Bears Fall to Mountaineers, 2-1, in 11 Innings

Sunday, March 8

Macon, Ga.

1 p.m.

Mercer University

12-3

West Virginia

10-5

West Virginia

Mercer

Photo by: Ben Murray

Bears Fall to Mountaineers, 2-1, in 11 Innings

3/8/2020 5:31:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score @MercerBaseball

CJ Keckler batted in Mercer’s lone run via an infield single in the second inning.

By: Kraig Doremus

MACON, Ga. – The Mercer Bears were unable to earn the series win over West Virginia as they dropped a 2-1 decision in 11 innings on Sunday.

It was a quiet game for both teams' bats as the two squads combined for just nine hits on the afternoon. Ten different pitchers – five for each team – saw action. Taylor Lobus earned the start for the Bears and surrendered one run on one hit in four innings of work. West Virginia's Jake Carr took the ball for the visitors and lasted 4.2 innings. He gave up one run (unearned) and allowed three hits while fanning five.

Lobus pitched around back-to-back walks in the first inning and retired the Mountaineers in order in the top of the second.

Mercer (12-3) would take a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second thanks to CJ Keckler's RBI infield single. Keckler's base knock scored Bill Knight who had doubled with one out and moved to third on a passed ball.

After a quiet third inning where the minimum number of batters was faced for each pitcher, the Mountaineers knotted the score at one run a piece in the top of the fourth.

West Virginia's (10-5) Vince Ippoliti walked and scored when Matt McCormick doubled to right center field.

Although the Mountaineers were able to tie the contest, neither team would push another run across the plate until the 11^th, despite ample opportunities.

In its half of the fourth Mercer could not take advantage of Brandon Michie being hit by a pitch and Trevor Austin drawing a walk on five pitches. Both players were left stranded to complete the frame.

The Mountaineers' Tevin Tucker made his way to third via a walk and pair of sacrifice bunts to start the fifth, but Garrett Mathes – who entered in relief of Lobus following the fourth – recorded the final out.

Mercer left Colby Thomas stranded in scoring position to the end the fifth, and neither team made any noise on the base paths in the sixth.

For the Mountaineers, Tucker walked and swiped second in the seventh, but the visitors were unable to send him home.

West Virginia had a prime opportunity to take the lead in the ninth inning, but Hunter Phillips used a 5-4-3 double play to get the first two outs, and he proceeded to strike out Chris Klein to send the game to the bottom of the ninth.

The Bears went down in order in their half of the ninth and forced the Mountaineers to leave a runner on second in the 10^th.

Thomas led off the bottom of the 10^th with a single, which was the first time that the leadoff batter reached base for Mercer in the game. After legging out an infield hit, he moved into scoring position when Angelo DiSpigna laid down a sacrifice bunt. RJ Yeager joined Thomas on the bases when he was intentionally walked, but WVU's Braden Zarbnisky retired the next two batters to end the frame.

The Mountaineers pulled ahead on Paul McIntosh's solo home run to center field and looked to do more damage after Klein doubled and moved to third on a balk. Tyler Green was able to retire Zarbnisky to end the frame as Mercer looked to rally in its half of the 11^th.

Michie led off the inning with a walk and advanced to second when Austin put down a sacrifice bunt, but the Bears were unable to tie the game as West Virginia struck out the final two batters to secure the win.

The 2-1 defeat marked the first three-game series that the Bears have dropped all season.

Green took the loss for Mercer, his first of the year, while Zarbnisky was credited with his first win.

At the plate, Thomas was the lone Bear to record a multi-hit game with a 2-for-5 performance. Keckler went 1-for-2 and batted in the Bears' only run of the contest. Five different players each recorded one hit for the Mountaineers.

Coach Gibson's Take
"It was a great college baseball game. We had a chance to win the series, and our guys know that we can play with anybody. We lost to one of the best teams in the country in Florida State earlier this week and played a great team from the Big 12 this weekend. I think we're one of the best teams in the country, but we have to take advantage of opportunities. We had chances today, especially with two outs, and we didn't take advantage of them. West Virginia got a big two-out hit to score a run and then hit a home run. We tip our caps to West Virginia. Baseball is a humbling game, so we'll pick ourselves up and be ready to play a good Georgia State team on Tuesday."

Player of the Game
Thomas went 2-for-5 in the loss, recording his ninth multi-hit game of his freshman campaign. He leads the team with 22 hits on the year and is now hitting .344 (22-of-64).

Records Update
» Mercer: 12-3
» West Virginia: 10-5

Pitchers of Record
Win: Braden Zarbnisky (1-0)
Loss: Tyler Green (0-1)

Notables
» Today marked the second time this week that the Bears reached extra innings. Mercer dropped an 11-inning contest at No. 11 Florida State on Tuesday.
» The Bears are 0-2 in extra-inning games but 12-1 in nine-inning contests.
» Thomas recorded his second consecutive multi-hit game.
» Thomas leads the Bears with eight two-hit games and nine total multi-hit games.
» Michie saw his 14-game hitting streak snapped but a walk extended his streak of contests reaching base successfully to 15.

Up Next
» Mercer: at Georgia State (6 p.m. Tuesday, March 10 at the GSU Baseball Complex)
» West Virginia: vs. Liberty (3 p.m. Wednesday, March 11 at Monongalia County Ballpark)

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.