a Mercer uniform.

Pitchers of Record
» Win: Luke Sutko (1-0)
» Loss: Zach Morea (0-1)

Records Update
» Mercer: 4-0
» Florida A&M: 1-1

Up Next
» Mercer: at Florida A&M (4 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 19 at Moore-Kittles Field)
» Florida A&M: vs. Mercer (4 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 19 at Moore-Kittles Field)

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.